Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - October 21, 2021
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
Over 60 years ago John XXIII spoke of opening the windows to let some fresh air into the church; they were opened a bit by Vatican Council II, then someone must've felt a draft. The Bishop of Rome, Francis, seems interested not only in opening the windows but the doors also. "Catholic" after all means universal, all-embracing. In a now famous interview Francis says: "This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people."
Not only is there room for many people, many types of people, in the words of Francis there is also room for mystery (maybe even discussion?) in regard to the church's teachings, a recognition that every bit of teaching is not on the same level of importance or certainty. E.g., he says: "The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you."
Echoing Vatican Council II he maintains: "The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently." Not every teaching or practice in the church is on the same level of importance as the resurrection. Otherwise we risk "losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."
"Freshness and fragrance": no matter that it's late October, it feels like spring!
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
