This is the fourth post on Things Worth Dying by Archbishop Chaput.
You
can find post #1 here.
Post
#2 here.
Post
#3 here.
Here’s how I breakdown chapter eight.
(1)
We Die For What We Value—Christian Persecution—Historical Church
Positives—Church Negatives—Church as Body of Christ—Church as Mother—Positive
Impact of Catholic Church—Hostility to Church—Restrictions to Religious Liberty.
(2)
Witness of Martyrs—Thomas More—John Fisher—Survey of Lay People: Dysfunctional
Family—Mother—The Eucharist—Good Priests—Communion of
Saints—Beauty—Truth—Kingdom of God—Relationship with Jesus—Redemption.
(3)
Survey of Priests: Prayer—Love for the Church—Bringing Sacraments to
laity—Configuration to Christ the Shepherd—Apostolic Structure—History of the
Church—Source of Unity—Inheritance—Coherence—Problem of Money—Mixed Results of
Vatican II—Activity Has Overwhelmed Contemplative.
(4)
Abp Chuput Answers to Survey: Church as Mother—Church as Spouse—Church as
Community—Sacraments—Bureaucracy Not Important—Faith—Disappointments: Sex
Abuse—Those Who Try To Remake the Church—Bishops Who Are Cowards—Joy: Faith of
Those With Adversity—Most Admired: Popes JPII and Benedict XVI—Mixed Reactions
to Higher Institutions of the Church—Make the Church Holier, Less Wordly,
Simpler—History as Work of Remembering.
Given the nature of this chapter, I don’t think it makes sense to summarize each section. The overall gist of the chapter could be summed up as that most laity, priests, and the Archbishop himself love the Catholic Church and want to make it holier.
###
Given the “basic questions about the church” in chapter 8 put to laity, priests, and the author himself, I want to pull out the questions that apply to me and answer them. In some cases I had to speculate at an unprinted question from the response, but here’s what I identified, twelve questions and an open forum.
How
do you think of the church?
What
gives me the most joy about the church?
What
troubles me most about the church?
Why
have you stayed in the church?
What
do you love most about the church?
What
troubles you about the church?
Why
is history of the church important?
Was
Vatican II too optimistic?
What
disappoints you the most about the church?
Who
in the church have you admired most?
What
needs to change in the church?
How
should we think of the role of the pope?
Any other thoughts?
Feel free to answer them too. I would be curious as to how the book club members answer. I’m going to answer them in my next post as a standalone.
###
How do you think of the church?
I
think of the church as home, that is mother, father, grandfather,
grandmother. All the familial attributes
are wrapped into one. Going to church is
like returning home and having a family meal.
What gives me the most joy about the
church?
The blessings, that is feeling blessed when I am within her doors, when I have some role to play to make her beautiful, receiving the sacraments, when listening to church music or looking at the beautiful art, when praying, when attending Mass, when watching her charitable arms provide works of mercy, when having a discussion with a parishioner or the pastor, when feeling connected.
What troubles me most about the
church?
Those
that feel the need to change her.
Why have you stayed in the church?
Because
it is the Truth! Where else can I
go? Anywhere else would not be the
truth.
What do you love most about the
church?
Her
universality, which includes not just the horizontal time plane of today but
the vertical plane of the historical past and the future to come. She embraces and loves all in time and space.
What troubles you about the church?
The
political factions that have formed, those on the encrusted right and those on
the deconstructing left.
Why is history of the church
important?
It
is the history of western culture. There
is no concept of western culture without the Catholic Church.
Was Vatican II too optimistic?
I’m
not knowledgeable enough to say, but I think it came at the wrong time in
history and it was its follow through was abused by people with a political
agenda.
What disappoints you the most about
the church?
Bad
priests. I didn’t believe the sex abuse
scandals when they first came out because I didn’t think priests could act that
way. People go to priests in times of
crises and need their trust. Violations
of that trust may be among the worst sins possible.
Who in the church have you admired
most?
Great
priests that would be here meaningless to name.
Great orthodox theologians. And I
too love Popes JPII and Benedict XVI because they are both great priests and
great theologians.
What needs to change in the church?
Corruption.
How should we think of the role of
the pope?
Protector
of the Magisterium, of orthodoxy, of the deposit of faith. As the explainer of the faith. Look at Pope St. John Paul II, he is the
model of the ideal pope.
Any
other thoughts?
The Catholic Church needs to step out more, have processions in the streets, pray in the public, present our faith to the culture at large, on the TV, on the radio, at public displays. We need to do what St. Dominic did in the Twelfth Century, preach to the public for the salvation of souls.
Good questions and answers. I think what I would add
ReplyDeleteabout what disappoints me about the Church is how the social arm has been so distorted as to appear to be in line with the Left-wing politics of the country.
Thank you Jan. I agree.
Delete