You realize this will never happen. The point of the Catholic Church, indeed, of being a Christian, is to not "get with the times." People in every age who are "with it" are being foolish, and hurting themselves.
This doesn't mean you have to stop watching the Patriots, or throw your Taylor Swift albums in the trash, per se, but if Jesus and the Holy Spirit call you to do it (for any number of reasons) you should. It does mean that if the Church says homosexual practices, fornication, adultery, and any number of things are sins, then they are. No amount of Cool Points will ever change that, and no amount of dislike for a person or people (or affection for still others) will ever invalidate the things Jesus has taught us.
It's passe to believe even that God in Christ has said anything, much less definitively through the Catholic Church, but there we are. Not only does religion make no sense without this concept of revelation in general, but being a Christian is utterly pointless without it. Lots of people fashion complicated explanations for the persistence of religious belief, but most of them are silly.
I'll tell you mine, and it's devastatingly simple: Every religion on this planet--whether revealed in part or wholly by God, or constructed by man, is a response to God. We are made for God. The idea of God was not fashioned in the mind of a person; it's people reaching out for what they know to be true, because God has given us this capacity for Him. He reaches down; we reach up. With any luck (or grace) we touch.
Now, admittedly, I am from what some may describe as the "sentimental hippie" wing of the Church, so I won't be consigning Ben Shapiro or Bishop Barron (or anyone else) to the fires of Hell this week. But--this is key--this is the Church that Christ established. All people are called to membership in her, and all are called to abide here. I leave it to God as Judge in the marginal cases, and those who don't quite get there in this life. All the judgments of the Lord are just, and righteous altogether. Yet if I don't say to you, "This is where salvation is to be found," I do not truly love you.
I doubt any of my students in RCIA (the class for those adults who wish to enter the Catholic Church) would say I lack in directness! But just in case you had a doubt about what I believe, I'm telling you as clearly and simply as I can.
Truthfully, I have no patience for those who think that the very concept of revealed truth is a power grab; some people don't want to tell you whether X is a sin, because either they claim not to know, or they have such a strong disdain for those who tell the truth about sin that they dance around important questions. I don't want to do that. When nuance is important and necessary, it is given. When a yes/no answer is required, that's what you'll get. I'm no expert, but I've met Jesus. If I can't give you a good answer, I know those who can.
I always believed in God, and for most of my life, that He has spoken in His Son. We all have errors in understanding, especially before we find the true Church Christ founded. But it is imperative that those who, "holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith", do so fearlessly and without apology. Always with gentleness, respect, and charity, but fearlessly. The boldness of those first followers of Jesus came from the fact that they encountered him, crucified but risen from the dead, after they had all but given up. Our boldness too comes from this personal encounter with Jesus, though less tangible and with many centuries between.
"Who do you say that I am?" This is the question Jesus, one way or another, asks each one of us. To me, this is the fulcrum of Christianity. It is true that we must live in accord with what we profess. It is also true that there is no Christianity without Christ, the crucified God-man, risen from the dead.
It's passe, but then, so is bowling, and nobody seems to mind.
This doesn't mean you have to stop watching the Patriots, or throw your Taylor Swift albums in the trash, per se, but if Jesus and the Holy Spirit call you to do it (for any number of reasons) you should. It does mean that if the Church says homosexual practices, fornication, adultery, and any number of things are sins, then they are. No amount of Cool Points will ever change that, and no amount of dislike for a person or people (or affection for still others) will ever invalidate the things Jesus has taught us.
It's passe to believe even that God in Christ has said anything, much less definitively through the Catholic Church, but there we are. Not only does religion make no sense without this concept of revelation in general, but being a Christian is utterly pointless without it. Lots of people fashion complicated explanations for the persistence of religious belief, but most of them are silly.
I'll tell you mine, and it's devastatingly simple: Every religion on this planet--whether revealed in part or wholly by God, or constructed by man, is a response to God. We are made for God. The idea of God was not fashioned in the mind of a person; it's people reaching out for what they know to be true, because God has given us this capacity for Him. He reaches down; we reach up. With any luck (or grace) we touch.
Now, admittedly, I am from what some may describe as the "sentimental hippie" wing of the Church, so I won't be consigning Ben Shapiro or Bishop Barron (or anyone else) to the fires of Hell this week. But--this is key--this is the Church that Christ established. All people are called to membership in her, and all are called to abide here. I leave it to God as Judge in the marginal cases, and those who don't quite get there in this life. All the judgments of the Lord are just, and righteous altogether. Yet if I don't say to you, "This is where salvation is to be found," I do not truly love you.
I doubt any of my students in RCIA (the class for those adults who wish to enter the Catholic Church) would say I lack in directness! But just in case you had a doubt about what I believe, I'm telling you as clearly and simply as I can.
Truthfully, I have no patience for those who think that the very concept of revealed truth is a power grab; some people don't want to tell you whether X is a sin, because either they claim not to know, or they have such a strong disdain for those who tell the truth about sin that they dance around important questions. I don't want to do that. When nuance is important and necessary, it is given. When a yes/no answer is required, that's what you'll get. I'm no expert, but I've met Jesus. If I can't give you a good answer, I know those who can.
I always believed in God, and for most of my life, that He has spoken in His Son. We all have errors in understanding, especially before we find the true Church Christ founded. But it is imperative that those who, "holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith", do so fearlessly and without apology. Always with gentleness, respect, and charity, but fearlessly. The boldness of those first followers of Jesus came from the fact that they encountered him, crucified but risen from the dead, after they had all but given up. Our boldness too comes from this personal encounter with Jesus, though less tangible and with many centuries between.
"Who do you say that I am?" This is the question Jesus, one way or another, asks each one of us. To me, this is the fulcrum of Christianity. It is true that we must live in accord with what we profess. It is also true that there is no Christianity without Christ, the crucified God-man, risen from the dead.
It's passe, but then, so is bowling, and nobody seems to mind.
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