Longing for a new, unbroken church

I too want renewal but I'm concerned!

What is your description of this future, unbroken church you speak of?
How do you plan to get there?
What is the new Catholic Church's mantra?
Is Marxist-Socialism not a concern to the people of this new church?
Is risking capital sinful or simply good stewardship?
Is it wrong to be repulsed and outraged by scores of ignorant people who's only desire is to live off of the fruits of your labor?
Is it the intentional will of this new Church to think it can acutally advance it's moral agenda by going to bed with the most pro-abortion president in history?

These are real concerns to me when you talk about sharing common experiences.

INSPIRATIONAL YOUTH ! ......... Thanks so much, Jocelyn, for your inspiring example. It is encouraging that so many young people like you and Jamie Manson and so may others are not discouraged in your prophetic endeavors by our unprophetic hierarchy.

We must all strive to do good and help the defenseless and less fortunate, as Jesus commanded.

For efforts we can all make to help protect children as Jesus mandated us to do, for example, please note the NCR comment and related cross links under the comment heading, "Bad Bishops/Good Kids" , accessible by clicking on at:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/small-c-catholic/sexual-misconduct-church-won...

What an egocentric idea, that this generation is so great, or so different, or so spectacular, or so much more concerned with this problem or that plight, that it is superior to all the generations that came before it, and found spiritual sustenance and nourishment in Mother Church. That somehow this generation, unlike every single generation over the past 2000 years, has outgrown the Church.

Ms Sideco writes, "But the buildings and structures of older generations can be likened as old wineskins for new wine. Previous organizations, places of worship and models of church cannot endure the necessary adjustments needed to support the fruit of this generation's experience as marked by serious social problems that cause common people to die a martyr's death".

Because, no other generation in the Church's history had to deal with serious social problems, no other generation saw common people die a martyr's death. There were no martyrs until this generation, since, apparently, there was nothing worth dying for until the "serious social problems" of this modern age.

Forget about 300 years of persecution during the Roman Empire, with countless martyrs dying the kind of deaths that would sicken an average person today. Forget about the Dark Ages, after the fall of the Empire, when the learning, the books, the teachings of the ancients were nearly lost forever, and the bulk of the populace languished in illiteracy. Forget about the civil wars, the wars between Christian sovereigns, the wars between the Islamic East and the Christian West. Forget about the sufferings endured by the North American Martyrs at the hands of the Iroquois. Forget about St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, St. Paul Miki and the martyrs of Nagasaki, the martyrs of Mexico.

Forget about the Protestant Reformation, where countless Roman Catholics suffered disenfranchisement, imprisonment, horrific torture, and equally horrific death, simply for professing the wrong faith at the wrong time. Forget about the suffering and oppression of the innocent Christians, and Muslims and Jews, in Communist Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and China. Forget about the suffering even to this day being endured by Christians in the Middle East, Vietnam and China.

This generation is, of course, the most compassionate, the most concerned about the "serious social problems" they are confronted with. Forget about the great works of charity and compassion of the Church's history -- the first hospitals, orphanages, universities and centers of learning. Forget about the great work of those who have gone before us like Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

This type of self-centered, smug superiority, this generation is so much better than everyone else, knows so much more, cares so much more, has endured so much more, is entirely misplaced. This generation knows nothing of real suffering, of real "social problems". Ask the martyrs whose blood nourishes the Church. They know. Ask St. Ignatius, he knows; for shame to make such claims in his name, who founded his entire order based on fidelity to the Church and to her teachings.

Is there a buzz word that is missing. "Brokenness, institutional, oppression, solidarity, environment..." No liberal stone left unturned. And lot's of the word "me." No real mention of Jesus, but lot's about "me." How "me" needs to be affirmed and "my" experience must be at the center. It's all about "me."

You want a young unbroken Church? Go to World Youth Day. Learn from our elders like Pope Benedict and the young like Blessed Pier Frassati. Compare them to the mostly elderly dissenters who still think it is the '60's. Instead find the beauty that is ever ancient and ever new in our Catholic Church and its tradition. Shut out the whine of dissent. If you want justice then follow truth. And you won't find it at a Call to Action like retreat.

