(Posted by Glaucon Jr)
"Jesus Wept." That the most expressive image of the Lord I've ever seen.
After writing my last
bit on how the ambiguity of Vatican II makes for most of the chaos in the
Church today, I got to thinking.
I still hear some
screeching here and there about unity, communion with one another, and “that
they all may be one” (John 17:21). It’s to the point that people begin invoking
that quotation from our Lord since anything that breaks the unity of the
Church—even the local Church—is anti-Christian, then so is our demand for order
and justice and sound doctrine that upsets the unity (or their desire not to deal with the
problem). Hon has at a minimum implied this. His actions have done far worse.
There isn’t unity on
Guam and hasn’t been in a LONG time, and the anti-Christian breaking of the
unity wasn’t done by us; it was done by the archbishop, who is the symbol of
the unity of Church on Guam. All the rest of this is just going along to get
along, and that’s not peace or unity or communion at all.
JungleWatch Nation knows
all this, and that’s part of what’s been going on here. The variety of posts
here come from a variety of styles and views and skill sets—all with the
purpose of bring an authentic unity back to the Church on Guam. The political
and legal analysis, the exposing of all the sordid backroom stuff, the
surviving of ten years in the NCW way, the analysis of Kiko’s thought, and the
theological and spiritual explorations of what’s at stake-- all of these drive
home the point that (in the words of Frenchie) we have a long way to go still.
For me, this blog has
been an enormous source of encouragement not only TO fight better, but more often,
more offensively (rather than defensively), and with a greater variety of strategies in other areas of the Faith.
Best of all, I find myself having a clarity in this fight that reminds me that
fortitude is our most neglected virtue. And I have the other writers and the
readers here to thank for that. We hope you, the reader, feel the same way.
“That they all may be
one” is absolutely what should be; the Lord said so. But that unity
flows from the doctrinal order and just governance in the
Church. Until those two are restored, there cannot be unity—not because we
refuse, but because it’s like trying to ride a bike without wheels.
And until Hon and Rome
figure out that bit of 2nd grade math and do their duty to
teach authentic doctrine and to govern justly, then it’s on them. The burden is
squarely on them (see Lumen Gentium 21 if anyone like
Hon tries to blame JW, CCOG, LFM and others for their failure to teach and lead). As they love to remind us, it's the bishop's job.
Fine, Archbishop. So get your head out of your ass and do it.
Fine, Archbishop. So get your head out of your ass and do it.
Only a poor wreckage of a woman would let a man batter her and still go on believing that he loves her. Hon, you had better not expect us to melt at that weak smile when we know full well about the lies and the slaps that you and your NCW masters have planned.
Glaucon you hit nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteDisunity Archdiocese of Agana Guam is caused because Archbishop Apuron failed to teach catholic doctrine and he led an unjust malicious reckless vicious regime. Those who dare speak against regime were removed in various ways.This is a war of revenge Glaucon. It is a war against Apuron and all violent men who protected him. Until they leave there is no unity! This is fed by a very deep hate.
Many people feel that way, and Apruon and his regime have created the environment for all of this. But the disunity goes beyond our feelings: it's a disunity in matter AND form. Apuron did not govern with any justice whatsoever, and he actively promoted heresy and persecuted orthodox Catholics.
DeleteBy definition, there cannot be unity until both of these are restored, and that must include taking out the trash.
Apuron's lack of prudence Justice wisdom are the very reasons a Karma is rising ahainst him.
DeleteHad Apuron have treated others with respect with human dignity instead of treating them like dogs we would not be reading the comments we do.
Strong comment,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%.
Who brings division is the devil and his followers. Only this is enough to see what happens and from which route arrives this caos organized in Guam.
The work of all of you is helping also oustside the borders of Guam you know.
Thank you.
This is an excellent piece, Glaucon! Unity and harmony within the church are achieved when the foundation for unity and harmony is in place. You name (1) doctrinal order and (2) just governance as key components to that foundation. When those components are missing the Church flounders. The Archdiocese of Agana is an example. Some members of the Faithful who tell themselves that their faith is between them and God only, and convince themselves that the current mess within the local Church (and the all work to straighten out the mess) are factors of their faith from which they can distance themselves are fooling themselves. The expression of our faith is not one dimensional “between just me and God”. The expression of our faith also includes expressing our faith with our faith community. That’s what makes faith robust and multi-dimensional for every individual. Even if your faith is strong, yet your faith community is in a state of dis-harmony and dis-unity, whether you notice it or not, your desire and your actual practice to express that faith is lessened to some degree. The mess in the local Church adversely affects how you practice your faith. It can be as basic as while at mass and, listening to a homily, you find yourself thinking if the priest practices what he preaches; Or, going to mass but even before getting there being aware of not feeling excited about the possibility that mass will bring spiritual enrichment to you and your fellow parishioners; Or, feeling that you should skip mass all together and just pray at home and lay low on participating in the life of your parish community until the mess is cleaned up (which, realistically, will take years). As it relates to keeping our faith strong, the big picture here is that the works of JugleWatch CCOG, LFM and others to straighten out the local Church ultimately will lead each and every member of the local Faithful to continue to develop and/or continue to maintain a strong faith. The works in progress to challenge the Church’s leadership’s decisions when those decisions don’t look right or make sense; to offer assistance with expert knowledge and skill to straighten out each mess; to call out the Church on obvious wrongdoing and questionable practices --- ultimately, God willing, will make for a harmonious and unified local Church. The great benefit to that is you will be able to express your faith, not only privately between you and God, but also in community --- and with joy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tan Rose, for your comment. As you say this "between just me and God" phenomenon is the mark of Protestantism, and always has been, whether any of us know it or not. That's how much this aberration of the sense of all of us as the body of Christ has really infected our thinking. I'm sorry to say that means that so many of us cannot face the truth, and therefore we hide because we cannot bear the truth and the pain it brings.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing such a thing back to our attention