It came to me as I received the Lord today. Both experientially and theologically, Catholic life is less about remembering the past, and is more about living in grace in the present. The old man doesn't finally die long ago; he dies here and now as we take the gifts of our sonship and use them for that purpose.
But it shows me more and more how stupid sin is. Sin is acting against our sonship, and with all the gifts of the Church, it's even more pointless. Added to the blessings of sonship, there is the pursuit of further holiness, and the glories of intercession and mysticism. Even the heights of Protestantism can't touch this. It's the sacraments, mainly.
You'd think I'd be talking less about the present. After all, if you say "Catholic Church," you might get "tradition" and "history" back in answer. But let's not mistake her evidences, her reasons for credibly telling us what to do, for the essence of the thing.
I have to think that while my Reformed comrades and I had great faith and knowledge after a fashion, even the best of us would terrify your average vocations director in the Catholic Church. I was so wicked, and frankly, there was no real way to be otherwise. If everything is a sin, then nothing is. And a cycle of scrupulous zeal and total burnout is pretty normal.
Anyway, I'm trying to remember that especially Jenny and Jamie need my prayers, even if I don't feel like praying. There is a strong sense of "just do it" in the Catholic Church, and I'm glad for that, if nothing else.
But it shows me more and more how stupid sin is. Sin is acting against our sonship, and with all the gifts of the Church, it's even more pointless. Added to the blessings of sonship, there is the pursuit of further holiness, and the glories of intercession and mysticism. Even the heights of Protestantism can't touch this. It's the sacraments, mainly.
You'd think I'd be talking less about the present. After all, if you say "Catholic Church," you might get "tradition" and "history" back in answer. But let's not mistake her evidences, her reasons for credibly telling us what to do, for the essence of the thing.
I have to think that while my Reformed comrades and I had great faith and knowledge after a fashion, even the best of us would terrify your average vocations director in the Catholic Church. I was so wicked, and frankly, there was no real way to be otherwise. If everything is a sin, then nothing is. And a cycle of scrupulous zeal and total burnout is pretty normal.
Anyway, I'm trying to remember that especially Jenny and Jamie need my prayers, even if I don't feel like praying. There is a strong sense of "just do it" in the Catholic Church, and I'm glad for that, if nothing else.
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