Thanks, Jocelyn, what a wonderful article! You are a blessing to the Church and its future! When I see so many young lay people like yourself coming into committed and innovative ministry and leadership, it is affirmation that the Spirit truly is in charge! Go be those new wine skins! All my prayers and best wishes as you continue forward!

A "NEW" CHURCH
IHM
In 1917, the Blessed Mother appeared several times to three shepherd
children at Fatima, Portugal. In one of these appearances, She sadly told the
children that Her Son was much distressed. She warned the world:
"Do not offend the Lord Our God any more,
for He is already too much offended."
As Our Lady of Fatima said this, the bloodshed of World War I unceasingly
flowed. More than nine million combatants were wasted to death in trench
warfare in World War I.
From the appearances of Our Lady from Fatima, in 1917, until 1920, the
Spanish Flu plagued the world, leaving between fifty million and one hundred
million people dead, 3% to 6% of the world's population at the time, making it
one of the most deadly human disasters in human history.
Then came World War II, which also spread to targeting civilian populations,
leaving more than 100 million dead: those killed in combat, in the Holocaust of
the Jews, in the fire-storms in German and Japanese cities, by the atomic
bombs, etc.
Since 1917, there have been many more horrors: the Cold War (with its
constant threat of nuclear annihilation), the Vietnamese and Korean wars, AIDS,
global warming, earthquakes, tsunamis, fanatical Muslim terrorism, and on and
on and on. It would be tedious to continue enumerating the man-caused and
natural "events" which have devastated the world since Our Lady of Fatima
spoke to the three shepherd children, and warned them that Christ was "too
much offended." She concluded Her visit to Fatima by saying that if the world
listened to Her, and converted, She would bring Peace.
The world never seemed to listen. On one hand, with Christ's anger, and on
the other hand, with Satan roaming the earth and entering the Church, our world
has not been a pretty place since Mary's appearance at Fatima.
She told us later She was restraining the Arm of Her Son. In place of Christ's
striking the world with even more dire "events," the action following His anger
has been restrained and diminished by His Mother. Her ways are more gentle
ways; but, they are effective ways, more personal and more sensitive. She
generally sends her saints down to earth to accomplish them.
In this essay, with good reason, I'll arbitrarily define offenses against Christ
to mean only "GRAVE SINS" in violation of the First Commandment, although
other sins must surely offend Him. GRAVE SINS are the most serious sins
against the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- which must be why they're placed first,
and somewhat separate, in the the Ten Commandments. GRAVE SINS are
wholly different from the other sins. They cut SINNERS off from the Source of
forgiveness, and place an idol, ideology, or "ism," or some other physical or
mental object, between the individual, or group, and God. Human beings, after
"normal" sinning, will probably feel some guilt. But only a few will feel guilty at all
in the presence of GRAVE SIN. GRAVE SIN is a state of the psyche which can
only be absolved by conversion, then by the Father's rectification. Conversion
and absolution may often be slow, as the SINNER works GRAVE SIN from his
psyche.
We'll first go back to the original GRAVE SIN. We'll read Duns Scotus, who
said that the first SIN, immediately after Creation, was the SIN of Satan in his
DESIRE to be equal to God. Satan did not, in fact, actually strive to become
equal to God. That evil archangel was very intelligent, and still is. He knew that
"equal to God" was beyond the possible, that no creature can ever be equal to
God. The GRAVE SIN of Satan, said Duns Scotus, was found in mere DESIRE
to be equal to God. It's a subtile distinction, and often rooted in a DESIRE that is
unconscious.
The tale of our first parents is a morality tale of the basic SIN of "Mankind,"
therein called Adam, and "Life," therein called Eve, and their human DESIRE to
eat the fruit of a tree with the knowledge of Good and Evil; which, as the Snake
did promise, would make their "eyes to open" …. and they "would be more like
gods."  One can clearly see here an example of GRAVE SIN -- the DESIRE to
be equal to God. 
Adam and Eve, the father and mother of the human race, have left their
mark on all of us.
Why is Christ offended and angry? First we have to realize that God is
lonely, yes, lonely. He has emotions, something like ours. We know this for one
