I think I found more evidence for it...
The first thing to keep in mind is that following Christ is not a career move. The mark of authentic conversion is that it costs you something, not that it gains you something. So if you’re trying to become, say, a “pro-life” or an anti-war or a convert celebrity, that is something, but it is not Christianity. That is to bring the world into the temple; that is to be a money-changer in the temple: to make a name for yourself, to cultivate a reputation, to strive for notoriety based not on your love, but on your “views.” Both the right and the left are simply variations on “the world” in which the goal is power, prestige, efficiency, triumph, and the goal is to shame or bully other people into changing without changing one iota yourself. The Catholic media that traffic in this sort of incessant "opinion"-driven "discussion" seem to me to have very little, if anything, to do with Christ. Keep your own side of the street clean and pray--pray for us all--is more my idea.God is good.
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To write some snarky “opinion” doesn’t cost anything. That’s cheap grace. Nothing infuriated or repulsed or grieved Christ more. The people who wear their five-inch aborted-fetus buttons, to take one of the more unfortunate examples of the religious right, remind me of the Pharisees who prayed loudly on the streetcorners and wore their phylacteries long. "We care," they proclaim; they insist. 'We care more than you do. We’re more outraged than you are. You’re wrong and we’re right."
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Here’s how, in my experience, you know you're becoming a follower of Christ. You begin to want to be seen less, not more. You begin to want to be quieter, not louder. Knowing you’re on the right track doesn’t come from scoring points among your “friends.” Knowing you’re on the right track doesn’t come from winning useless arguments. You find yourself making tiny sacrifices. You find yourself experiencing tiny moments of joy. You find yourself mysteriously drawn to the Gospels, to Confession, to Mass.
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“To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda or even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery; it means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.”
--Cardinal Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, Archbishop of Paris 1940-1949
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-Excerpt from Heather King, Avoiding Both the Catholic Left and the Catholic Right
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Art: Source
Perfect. And that's all I'm going to say.
ReplyDeleteI settled for avoiding most Catholic blogs. Pointless discussions and vitriol to spare. No thank you. I'll stick to politics - it's safer. ;-)
ReplyDeleteFlip me! That's me told..& I do agree with it!
ReplyDeleteMmm! This Kool-Aid tastes good!
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts, Terry. And I like that quote from Cardinal Emmanuel Celestin Suhard.
ReplyDeleteMr. Stilwell, what's the point of that?
ReplyDeleteI have pretty much come to the conclusion that the comboxes of MOST blogs that I frequent are pretty much the equivalent of News of the World...fun to read perhaps but their authority is pretty much NIL....and I'm not going to base my faith on them..
ReplyDeleteBut the conversations sure do make good chatter over a cold brew.. :)
I'll leave my spiritual formation in the hands of my priest and spiritual director, and the Magesterium and our Beloved Papa Benedict.
I might cast out a comment now and then...but keep in mind it is th eGospel According to Sara, and that's all it amounts to be...
Sign me Sara (that that's really me on the handsome steed :)
Terry - I don't know how you find these things, but I really needed to read that. I let Heather know too.
ReplyDeleteSo did I... thanks so much for posting it!
ReplyDeleteTerry, thanks so much! And glad to know of you...Minnesota, the state where I had my last (to date) drink, has a special place in my heart. And I always thrilled to know of another friend of Jacques Fesch.
ReplyDeleteGood Stuff, Ter Bear.
ReplyDelete