You could remind me that the paragraphs in the universal Catechism have different levels of assent they require of us, and consequently, the formulations are only as true as the teachings they rely on. And that’s true. But I am not a PhD, for one, and practically, levels of assent don’t help most people. When I read the Catechism, it is my intention to believe what the Church teaches, to understand what the words mean as best I can, and if I can’t understand, to seek those with more faith and/or knowledge than I have.
Frankly, though I have great zeal for our faith, I have never been able to consent to the label “traditionalist.” It seems to be a habit of mind that supposes that the Church in her spiritual dimension can err, and that the men set apart by God to govern and teach us are not owed submission or deference in any respect. Moreover, there is a conceit that a purer time in the past existed, and that if we draw from this alone, we will be unstained by the world. Yet all this replaces faith and trust with nostalgia.
If I look back at the Council of Trent or its catechism, I can’t receive its fruits unless I harmonize it with Vatican I, Vatican II, and the universal Catechism. Continuity is the baseline theological assumption in Christianity. Any theology that assumes rupture must be false. On the contrary; Jesus and the Holy Spirit have promised to protect the Church, by the will of the Father.
We ourselves don’t have the right to assert that “the Holy Spirit is moving in a new way” against the Church. Individuals receive from the Church what they believe, not the other way around. We share our spiritual gifts with our brothers and sisters, but always in accord with the Word of God. If the faith were not able to be known, St. John could not exhort us to “test the spirits, to see if they are from God.” We have the four Gospels because those men walked with Christ, who is God of very God. The other Scriptures are the authentic witness of Christ, and to the good news in Christ in the Church.
Too many people think that meaning well and trying hard are enough to be a true proclaimer of Christ. But the truth in Christ is safeguarded by the Church, and given to the Magisterium. We can know a lot! But none of us are the Master. In the end, this is freeing. Believe and receive. Both easy, and difficult.
It doesn’t really matter if someone thinks that I am a mush-brained hippie, because they aren’t the Magisterium, either. A friend used to joke that there was a “street Catholicism” in contrast to the pope and the bishops in communion with him. But the brute fact is that obedience is the core of Catholic identity. I think that martyrdom and suffering appeals to a certain kind of unbalanced person, because faithfulness is boring. Unsettledness feels more normal than humility and joy and peace. The martyrs truly don’t seek conflict; they can’t avoid it. Others think that rebuking others and being abrasive is martyrdom, when they might just be a clanging cymbal.
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