Fr Ray Blake (second from left) at the last Juventutem London Mass to hear confessions, June 2011
However, in his post, Fr talks about the philosophy of the young men and women involved in the organisation of Voris, of Juventutem, of the LMS Walsingham pilgrimage and on the internet. This post is a friendly response to his writing about 'us' [incorporating a group wider than the organisers and attendees of Juventutem London]:
I think in many ways they are all prophets [...] I mean, they struck me as being people who had a voice, that was at times critical of the Church today. They are often highly critical of laxity in the Church, even of individuals, they have a tendency to be impatient, to denounce infidelity and to be divisive - divisive, in the sense of dividing sheep from goats. Left to them I think the Church would be leaner, they expect their bishops and priests to be holy and orthodox.
Their vision of the Church is one that many of us priests might find disturbing, it is radical maybe not so much a school for sinners, or a hospital for the wounded, and certainly not about "cultural" Catholicism. It is militant. I don't mean to give a caricature, they are kind and compassionate. What I find exciting about them all is that Christ and his Church's teaching is something they find exhilarating and demanding. It is something to build a life on.The only point I really want to address is Fr's claim that 'we' do not so much see the Church as "a school for sinners, or a hospital for the wounded". This is untrue, I think, of the people involved with Juventutem, Voris, and those who brought him here. Absolutely the Church is a school for sinners, of which we are the chiefs. Thank God for the holy sacrament of Penance, which is sadly neglected.
If 'we' were to be angry about anything in this department, it would be against those who de facto deny the Church's status as a 'school for sinners and hospital for the wounded' by their eschewing of this most beneficent gift from Almighty God. It is not those who see the Physician who deny the hospital. Rather, those who refuse to seek the aid of the Physician deny both him, the hospital, the prescribed remedy and even the illness.
And if we were to be angry at this, absit that it be in a malicious way - it would be anger first in terms of justice at the offence given by sin to Almighty God; secondly because so many of us have not been taught the importance of recourse to the sacrament of Penance; thirdly in the circumstances (rare, Deo volente) of those souls who consciously despise the sacrament. And all of this anger is the anger of fellow wounded sinners who simply wish to see their brethren visit the Physician and receive his forgiveness and healing.
If 'we' are brash, perhaps 'we' should reconsider 'our' approach [I'm getting tired of these scare marks, they are to indicate that we are not a homogenous group, but I'm dropping them now], but our approach is still that of the Forerunner and Our Lord, which is: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand". Heterodoxy is a different matter however.
We do not wish to see a leaner Church. I cannot speak for all of the others in this 'group', but I do not buy into this supposedly positive phenomenon of the Church shrinking into a purer remnant, purged of heterodoxy. Some take this and cheerfully proclaim it as if it were a good thing, which to my mind shows a degree of callousness for the souls that would be lost should this happen. Would it not rather be better for the Church to grow, as she was continuing to do recently, and still is doing, albeit not in the West? Would it not be better for those who at the moment deny truths of the Faith to lay aside their errors and beg Almighty God for the gratuitous gift of faith, which they may even presently lack and against which they are sinning? Is it not also reasonable to suggest that if the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Faith was proclaimed in such a way that avoided ambiguity, prevarication and equivocation, there would be a rich harvest of converts, as there always were until recent years?
We are however, guilty as charged in terms of wanting our priests and bishops to be holy and orthodox. Why are they being ordained if they are not orthodox and struggling towards sanctity?
Here concludes the post, greetings and goodwill to Fr Blake, who very kindly heard confessions for us at our last Mass in June, and who hopefully will join us again in future. Pax!
Update, 31 Aug 16.34: Fr Blake has responded further with an interesting post.
Absolutely right. The desire for a 'leaner, more zealous' Church is very much associated (in my mind at least) with liberals. It's what they say when people point out that numbers of Mass-goers have fallen.
ReplyDeleteAgain it is the liberals who seem to see the Church as a club for people who don't need to grow in holiness or change. They don't need confession, and when they die they don't need our prayers.
Consider this comment my co-signature to this post!
ReplyDeleteI thought I had posted a comment here earlier.
ReplyDeleteI appologise if my use of "They" caused confusion, it is attempt to come to terms with "the Benedictine generation". Thank you for the clarification regarding the organisation of MV's visit.
The consequence of "more orthodox" is going to be in the short term smaller, leaner, fitter as BXVI indicates in, I believe, "Milestones".
As far the hospital and school image of Church is concened, I think my generation would see the hospital as a place of morbidity and the school as a place of ignorance. Your generation I hope sees the hospital as place of healing and the school a place of learning.
The Liberalisms of my generation did its best to ignore Sanctifying Grace, your generation doesn't or at least younger Catholics who hold firmly on to the Tradition do not.
Fr Ray Blake
May I recommend to you all the Maxims of Saint Ignatius of Loyola:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Maxim/Maxim_002.htm
particularly no. 8 in Fr Hardon's list:
8. The more alert a man is to the defects of others, the more negligent he is in observing his own.
We Catholics have a tendency, particularly the Pro-Lifers, to look down on others. Maxim no. 8 is a salutary reminder that we need to flee from self-righteousness and spiritual pride. We need to cultivate the virtue of humility and self-effacement.
In another Maxim, St Ignatius says that the World (Mundum) is evil and we should not get anxious about the evil in the World. We should be trying to all all we can to imitate Christ and the Good Samaritan. We will never change others by our preachy condemnations. We can olny change ourselves and that is all that God asks of us.
Our Lord sets out clearly the questions he will ask at the Last Judgement and they are about works of Charity: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked etc. If we are trying to follow Christ we must ensure that we have carried out the works of Charity.
Our Lord in the Gospels, for some unknown reason, does not say that knowledge of Liturgical minutiae or promotion of the Pro-Life Message is necessary for Salvation.
Pride is a deadly sin indeed and one devout and sincere Catholics of all ages must strive to work against.
Not sure about Voris, but I met with Christ in your words, God bless.
ReplyDeleteThere is no opposition between the works of Charity and liturgical orthodoxy.
ReplyDeletePaul, are you responding to Bryan's point? I wasn't sure if he was referring to what was written or not...
ReplyDeleteLiturgical orthodoxy should lead into charity. Liturgical orthodoxy is also a matter of justice, to God who deserves the best a local church can offer him, and to the faithful who deserve the rites of the church without tinkering from clerics.