tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239469.post9078181303901521969..comments2023-07-17T11:31:07.993-04:00Comments on The Little Wretches: Wretched Adventearthiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11022185844621299329noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239469.post-17292998582669633952006-12-21T10:21:00.000-05:002006-12-21T10:21:00.000-05:00"and even if some of it is the result of misplaced..."and even if some of it is the result of misplaced priorities, I trust that the Lord makes good use of it for His own purposes."<br /><br />Amen to that.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15568473711813544808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239469.post-25047403556590252362006-12-21T10:18:00.000-05:002006-12-21T10:18:00.000-05:00Thanks for your thoughts, Paul!
I did not mean to...Thanks for your thoughts, Paul!<br /><br />I did not mean to suggest that this is a great thing and should be encouraged. But neither can you, I think, attribute it all to vanity or being overly influenced by the world. Again I'm not saying that isn't also present, I certainly experience that in myself, but to say that it is all due to sin really seems to question a lot more than you might think. Namely, whether Baptism is the most definitive vow (The Christian State of Life) or if the Holy Spirit is truly the guiding force of the Church. (I love being dramatic, it's true, but statements really do have big implications)<br /><br />There are some gifts that a vow-less person has to offer the Church in a unique way. In secular settings they witness to chastity before marriage- something I don't have to tell you is rare. They have tremendous availability to volunteer their time and efforts to various charitable causes without neglecting any primary responsibilities. They are able to devote themselves entirely to study and developing friendships. I do not think these are things to set aside as if they were unimportant or fruitless, even if they are not the most important.<br /><br />What fruit do we bear? God only knows. And I mean that sincerely! "Realize, O Christian, your dignity"... we carry the world with us to Christ no less than any other person (well, in proportion to our response) DeLubac wrote in Catholicism that no one is Catholic for himself alone. If we could comprehend the hugeness of Who it is we carry, of the task entrusted to us, we'd probably be paralyzed by it.<br /><br />Basically, I'm saying that in our age no less than any other, everything matters. I can't believe that it is inconsequential to have faithful vowless people running around, and even if some of it is the result of misplaced priorities, I trust that the Lord makes good use of it for His own purposes. The tremendousness of grace, and of having people in the state of grace, praying and waiting in this middle state, is not to be discounted!earthiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11022185844621299329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239469.post-39154059290628589382006-12-20T16:36:00.000-05:002006-12-20T16:36:00.000-05:00"...there seem to be increasing numbers of “us”- f..."...there seem to be increasing numbers of “us”- faithful vow-less 20-and 30-somethings. This is not accidental and the whole of it is fruitful. It must be the way the Holy Spirit is working in our age."<br /><br />Interesting. It's a topic I've often revisited and wondered about. What then, with this 'catholic mafia', is the Holy Spirit doing in this age? <br /><br />I tend to view the phenomenon of so many faithful 20- and 30-somethings not having found vocations not as a good thing, but as ultimately the influence of a wayward culture which scorns commitment and sacrifice. It's not that Catholic A scorns commitment, but that the world's influence has provoked in him certain habits that inhibit the requisite openness. And neither is it that Catholic B is afraid of sacrifice, but she’s believed too many lies about who she is and, more importantly, who God is.<br /><br />In a word—-vanity. Faithful Catholics have not been left unscathed by the vanity of our age, by its idolatrous confusion. Perhaps we faithful Catholics need to get over ourselves and embrace radically a Gospel which demands everything of us. Perhaps, would not be vow-less if we were not so attached to the status quo of this age—-an age which is certainly passing away in any event.<br /><br />On the other hand, there is your suggestion that “the whole of it is fruitful.” But what fruit are we to bear through our baptized post-modern isolation?—-what fruit, though our vow-lessness? Is suffering quietly, awaiting the new advent, the patience that this must teach us… is this fruit? Is all our open possibility the very horizon of this advent? I wonder, because I have no explanation for it.<br /><br />But I ramble--good post. Thanks for provoking.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15568473711813544808noreply@blogger.com