Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s on the “I’m Catholic, but….” crowd:
“ I am a Catholic politician but I don’t let my Catholicism impact on how I vote or what legislation I promote;” but Jesus says (Mt 7:26-27), “Everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
“ I am a Catholic physician but I don’t let my faith mold my decisions regarding abortion, contraception, or other medical practices;” but Jesus says Mt 5:37), “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”
“ I am a Catholic talk show host but I don’t let the Church inhibit my right to say whatever I want on the air;” but in the Letter of James, God says (2:17) “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
“ I am a Catholic priest but I don’t let Magisterial teaching keep me from dissenting from moral or doctrinal points nor let it limit my own ‘pastoral solutions’;” but at ordination each priest professes a solemn oath, “I believe everything contained in God’s Word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church… I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by the Church definitively regarding teaching on faith and morals.”
Lent is the time to kick the “Catholic but…” out of our own daily lives. It is the time to expunge rationalization from our minds and to root out compromise from our hearts. Lent is the time to say a determined “No” to the temptation to water down our faith for personal gain. It is the time to say a much larger “Yes” to Jesus and His Gospel of Life. Lent is the time for Totus Tuus, the time to renew our commitment to love God with all our mind and heart and strength…..
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Thanks to Not-a-Liturgist at Liturgiam Authenticam for this link.
Wow Peony! Great article. Thanks for sharing.
does “i’m a catholic but i’ll still kick your @$$” count?
oh, smock, that sounds great!
once when our dear fundie-prot friend was over to dinner, my dh was recounting a situation at work in he had expressed serious reservations about his boss’s firing someone, to which his boss patronizingly replied, “Oh, that’s just your Catholic guilt talking.”
Our friend’s response? “If anyone said that to me, I’d show them my Catholic fist.”