All I've been trying to say and more--nicely said by a priest. hank you Father for an oustanding unapologetic post!
Especially well said:
I guess what I'm saying in these three points is that no one should feel he must cut himself off from the Church out of some all-or-nothing approach to Faith. People can, I believe, recognize that their beliefs or actions put them at odds with the fullness of the Faith but, at the same time, remain within the Church in an imperfect way.
and more wisdom:
Before talking about your dissent from the Church, lay out what you do assent to. Start with the Creed. Consider that, even though all the truths of the Faith are equally true, some truths are more central than others.
and even more:
A person should ask himself what doctrines he does believe, and why he believes them, starting with the central ones. He should ask himself how the Gospel impacts his life and changes his behavior. Only after all that should he start to highlight what he rejects and how he diverges from orthopraxy -- and what the reasons are for those divergences. I think a lot of people would be surprised by how much they do believe.
Ah heck, go read the whole thing! Thanks again, Father.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!
Thank you, UC, I was so glad to read this today! I'll have to take a closer look at Dappled Things.
Posted by: Talmida | October 28, 2004 at 07:35 PM
Dappled Things is a definite daily-read for me. Another priest-blogger to check out is Fr Dowd at 'Waiting in joyful hope' (http://fatherdowd.blogspot.com/). He's a priest in Montreal.
Posted by: Steve Bogner | October 29, 2004 at 05:15 AM