I will not bore you with arcane discussions of infallibility, or somehow insist that no pastoral decision can ever be questioned. But I must be honest with you: I'm uncomfortable with a great many people who believe that they can dance right up to the line of open rebellion, and as long as they don't cross it, they think they can say whatever they want.
I wish I had the grace to "weep with those who weep" over recent decisions, but I don't. People's defensiveness just proves that somebody had a point. I would rather be accused of being a fervent yes-man, than be shown to be the opposite. If what we believe about the Church is true, we cannot openly defy the sacred shepherds, while at the same time insist to the world that we are their only hope of salvation. Something has to give. My favorite Psalm is the 73rd, and one line from it is often translated, "If I would have spoken thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children." In short, in public on the record, I don't need to say anything to the pastors. Sorry, but not.
If I can say this in all charity, "Suck it up, Buttercup." If you'd leave because you can't have your way, it's not Jesus you follow. If I had to put up with clowns and Marty Haugen songs for the good of souls, I'd do it. Conversely, if I had only the liturgy of 1962 for the rest of my life, fine. We have Jesus; after that, any consolation is a luxury. Choose this day whom you will serve.
This is quite apart from what I think is most fitting. Clowns and Marty Haugen songs may indeed be injurious to souls. The key point is, we're not in charge. Many people think "Shut up and pray" enables every nightmare we can imagine, but as one Borg drone to another, "Shut up and pray." I have no time to apologize for the "scandals" caused by pastoral decisions made when my mother was 14. If you need sympathy on that, go somewhere else.
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