Change

Will Do You Good.

The Lutheran-Catholic dialogue that the Pope is currently engaged in is interesting to watch.
The Lutherans are called "The Reformers" as opposed to 'the heretics' or 'those heathens' or 'that bunch of dissenting schismatics' in these ecumenical dialogues.

The movement was called 'The Reformation' and inspired Vatican II some five hundred years later (they are a little slow to catch on.) Ignoring massive movements of the Holy Spirit throughout the evangelical and charismatic world in whole segments, they ostrich in 'tradition' as though the Holy Spirit left the planet for good after Pentacost.

Catholics are nothing if not Traditionalists. They believe tradition is a virtue and the rightness of something is demonstrated by the 'we've always done it that way' unthinkableness of changing script - whether or not the script is nonesense in some matters. They have a fondness for static things like buildings that don't move or speak or rock boats.

This is the case with married priesthood. It is even more delusional when they base it on tradition (because they can't base it on scripture or Jewish practice obviously because priests were married, including popes until the 11th century when evolution of primogeniture laws made it too difficult- what happens when the priest's widow is left with a son and the rectory property.)


What is galling however is that they fabricate theology around it, and call it tradition, and that they base practices on the fabricated theology- and even engage in perverse vicious persecutions of women in the name of it. The story lost in the 'abuse' scandal that I am waiting for a full Time Cover story on is what has happened to try to destroy women who threaten the order.


"Church" in catholic tradition is more that expensive building (some outrageously tacky and gaudy, others gloriously magnificent) than the actual Body of Christ. That is why a Church can be a magnificent piece of stained glass and marble columns and you never hear a catholic priest addresss his audience the way protestant pastors do as "Church!" The Body of Christ is the Church, not the building. They could be church in a catecomb, in a rented hall, in a field or in a chinese house. Church is the congregation not the building.

Where your treasure is, there your heart lies. Thus, for budgetary purposes more money should be spent on the actual body-the people, than the buildings. I was very impressed by one protestant pastor during this recession that gave each parishioner in his small congregation $100 and said- you go for three months and invest it and bring back what you made and I will give you back half. Just like the parable, some were able to double it, some made a little by buying stuff for bake sales and made a handsome profit, some hid it and gave it back because they didn't know what to do with it (and didn't want to lose it having to pay it back out of pocket).

The church is the Body of Christ. The People. not the building.
That is why I find it shockingly appauling that a place like the Dominican House Palace in DC (12 Mil and counting thank you the Dominican Foundation trust fund in New York) would let one of their 'Third Order' admirants sleep outside on the front steps in the cold homeless. (no it wasn't me, don't get excited.) It is just twisted. There they are teaching the theology and living like it only existed in books inside the Palace. They are teaching love your neighbor and persecuting women who love them in the misplaced name of holiness. Warped beyond all reasoning. As is the fact that the scripture teaches that 'there is no male nor female in Christ Jesus' and only men are allowed the degrees necessary to be preachers, women are definitionally only of second or third rank (literally, the second order are the teaching sisters and the third order the lay folks who support them.) Women are only allowed degrees that are not preacher qualifying credentials and women have to pay for their education as opposed to having it paid for either by the order or the people like the Knights of columbus or other catholic groups that pay for Seminarians. The women are not 'seminarians' they just help the finances by paying for their vanity degrees for masters' credentials and the like. There is no male nor female in Christ- except there is in Catholic hierarchy. NOT ONE FEMALE CARDINAL. NOT ONE FEMALE BISHOP. NOT ONE FEMALE PRIEST. And merely attempting to make it otherwise is automatically excommunicable-whereas a convicted pederasty child molesting priest is not. WARPED BEYOND ALL TELLING.

I also find it appauling that people like the catholic architects guilds and catholic building fund and maintenance 'real property' development characters get so much control and power over what goes on in churches- and control over the pastoral care of the actual church-the body of christ. Church is not the building. It is the people. It bears repeating because it is so lost on the congregations, notably the Pastors who like to live in Palaces while the flock get foreclosed all around them.

This imbalance and misplaced priority system was corrected in the reformation. Those people who worshipped in the German Wittenberg Cathedral, a magnificent cathedral under the inspiring, purist reformer Martin Luther their inspiring Augustinian monk pastor who refused to burden his flock with the nonsensical "indulgence" system wherein they were guilt tripped into buying indulgences under fear of losing salvation for the Vatican Building Fund (check your dates, yes, this was all part of the Bishop's fundraising for the Vatican Building Fund, no offense to Michelangelo who was paid with the pennies of starving peasants everywhere) were following the Holy Spirit- even to eventual martyrdom- because the followers were hunted down ruthlessly and tormented. War literally for a hundred years followed.

The Martin Luther 95 point theological thesis that he posted on the door is the equivalent of a long Pastoral Letter posted in a bulletin on the web. It is the Pastor addressing his flock in tender care of the salvation of their souls. It is worth reading in full.
It is brilliant to this day in it's theological truth.

This reformer would have died for his beliefs. He had more moral courage than half of
Rome at the time. His followers have not given up their beliefs while they have tried to show the light to the institutional traditionalists. There are some ways in which Vatican II did not go far enough.

In the ecumenical dialogue the Pope should be less engaged in a power grabby kind of how can we pursuade everyone to come in under our tent so our doctrine dictates everything, and more, how can we learn from each other with truly open hearts regarding what the God of the Gospels is really trying to tell us.

Because what has gone on in the catholic church, can be viewed as a boiling over of an overheated pot which had the burner on too high for lack of reading correctly the instructions.
It has not served the church to not read the instructions-meaning the body of christ, the people. It might have served the petty developers, church builders, architects and people who make a living off gawking at the architectural marvels, but it has not served THE CHURCH, the body of Christ.

And this is why things like Time magazine run unflattering articles about the Pope- this is why there is abundant criticism in the real world about the church, this is why all the good work is eclipsed by the reporting on the perversions- because the hierarchy still unbelievably refuses to change, even when the Tradition is shown to be the problem. Tradition is not Spirit, and can in some cases butt heads against it. You don't want to be on the wrong side of the Holy Spirit.

When the pot boils over it burns everything around it.