My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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Thanks to some good Catholic Christian friends I've had occasion to reflect on and discuss these matters at some length over time. Time actually is itself a gift from God and in the time in between our exchanges, upon further reflection, by the grace of God it occurred to me that our "fencing" over such matters might get closer to the
target by taking a more concrete approach. Let's examine
different scenarios or venues in which to apply these
principles, or to put it differently, two primary modes for
dialogue over God's revealed truth and his will: first, the
classroom mode, and secondly, the confidential mode.
In the "classroom" mode or approach
In a
classroom, regardless of setting or age of the
learners, the professor or teacher is expected to not beat
around the bush presenting the material, in this case, God's
revealed truth and subsequently the Church's teaching on it, and
so to be very clear about the material and also to present
specific cases to illustrate the principles. The clearer and
more direct the presentation, the more likely the participants
may have reactions, questions, comments, and hence a good
discussion may follow. Along the way, the teachers apply their
skills to observe and check out whether or not the material is
being properly assimilated. Depending on the class's responses
and reactions, it may take more or less time for the whole group
to take it all in. It is the teacher's responsibility to map out
over time the presentation and assimilation of the entire
segment of the material and to prepare the class for testing and
for practical exercises.
In the "confidential" mode or approach
In a
confessional or in a priest's
cabinet or
office or when a person
confidentially approaches a
priest for personal advice and counsel, the classroom approach
might risk being perceived as a "dumping" of a whole lot of
theory and stifling the person's ability to express their
concern. If he is not careful, a young inexperienced and zealous
priest, or even an older one, can "cut the person off and stop
them in their tracks" by being too categorical too quickly, and
demonstrating zero patience to allow the person the time to take
it in and wrestle with it. Wrestling with God is one of the
classic images of how God is ready and eager to relate to souls,
as with Jacob who became Israel because of the wrestling, and as
Jesus treated with his apostles and disciples.
What priests must quickly learn in their ministry is that most
of the time, if not all of the time, when people approach us
more formally in one of these or in similar settings, they
initially put out a "feeler", i.e. a formulation of their
concern that is a little more general, or apparently more
theoretical. Whether they realize it or not, they are testing
us, to see whether or not they can trust us, whether or not they
can be safe with us, whether or not we will pour balm on their
hurt or simply intensify the hurt by wounding them some more.
People often already apprehend the truth, to some degree, and
merely need to have it confirmed or clarified.
In the arena of conscience
People, or souls, are often already being disturbed by their conscience, and
are often afraid that they are unable to accept or to take the
full impact and brunt or burden of the truth or of God's will.
In addition they often, as we all do, suffer under imperfect
images or understanding of who God is, and the more fearsome, the
worse it is for them. When people don't have fear of the
Lord but only terror instead, they tend to manifest a conscience
that is more scrupulous.
On the other hand, when people have a false view of God as loving and adopt a falsely "familiar" attitude towards God as "buddy" or as a God who is "permissive"; then they run the great and dangerous risk of presumption, of taking God for granted and avoiding his judgement or justice. The more they live and act out of fear / terror, or out of presumption / permissiveness, the less likely are they to ever truly understand
morality or relate truly to God or know his love and mercy and
finally respond with gratitude, praise, and a return of love
that goes out to others.
Often, before we can say anything to them about the matter of
their concern, it is more urgent to treat their misguided,
mistaken, erroneous, or incomplete images or understanding of
who God is and of what are his ways. Knowing the Lord's ways, or
how God treats souls, makes possible the true "fear of the Lord"
and is the beginning of wisdom. Jeremiah reported in 31:31-34
God's promise that the time would come, and it came with Jesus,
when the Lord would make a new covenant with his people and they
would all know Him, from the greatest to the least, and they
would not need to be instructed because the Lord would instruct
them himself.
After the example of the "Good Shepherd"
So, what proves better is for the priest to be receptive and
just listen at first. After the soul's initial outpouring of concern,
some priests may then "lay down the law" as it were, lest the
person continue to "stray" and get more completely lost.
