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The Kingdom Is Funny Like That

 Precisely one day after the pope reaffirmed CCC, 2267 on the death penalty--especially in light of the justified furor of the US president and the Department of Defense (not blessing the name change) announced they're going to livestream the execution of the Ft. Hood shooter--the pope announced that he's got a concerning nodule on one lung, and that doctors advised him to let them remove it.

I never actually saw The Butterfly Effect, but it was a film about how a small action can have a totally unexpected impact on others and things. Far be it for me to guess at the workings of Providence, but it seems like this struggle for Pope Leo has provided many Catholics and separated Christians another opportunity to love and pray for him. As a side-note, when I say that I don't care what other Christians say about ethics or doctrine, I don't mean it strictly; I only mean that we're the Church founded by Jesus Christ; Peter is going to lead, even if other scattered disciples have no interest in following him. I'm happy to discuss it with friends in good faith. But if you think Pope Leo leads the Harlot of Babylon, it probably won't be productive.

There are a lot of Catholics who have not learned the first lesson of discipleship: obedience. We submit to our leaders to obey the Scriptures, as Jesus told the Apostles, "He who hears you hears me." (Luke 10:16) When oddballs aren't using St. Paul to metaphorically attempt to put Baby (women) in a corner, he's clear enough in Ephesians 5:21: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Look, I will preemptively concede that I am intellectually unworthy to untie the sandals of the brightest minds in the American church, to say nothing of the whole thing around the world. Ed Feser is probably programming the android of himself now, in the unfortunate event of his untimely departure from this land of the living. Could I miss nuances of things that the biggest nerds we have love to debate in academic papers? Sure. I'm just a social studies/English teacher, with a funny habit of teaching Sacred Scripture and catechism on the side. I'm even aware that the Catechism paragraphs carry only the authority of their sources. But I taught OCIA; I had a right to assume and expect that the Catechism is the Symbol of our submission to Christ and the Church. I don't think about anything in there any more deeply than that. I myself professed that everything the Catholic Church proclaims and teaches is revealed by God. Any hair-splitting beyond that strikes me as a waste of time. I only care about "Church politics" to the extent that errors affect the transmission of our faith. No more and no less.

You can dismiss me with whatever language you like, but I have been following Sister Helen Prejean's work since I was a teenager, with respect and admiration. My heart was ready for the development codified in the "new" CCC, 2267 since 1995. In strictly practical terms, capital punishment here in the US has only harmed justice, respect for law, and human dignity. If the last best hope for eternal salvation--the Catholic Church--is saying it also, suffice to say, I have never had an easier time submitting in my life. 

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