archives

Now, even as Archbishop Chaput properly suggests that his fellow Catholics "[must] bring to the discussion and debate one's deeply held values and moral convictions," before the Archbishop either explicitly or implicitly suggests that they are, in his words, somehow:
a) "putting aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs"
b) "muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity"

Jesus never seemed to ask to be "adored" simply "emulated."
Why does institutional church leadership (hierarchy) try to focus the laity so much on the adoration while not themselves emulating Jesus?

All Things Catholic by John L. Allen, Jr.
	Friday, October 3, 2008 - Vol. 8, No. 2

[Note: Beginning Monday, Oct. 6, John Allen will be filing daily reports from Rome about the Synod of Bishops. You can find his coverage at johnallen.ncrcafe.org.]

While the Vatican is most assuredly not a democracy, probably the closest thing it has to the trappings of democratic debate opens in Rome on Sunday with the 22nd session of the Synod of Bishops, this one devoted to “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”

The synod was created by Pope Paul VI in 1969 to give the bishops of the world a regular voice in the governance of the universal church. Though complaints have surfaced over the years that it’s an expensive talk shop with no actual authority, it’s nonetheless a unique sounding board. For roughly the first week and a half, each participant will have a few minutes to deliver a message to the pope himself, and to the wider world, about the state of the church.

Can anyone tell me that the Last Supper is not going on during mass? That it is Calvary? Because if this is what the church teaches, I am ready to stop going, or just believe what I know to be true anyway.
Furthermore, there never was an immaculate conception. The Bible tells me so. If I have to believe the dogmas about Mary, I'm out of here. My conscience is my guide. I have been baptized and confirmed, but as a convert. I think the church is not only guilty of covering up sexual abuse, it is too proud to admit that some of its teachings are myths, sometimes dangerously deceptive fabrications that lead many into believing that the church is far more competent and powerful than it really is.

From personal experience in life we learn what maturity is about. In our own life cycle we know that it takes many years, many seasons of growing to become mature. An apple, on the other hand, takes only a single season to form, grow and mature (ripen).

Maturity like reality has two aspects, the physical-material and the psychical-spiritual. Our understanding of “What is real” helps us understand what maturity is. Maturity is a physical/ spiritual process of advancing in wisdom, age, and grace. Growth into maturity is growth in interactive relationships and personal change, what transforms from less implicated to more implicated thinking-being.