reason especially; because our emotions are made in the image and likeness of
God's emotions -- or, perhaps, from another point of view, our emotions have
evolved from animals (who also have emotions) into an image and likeness of
those that God has.
God is lonely and needs us. That's the very basis for Christ's anger. When
we disappoint His need for us, after all He has done to foster, nourish, protect,
and save us for Heaven, He becomes angry, as we become angry when our
needs are thwarted, or, perhaps, when someone breaks his promise to us -- as
we also do sometimes to God in our relationship with Him. To express it again
….we exist in His image and likeness, which means we have emotions
somewhat like He has emotions.
Out of all mankind, and partly to assuage His loneliness, our Yahweh/God
chose the Hebrew tribes to be His children. He formed covenants with them, and
laid laws on them. He assured them He would bless them with happiness,
harmony, and holiness. When His children's conduct conformed to the conditions
of the covenants, He gently rained His grace on them; but when it didn’t, He
vented His wrath on them.
Eventually, He gave them the Greatest Gift of all, His Son, to grant them the
grace of eventual glorification in Heaven. God's Gift is called the Christ, our
Lord, and also called the Lamb; since His final act was similar to the sacrifice of
a lamb in the holocaustal rites of the Old Testament. Christ, the Divine Lamb,
sacrificed Himself to the Father in Heaven, to rectify the Original Sin of Adam
and Eve to which all mankind is heir; and to wipe clean the sins of those with
faith in him and His Mercy. Fortunately, these days, with the Mercy of Christ
restrained in Heaven, we can still atone for our sins, because of the intervention
of Yahweh/God the Father and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
  Jesus Christ, as a human being born on earth of Davidic descent and a
Virgin Mother, and as Son of God the Father, born of this same Virgin Mother
through impregnation by the Holy Spirit, entered on earth as Priest, Prophet,
and King of the Kingdom of God.  As such, He taught mankind Truth, usually in
parables, and sacrificed Himself as Divine Lamb to the Father in a holocaust-like
rite (as the Patriarchs had sacrificed a lamb to Yahweh) for the sins of all past,
present, and future mankind. 
Christ also came to earth to form the Kingdom of God, a kingdom primarily
within one's heart and mind, but, also, in a community. We'll reach the full,
triumphal, Kingdom of God in Heaven; but we can approach it here on earth
through listening and understanding. It's entered into, by receiving Christ like a
child; then continued by doing His Will. Primarily, it's a kingdom of humans and
saints, made righteous through the Gift of Christ's Mercy. This is what it is for a
pope. And this is what it is for all the people on earth who possess good will and
simple faith.
Christ is angry because the Church -- in many respects -- does not quite fit
into the Kingdom of God, mainly because of the position and prestige of the pope
and his retinue in the Church -- so much like that of a medieval king and his
retinue in a royal court -- seemingly in competition with Christ Himself, a violation
of the very first, and most important, Commandment. Christ came down to the
earth to give his people Truth. He left the Paraclete to assure that His people
would not waiver from that Truth. And now, Christ, the King, sees popes who
seem to have assumed the Holy Spirit's place in the Triune God, and who have
slowly and subtly become, more and more, like kings on earth.
A deviation in dogma developed in the First Vatican Council (1870) when
the Cardinals declared the popes, under certain conditions, preserved from the
possibility of error: to Christ, “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”  The pope
had become somewhat equal to God -- whether wanting to or not.
Of all the persons to people the earth, Jesus Christ -- born in a stable for
animals, and crowned as a king with thorns -- was the only infallible one, not
any other: not the writers of the New Testament, including Paul; not the saints;
not any past or present pope.
It should be added: it makes no difference in defining infallibility to interpret
it softly or strictly. The very word "infallible," placed on a human being, for any
reason, is obnoxious to Christ. He knows the effect of its subtle psychological
seduction, and its tendency to creep invisibly, increasing firmness in authority at
the top of the hierarchy, and inching ever downward throughout the faithful.
We've seen in the Catholic Church, a creeping, subtle, DESIRE….to be
