Fri Jan 1, 2010 8:41 am
"Behold, I make all things new!" (Revelation 21:5)
As we begin a new year, and a new decade, we also begin a new era for our beloved Church. The spiritual childhood rules of pray, pay, and obey no longer work for adult family members who surf the world for knowledge and have experienced the great joys and current sorrows of our very human Church. Indeed, the Spirit has opened our eyes and pulled back the ecclesiastical Wizards' curtain, giving us a glimpse of smoke and mirrors at work.
Family is family and we cannot deny our origins, nor should we. We owe who we are and our spiritual life to our beloved ancestors, some whom are still in control and authority. Respect and love is due to them as we expect as much for ourselves in due time.
Trust in the judgments of our human spiritual parents has proven to be misplaced as sins of the contra-Vatican II reactionary clerical cast are continuously revealed. These parental types still control our inheritance, and attempt to impose their dysfunction on us. As adults, we leave the deteriorating cocoon of childhood rules, and with our spiritual inheritance, we start anew.
We don't expect family approval. Building on past truth and present reality, the task falls to us to preserve the good and work to prevent new mistakes. A new organizational model and governance structure is needed in a new era. The Church is, "semper reformanda," made up of always-learning and ever-changing members of the Body of Christ that depends on adult members to make the changes so desperately needed to survive and grow. It is an exciting time, but not as a spectator sport. For a start, don't pour new money into old envelopes.
The Spirit calls us to "the realization of what is hoped for" and provides us with "evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1). Do we deserve a better Church? Or, more aptly put, can we change our behavior so that the Church we deserve is better than what we have? The task is difficult, but "God, whose power works in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine." (Eph 3:20)
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