We had a surprisingly heated discussion this morning with the priest who came to celebrate Mass at the convent chapel. (It may still be going on; after an hour and a half I excused myself.) Father's not exactly a fan of the Theology of the Body (thinks it's old-school "physicalism" in a new, artistic package), and that it is pastorally arrogant for a Pope to tell contracepting couples that their body language is lying... Lately, especially, Father has been harassed by rather legalistic souls--one of them not only called the Archdiocese about the (massive) parish crucifix not being in the center of the Church, but, getting no satisfaction there, called the priest's Superior General to "report" this alleged liturgical violation. Things like this do nothing to open a progressive clergyman's heart to other matters that tend to be espoused from the right side of the pew: he lumps Theology of the Body in with nit-picking, hyper-critical political style conservatism, and wants to have absolutely nothing to do with it.
There's not much chance of getting Father to read our recent titles, "The Human Person According to John Paul II" or "Women, Sex and the Church." Or to read the Catholic mommy blogs of women who were brought up with all the culture's presumptions about sexuality, choice, contraception and women's rights--and who (to their profound amazement) discovered that the Catholic Church had something not just different, but redeeming, to offer them. If he could at least be open to what these women had to say about the difference it makes in their lives, he might be a little less harsh (not to say scornful) of what he sees as the Church's "thou shalt not" mentality.
Anyway, here are a few of the posts I would love to share with that priest, and other people, lay and ordained, who, like him, are convinced that all the wonderful gains of Vatican II are being destroyed and we are moving back into the Dark Ages of a small Church of the elect, safe in their circled wagons. These mommies are not keeping their light under a bushel, but letting it shine brightly:
Jennifer
Abigail
Elizabeth
Kristen (who writes from her experience of infertility)
More links coming!
(Later in the day...)
Oh, I forgot to add the guy's perspective: for starters, here's
Marcel
and Brantly
(It's amazing to me how many of these extremely articulate and committed TOB people are converts to Catholicism!)
Thursday, September 02, 2010
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4 comments:
Thanks for great resources via blog and insights via the Spirit.
Holy mackerel -- "circled wagons" is the exact phrase I used to define ultratraditionalists. I'm sorry you were upset, but look what it brought forth! Thank you.
:-)
Some of the ultra-trads ARE circling the wagons, basically cutting the "unredeemed" out of the picture, which is the opposite of the Gospel mandate to "go into the whole world and tell the Good News." An odd thing that Sr Helena noticed is that some extremely conservative Catholic parents are saying that as long as they and their children are "unpolluted," that's all that matters; they do not want to even learn the Theology of the Body, much less share it with others. But people who discover TOB tend to want to get the message out: it is life-giving and lovely, like a spectacular sunset (enjoyed all the more when it is shared).
Add this to the list:
http://elizabeth-kathryn-gerold-miller.blogspot.com/
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