equal to God….especially in the higher hierarchy.
How does Christ act in His unique position of being angry but restrained by
His mother? My own favorite analogy is this: He peers at His people through a
one-way mirror; He sees them and hears them, but can't be seen or heard by
them. When they search for Him, they see an image resembling themselves --
some even concluding it could be Christ. However, to conceptualize Christ, or
His emotions, in human words, in any language, or in any metaphor, is beyond
our limited powers. When we do try, however, we invariably fall into the clutches
of anthropomorphism. We can only speak of Christ in the human terms we know.
Most Catholics would not be able to understand what's meant when it's
said that violations of the First Commandment can be found in the Church.
For that to happen, Catholics probably would think they've "carved" an idol -- an
infallible pope? Or, perhaps, have "crafted" some permanent concept -- the "ism"
of Catholicism? Catholics, I'm sure, believe they could never craft idols or "isms,"
forbidden by First Commandment. The thought is perverse, inconceivable, and
outrageous.
However, when a meaningful mass of the minds of mortals, Christian and
non-Christian, coincide, mental graven images, as we see in most "isms,"
ensue. Recall the Communism of the last century, and the Naziism, and the
militarism of the Japanese. All were "isms," self-molten magnets, which millions
of minds adored and served -- and died for. If idiosyncratic ideologies and
"isms" lived a short time ago, why shouldn’t some live now? Our current crop of
Catholics are no more "clean" and correct before their Creator than the faithful
of foregoing eras. Today, on earth, we've Consumerism, Materialism, and Wall-
Street-ism, for certain; and other "isms" and ideologies. It's not a magnification
of imagination to say Catholicism can also be an "ism."
When Catholicism becomes an "ism" or ideology, and looms more
important than our God, it incites His Jealousy and Anger. Then might follow an
even more forceful feeling -- Wrath. Catholics are apt to forget that if Yahweh
was a Jealous God, then the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost…and Yahweh -- all
THEY -- all GOD -- must still be a Jealous God. Yes, THEY is a Jealous God.
Some Catholics do have idolatrous images deep down inside. There, the
images can live lifelong -- self-crafted, concealed, and cherished -- abysmally
buried since childhood, perhaps, in subtle, unrealized, self-deceit.
For all these reasons, along with those found in doctrine and encyclicals,
Christ is Jealous.
As an example of the Jealousy and Anger of God in the Old Testament,
and the atonement for the perpetrators of GRAVE SIN that must follow -- Christ's
Mercy not readily available, as it's not readily available now -- I'll relate the
following story:
When Moses moved down the mountain with Two Tablets of Testimony in
his hands, he beheld his followers bowing before a beautiful bullock made of
metal molten from the excellent earrings, and other ornaments, of the women
and children. Moses was angry and threw down the tablets. He burned the
beautiful bullock, ground it to grit, and scattered the grit on a stream.
Yet that did not satisfy Yahweh. He would have to force atonement from His
followers in order to balance the Scales of Justice and Love. On one tray, He'd
place GRAVE SINS. On the other, He'd heap sacrificed human bodies. Yahweh
told Moses to assemble the sons of Levi, and say:
        “Gird on your sword, every man of you,
and quarter the camp from gate to gate,
killing one his brother, another his friend,
another his neighbor….”
"…for I, Yahweh, am a Jealous God.” 
That meant to kill a quarter of those in the camp. About three thousand men
and women and children died that day, in atonement for a GRAVE SIN against
the First Commandment -- even though apparently Aaron and his follows did not
even realize they were committing a GRAVE SIN. From all indications given in
the Old Testament story, they believed they were worshipping Yahweh. This is a
good story for today. Who are we really worshipping?
How jarring is the Jealousy of God!!! How abrupt and barbed the bite He
brings to bear on those who rebuke Him. It's essential, however, for an
All-Knowing, Omnipotent, God, to assert His ascendancy, His authority, His
awesome absolutism, His majesty and amazement; and to show the mastery
of His own emotions -- in other words, to be God.
Divine Jealousy, moreover, is eminently justified, not like that of human
beings, whose jealousy is often jaundiced, and control is ofttimes the trouble. In
God Almighty, Justice and Jealousy defend His Love. In human beings, they're