However, what proves more effective is a similar skill as that
put into practice by the teacher observing and measuring
assimilation of the material, that is, it is for the priest to
initially, before spelling out the truth, asking the person to
say what they understand to be God's will in the matter, or how
much they know of the Church's teaching about the revelation and
will of God.
Then the priest can see whether or not the person knows the
truth and is simply having a hard time accepting it or putting
it into practice, or whether the person is stumbling around in
the dark for not knowing God's revealed truth on the matter or
the Church's teaching of it. The wise and experienced priest,
like the counselor or therapist, then leads the person one step
at a time, and while so doing, observes whether or not the
person is able to take that step in and consider it. If not,
then the reason or obstacle becomes the next point of focus, and
so on. As in the classroom, with the individual, couple, family
or other group, the priest will observe how much they are able
to take the truth in and consider it, and it will become more
apparent how long they have been struggling (often their whole
life) and how much time the process may take.
We have to remember here that it is not our place to "force
open" or "stretch by force" the opening of the consciences and
wills. That is God's job and the Holy Trinity are at work on it
24/7. Our part is to discern how much we can do at any one
sitting and invite the person to continue then with the next
step, and so on. Secondly, we are to do all we can to help the
person(s) anticipate to be tested in real time by the events of
life and also by the Lord. Our role, like the role of every
Christian to "walk with others in their faith journey", is to
encourage souls and to learn the Lord's ways, to discover what
the Lord is like, and to "Be a man and accept the Lord's
discipline...." says 1 Kings 2
In a more
casual setting such as before or after Mass
or a coincidental encounter in public or other such "bumping
into" each other, when a person puts an ethical or moral
question to a priest, once again the priest must realize that
just as in the more formal settings, people initially "test" us
to see whether or not they can trust us not to hurt them, not to
"rape" or "violence" them with the truth, wielding it like a
club to subdue them or to impress it upon them and "control"
their conscience, or contrarily, whether we will manifest
respect for their conscience, i.e., whether we will respond in
the knowledge that in the end it is for them to decide and to
act in conscience before the Lord. God alone is competent to
judge souls because He alone knows them better than we know
ourselves.
People want to know that we will "release" them into the Lord's
hands and allow them to conduct themselves upon the knowledge of
the truth, just as parents do when they send their children out
to go to school or to other activities out in the world. God
trust us even to the point of allowing us to get it wrong, to
makes mistakes, and to learn from them. In God's school we
always have the option of learning the "easy" way and the "hard"
way.
In conclusion, let us follow Jesus in his shepherd Pope Francis
In conclusion, then, I believe that a primary reason for the
persisting confusion in public discourse over Pope Francis'
"Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia" is that
most participants in the public debate are functioning in
the "classroom mode", whereas Pope Francis is appealing to both
pastors and souls to leave the "classroom mode" to those other
settings of learning, and instead, to pay closer attention to
the "confidential mode".
Pope Francis gave the universal Church - with the conviction that Almighty God ardently desired it for his Church - the Jubilee Year of Mercy precisely due to the urgency of leading the Lord's flock away from "terror" of the Lord or excessive and false "familiarity" with the Lord and, instead, to real experience of the Lord and both just (and so confessing to Him) and merciful (and so approaching Him in his priests without fear).
Pope Francis from his very first days as Bishop of Rome has been continually, energetically, and confidently exhorting pastors to show mercy
through hospitality of spirit, kindness, understanding,
patience, generosity, and gentleness; while simultaneously exhorting souls
to practice greater trust in the Lord and confidence in his
mercy and in his presence and power at work in his priests, and
to approach God through priests and other people exercising pastoral
ministry without fear.
The longer those engaged in this debate continue to avoid
discerning the difference between these two modes, approaches,
or objectives - the "classroom mode" and the "confidential mode" - the greater, thicker, deeper, and more
destructive will the confusion become. That is what I have been
trying to elucidate all along through my stumbling and bumbling
comments and reflections; so thank you dear friends in the Lord, for granting me
the venue and opportunity to clarify my thought.
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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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