Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - June 26, 2021
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
NOTE: This post from Friday, June 25 is posted again today, Saturday June 26, to emphasize the importance of Pope Francis’ message
Pope Francis repeats traditional Catholic teaching on conscience
and Vatican Council II’s teaching on the People of God.
It is good for us to remember that the church is not an elite of priests or consecrated people, of bishops -- but that everyone forms the People of God.
We trust that the Holy Spirit works in and with them (laypeople), and that this Spirit is not the (exclusive) 'property' of the ecclesial hierarchy.
It is not the pastor who must say to the layperson that which they must do and say; he or she knows more and better than us. It is not for the pastor to decide what the faithful must say in their diverse settings.
It is illogical, and even impossible, to think that we as pastors should have the monopoly on solutions for the many challenges that modern life presents to us. On the contrary, we must remain at the side of our people, accompanying them in their work and stimulating that capable imagination of responding to current problems.
We (Pope, bishop, priests) have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.
We (Church authorities) ... find it hard to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who ... are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations.
Decisions involving responsible parenthood presuppose the formation of conscience, which is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person. There each one is alone with God, whose voice echoes in the depths of the heart.
We are called to serve them (lay people), not them to serve us.
The context:
“The concern in the Vatican,” said Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest and close ally of Francis “is not to use access to the Eucharist as a political weapon.”
Pope Francis, preached this month that communion “is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners.”
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!”
