Perhaps the phenomenon that has become known as Cafeteria Catholicism, where the Church becomes “my church” and “My God”, and Bishops “no longer speak for me” are actually symptoms of a heresy within the Catholic Church that similar to the Arian Heresy in the times of the early church. A version of the internalization of the Protestant Heresy developed during the Reformation, but not really seen within the Catholic Church until after Vatican II.
It would explain why Mass is seen as optional by so many, and why Confession has become almost nonexistent in many, if not most parishes. Indeed, some Churches have removed all the confessionals and have a single multifunctional room where an occasional reconciliation may occur.
It would explain why few people genuflect before the tabernacle before entering a pew in church, and that may be a symptom of the fact that between 74-90% of people identifying themselves as Catholic don’t believe in the transubstantiation and the presence of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ within the Eucharist.
Sola Scriptura, the central idea of the Protestant Church, is the idea that we can make it up as we go. It is not apart of Catholic thought.
It would also be an explanation for the support for the Democrat ticket that has been so well documented. If you can just make up the basic tenets of Church teaching, why not make up your own social teaching.
Catholicism is a religion that is steeped in tradition, Faith, Grace and Devotion. The Mass is the renewal of the Sacrifice of Christ, not a remembrance of the last supper. The actions that we do flow from the shared sacrifice that the Eucharist offers. And it is important to received this supreme gift with a soul cleansed by the Sacramental Absolution that comes from Confession.
If we could get back to that one thing, there would be no question that Life would be sacred, in all of its manifestations. There would be no argument of the sanctity of marriage,as well as the unitive and procreative aspects of the sexual act. Children would always be considered a gift from God, from the time of fertilization. Contraception and abortion would be a thing of history, and instead of welcoming and encouraging Same Sex Marriage, we would develop support for the celibacy of people with same sex attraction.
Peace and Justice would be rooted in the Eucharist and Church Doctrine and, so grounded, be much more effective. And we wouldn’t have to be constantly reminded that Jesus loves us, because, in the development of our interior life, we would continually know that in our heart and soul. This love is then reflected to everyone in whom we come into contact.
Sound hokey? Perhaps. But just think about the possibilities…..
St Gianna, Pray for us
St Anne, Pray for us
Related articles
- 50 years after Vatican II began (coffeeringstheology.wordpress.com)
- “The Crisis of Faith” by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. (insightscoop.typepad.com)
Hello. Your blog post was linked to one of ours by our mutual reference to Vatican II it appears. I appreciate your pro-life efforts (our church hosts a crisis center and has seen babies saved, as well as spiritual conversions to Christ). I also share your frustration with cafeteria-style believers, who pick and choose what to believe.
However, in reading your post above, I was aghast to see such a big misunderstanding of the Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura. Far from encouraging ‘anything goes’ religious beliefs, Sola Scriptura emphasizes that Christianity’s sole authority is the Bible, the Word of God (and not the traditions of men). Your readers should know this. A helpful link on the subject would be this: http://www.theopedia.com/Scripture_alone
As for all our other differences (and they appear to be many), I do not want to antagonize or argue. Thanks for letting me post this brief comment.
pdb
Thank you for your kind comment. And also thank you for your gentle instruction on sola scriptura. I do not claim to have knowledge of the protestant faiths, and my reference to protestanism within the Catholic church refers to those that either do not know or understand or reject the authority of the Pope. While it is a sad fact that there are many differences in our doctrines and beliefs, there is one very unifying fact…..we both believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. And, as Christians, we share the fact that life is sacred. In fact, I believe that in some ways, our protestant brethren are a little better at expressing the pro-life message (which gets me in trouble with my some of my Catholic friends). God Bless your work in this very important endeavor.
Reblogged this on Deacon John's Space and commented:
Excellent post on some of the troubles we Catholics have to deal with. I’m waiting for the Warning (Illumination), the “Correction of the conscience of the world, when God will enlighten us to His Truth!
Although “I are one of them thar’ protestants” you demean, I can relate with your concern. The entire sphere of Christianity is being much more influenced by the world today, than being an influence as it should. I also would agree that it is very important to always remember the traditional influences and teachings from Church history. One question (mostly of curiosity), that surfaces for me though is “if the Catholic Church can find itself in error today, is it not possible it was in a state of error at the time of the Reformation?” …just thinking in the form of a response here.
As for the content and purpose of your words, I believe you are dead on… only, it’s not just the Catholic body of believers who are buying into the worldly heresy, but Protestants also. I personally do not see how anyone can call themselves a follower of Jesus Christ and vote for someone who vocally supports abortion and the destruction of the biblical definition of marriage. I’m not saying the other side of the aisle is the picture of godliness, but they at least haven’t resorted to supporting those who blatantly stand against the teachings of God’s Word. Blessings good friend… thanks for standing firm on these issues.
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