frail and flawed, an effect of Original Sin -- or the less than perfect evolution of
animal jealousy and justice.
How mystifying is the mind of God!!! How topsy-turvy are often our trials!!!
It looks so dismal on earth sometimes, watching Catholics chugging away on a
sluggish showboat, christened "The Roman Catholic Church." Chugging away --
into what? A bland and somber sunset.
We can be saved, however, from Christ's anger and its consequences.
Another Gift, a gigantic Gift, has been granted to an unworthy world. God has
designated Mary -- THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN -- to "stand" between Him and the
people on earth until they cease to offend Christ.
The Father has placed Her as Intercessor for all the petitions and prayers
on earth going upward to Heaven, no matter to whom they're directed.
And downward? She's the sole Mediatrix of all the graces from anyone in
Heaven to anyone on earth. She acts as surrogate for Her Son, the only
previous Mediator, until He "enters" on earth for the second time to coexist with
His faithful as the Mystical Body, and rejoin His beautiful bride, the Church, as
Groom.
Mary sends Her saints to "kill" Catholics -- to "kill them in their hearts" -- then
help them to be reborn in the Holy Spirit of Truth. With the help of the saints,
Mary appropriates the prayers meant for Jesus and others; and then She replies
for them. It mightn't be what the person wants; still, it's always helpful for
Heaven.
Many people postulate that the appearance in Portugal of Mary, the Mother
of God, during the dawning decades of the preceding century was primarily a
"Catholic Occurrence." It was not. It was a "Wonder for the World." It was of
positive importance for the whole-wide world -- which might be the motive why
Mary appeared in proximity to a provincial village in Portugal called Fatima, the
name of a daughter of Mohammed, and a world-wide icon in Islam.
The Lady of Fatima should not be ignored, nor only held for personal
appreciation, nor only for concern of the Catholic Church. She should be
honored by the whole world, which Her Son -- the Greatest Gift -- suffered to
save; and She, the Mother of All Creation, will now seek to save, until Her Son
ceases to be offended by the GRAVE SINS of the faithful, especially those of the
higher hierarchy. Persons should pray to Our Lady of Fatima to convert mankind
to the Truth. They should also pray to Our Lady of Mount Carmel -- Mary, by a
different name -- since Our Lady of Mount Carmel is also active in a major
mission in the unworthy world. As Moses pleaded with Yahweh to temper His
treatment of those who broke His Commandments -- and Yahweh relented a little
-- the prayers of the people, especially by use of the rosary, might surely help
Mary to move the Father to relent somewhat.
As the residue value of Christ in the Church diminishes, all mankind will
move to even more meanness and misery. Meanwhile, the gates to hell, leading
to oblivion, loom larger and more loosely latched for those who might be lost.
This, we should presume. In the future, spiritual disorientation will principally
take place inside the Catholic Church. The Almighty Father has ordered Mary to
inflict "wholesome," beneficial, suffering on the Catholic faithful and upon the
world, and to let it be realized by the Leaders in the Vatican that this suffering,
especially in the "innocents," is the Leader's responsibility. Being fundamentally
decent human beings, and under great pressure from the faithful and others, the
Pope and the Cardinals will renounce those doctrines and the encyclicals which
anger Christ and the Father, and will "capitulate" into a "New Catholic Church."
Only when the highest in the Catholic Hierarchy modify their teaching, will
our Triune God triumph. Our Father will cease his instructions to Mary…..and
rest in His Heaven. Our Christ will re-establish His special, merciful, relationship
with His people, and assume His normal roll in the Church, the Groom of a more
attractive bride. The Holy Spirit will flourish on earth.
Having been assumed body and soul into Heaven, the Blessed Mary exists
somewhere between the human and divine. She's an earthborn Lady, QUEEN
OF HEAVEN, and the Mother of All Mankind. She suffers along with Her children
on earth. She stands there ever before them, with Her Immaculate Heart
displayed -- a pierced, burning, but always shining, oblation.
We can be assured, for certain, that despite the coming disintegration of Old
Mother Church, a “New Catholic Church” will rise from the spiritual rubble, like a
bright, red-plumaged, Dove -- full of life and richly spiritual.

