Daily Breakfast 533 - Daredevils
Today: 5K run; the artistic crime of the century: Man on Wire; those pesky Dutch Dominicans; Fitness: how to get started; Prison Break, VisualHub and my iPod Touch; Star Wars audiobooks and other listening tips.
About the Author
Dear Fr. Roderick,
Writing to you from the Netherlands, I was a little surprised by your conservative stance in your discussion of the Dominicans’ initiative. I understand that there are limits to what you are allowed to say and that quick change in the massive structure of the church is frequently unwelcome or simply unwise.
However, I would like to point out that at least two of the disciples were married and that according to tradition Mary of Magdalen preached the Gospel and converted several in southern France. I also want to point at the following scripture, concerning the status of authority in the community of worshipers:
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.” (Matthew 23:8-10)
Best regards,
Marius
I’ve heard of this French guy; I work in my local library and flipped through the children’s book adaptation of the story while straigtening up the shelves.
Marius,
Two points to respond to in your post.
1) It is not dogma or doctrine that priests must be celibate, it is a discipline. And here we’re talking specifically about the Latin Rite. However, it’s a discipline that’s served the Church well for hundreds of years and isn’t likely to be changed anytime soon. Just by way of comparison, I think in about 20 of the 22 Eastern Rites in full communion with Rome, priests are allowed to be married. Different Rites have different disciplines. All of them can rightfully be called Catholic.
2) Concerning the quote from scripture - “He was using hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point) to show the scribes and Pharisees how sinful and proud they were for not looking humbly to God as the source of all authority and fatherhood and teaching, and instead setting themselves up as the ultimate authorities, father figures, and teachers.
Christ used hyperbole often, for example when he declared, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:29, cf. 18:9; Mark 9:47). Christ certainly did not intend this to be applied literally, for otherwise all Christians would be blind amputees! (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:15). We are all subject to “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).”
See here for a fuller explanation of this verse: http://www.catholic.com/library/call_no_man_father.asp
Another excellent episode Father, especially knowing that you were doing a marathon of episodes before leaving.
There may be other comments in later blogs, but I am about a week behind in my DB listening. So, that being said, I wanted to comment on the Dominican question that was brought up.
Obviously, they are on the fringe and they tend to get the attention of the secular media. The whole notion of celibacy is very misunderstood in our self indulgent culture.
I guess my complaint (not with the Church, but with some of her members) is that anyone (or so it seems) who is the slight bit “progressive” (NOT on the fringe like the Dutch OP’s) get labeled as a whacko by so many of the conservative members of the church. The whole notion of priesthood seems to be turning away from the “servant” model to the “cutlic” model. I have a friend who is the vice-rector of a seminary and he tells me that there are some candidates who think that their job as a priest will be to celebrate the Eucharist. That’s about it…
The People of God have a “right” to the sacraments and in particular to the Eucharist. But to have it confected by a “Mass Machine” type of priest cheapens it in my opinion.
So, the solution is NOT what those Dutch Dominicans suggest, but what the Holy Spirit has in store for us. We have to remember that we are on God’s time and not our time. If God wants women to be priests, then that will happen - but not on our timetable. If God wants priests to be able to marry, it will happen, but on God’s time.
Unfortunately Vatican-II, which I have to believe was inspired by that same Holy Spirit, has not been fully realized. There have been abuses, for sure, but that does not mean that we hold back on reforms. The whole controversy over the New Mass vs. the Old Mass is one that is really bogus in my opinion. The traditionalists tell me that the Mass I attend isn’t really what God wants, and the other side tells me that we can’t go back to the Tridentine Mass… yada yada yada.
WE have to be patient and know that God watches over the Church and guides it. Not the way the Dutch Domincans want it, nor the way Father “Z” wants it… but God’s way.