Yesterday I read that the pope is mystified by the fact that priests
(and on up) have sexually abused little children (and on up). Actually
he said it is a "
mystery"
how someone could participate in the sacraments (he mentioned
specifically Eucharist and Confession) at the same time as they were
engaging in such horrific crimes. Well, he did not use the words
"horrific" or "crimes" - instead he used euphemisms, a bland manner of
speech, which led some people to humorously describe his words as
enunciating a "new Mystery" for the faith.
Now today I happened to reread
an old blog of mine, related to torture, which addressed the question:
What does "shocks the conscience" mean? (A question related to the constitution's protections against
cruel and unusual punishment.) My words at the time were an attempt to try and get folks to
SEE something many prefer to rationalize away. But if you
read them now, in light of things going on in the RCC, it illuminates, I think, a
tone deafness at the top of the Vatican, in its recent
vendettas, that drives many of us crazy. Not just an inability, perhaps, to really
get the degree of
egregiousness and the horror evoked in us at the thought of a
priest damaging the
soul of child through
rape. But equating that to the ordination of a woman to the priesthood?
What does shocks the conscience mean? Certainly rape of a child!
But
ordination of a woman? That is cause for REJOICING!
And that, I hasten to add, is one more reason for these thoughts from
a post below:
Somewhere along the line [the pope] has entered an alternate universe...
[or
is] yearning for an alternate universe. Of abstractions. I can
imagine Euclidian Geometry would really please him. Those neat proofs.
No sex. Triangles and Squares being their different "genders" so to speak, each with their different "roles" so neatly laid out, nothing amiss.
Apparently, something is
deeply amiss.
And it all seems to turn, I now see, on what
shocks the conscience. Or not.... What
undermines the faith. Or not.
Could the nation bear to watch? That question is very important.
In our case: Could a church congregation
bear to watch? (Rape of a Child vs Ordination of a Woman - to name just one example)
I hope that settles the question!
Catholic identity. This whole idea gives me problems. As the Vatican appears to be promoting a kind of uniformity. A type of robotic thought and behavior. Controlled from Rome! (Even the unearthed Chinese army of clay soldiers has each one manifesting uniqueness!)
I think we have to start with the assumption, amply validated in scripture, that our identities are hidden with Christ in God. That the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us, immersed in constant prayer (whether we know it or not). That our task is to gradually live out the Image of God, allowing the Spirit to form us in God's VERY Likeness.
Uniformity has no part in this! And the Gospel is a call within the heart of each person. It calls us to a unique "identity" - yes, formed in God's likeness - but God reaches out to each of us in a unique relationship.
Catholic identity? Honestly, I'm not sure what that means. Unless it means a humility which few, if any of us, ever achieves.
To manifest the Presence of God, this is our calling. And God's presence, I submit, is so personally overwhelming, it could NEVER be uniform.
To me the question should never be: Who are you as a Catholic? (Recall that many Christians recite the Creed! Not just Roman catholics.)
The question, it seems to me, is: Who are you in your deepest heart? Who are you in the eyes of God? Who is any of us when most present to the Holy Trinity flowing/dwelling within? Or to the Trinity met in every person? In every aspect of nature?
See this wonderful interview posted at Blue Eyed Ennis during her blogging break - which leads exactly in the direction I'm discussing:
Catholic identity? This Abbot has got it!!!