Roy Apel
November, 2011

I have real sympathy for the writer's aspirations. If I have a quibble, it is with the repetition of the cliches "broken" and "brokenness." Every creature will get dinged and even badly damaged in traversing life's vicissitudes.

But most creatures progress by cooperating with the enormous curative powers in our natures, and prevail with the great grace of Constancy. "Brokenness" and "broken" will have their day and they will pass. I'd vote instead for Constancy and Long-Suffering.
They have great staying-power.

While I'm in sync with most of what you've said here, the notion that each generation needs new structures bothers me. It is certainly true that, over the centuries, new structures of various sorts have arisen in the Church to meet changing needs (i.e., new religious orders and congregations, new ministries, new lay organizations). At the same time, building new structures is costly and time-consuming. Each new generation that comes along cannot afford to build completely new structures, if they want to accomplish anything else in the world. It would be interesting to find out if Jocelyn recognizes any old structures which might still be functional and useful, even if they now need some tweaking. The parish, perhaps? What about the Ignatian Solidarity Network itself? Monasteries?

More and more, it seems to me that we may be at a turning point in history (like the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, for instance) I certainly agree that we will need something new, but it may be more on the order of procedures or processes than structures. We need to have a respect for human rights within the Church which is at least as robust (preferably "robuster") than exists in the best of the secular world, for example. Most of all, we need to follow the lead of Blessed Pope John XXIII and let some fresh air into the Church. Lord knows things are getting pretty stale of late. We need to confront modernity at last, after trying to keep it at bay for two centuries or more.

Inspiring, Jocelyn & many thanks.
But like the 500 ton elephant in the
middle of the room I was perplexed by the absence of any mention of the Wall St. Occupation. This ,still imperfect,inspiring youth led social revolution , which is sweeping our land and the world cannot be ignored
by this vibrant youth Church you so beautifully describe.We do have an Occupation Faith religious. leaders support group. We minister,listen & learn, are trying to help in finding shelter & sustenance after the recent brutal police disoccupation& have an weekly interfaith worship service. I believe that this is a work of the Spirit and our Church is all but invisible , except for a few fringe people like myself.I took Fr. Dan Berrigan there recently and he was moved.
Keep up your good work!,

Good luck with your new Church!
I'll stick with the one and old that Christ founded!

Instead of reforming the Church, why don't you reform yourself? If you don't understand the theological significance of the "old" structures and dogmas of the Church as passed down from the Apostles enough to avidly respect and follow them, then you certainly do not have any ground n which to bash the Church and to promote your own simplistic idea of "church."

The church is broken...but it has always been broken. Why? Because the church is us...and we are broken. We are human and because we are human, we will remain broken. That does not stop us from trying to become as Christ-like as we can become. And so, whether it be Occupy Wall Street, war, abortion a or anything else, we remain broken and must continue our journey to the kingdom. And yes, each generation does come with new and difficult awareness and thus requires new structures. The old structures were meant to deal with the old world, the world has changed and so must the structures. I believe that Jesus is asking us to take note of his message, not necessarily his actions while he was here on earth. at least in the literal sense. He dealt with the issues of the day, not the issues of today!

Visit contemplativesinaction.org for more information.]
I did, and this is what I learned:

Announcement from the Board of CIA
After much discernment and prayer, the Board of CIA has decided to dissolve the organization as such, effective June 30, 2011. We will donate our physical assets, such as furniture and our extensive library, as well as some of our social capital, to the Christian Renewal Center of New Orleans. Read more...

Another fragmented, splintered, spinoff group? Perhaps now I have a better grasp of the author's repeated use of the words BROKEN and BROKENNESS...

Take solace in John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world, that she didn't send a COMMITTEE... or a COMMUNITY!"

As a child of the '60's myself it was fun reading this article. So sure were we that we alone had discovered the right way to live and love. But the good news is that I'm sure over time the author will grow up. Most of the rest of us did.