I could have written a blog last week about the Catholic Church’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family just as its initial two-week session ended, but I chose to heed the advice of a wise former editor: “Never write an editorial with boxing gloves on.”
Even now I am hesitant to write about that topic. It’s only been a week since a few hundred prelates packed their bags and left Rome. So, rather than focus on the bombast that came from individual bishops, I prefer to cite a few articles that provide perspective.
Father Michael Rogers, S.J., wrote in a Huffington Post blog that everyone should chill out. The messiness of the debate is part of the process through which the Holy Spirit makes his will known, and Rogers said many earlier church disagreements were far uglier and lasted far longer than the one year it will be before bishops convene again in Rome to vote on a final document.
Writing for The New York Times, Peter Manseau said family has always been one of the church’s messiest topics, noting that marriage didn’t even become a sacrament until the 16th Century, and that Jesus’ truly oddball family — a virgin mother and a celibate stepfather — certainly contradicts the world’s standard understanding of the subject.
Brian Bethune’s observations in Maclean’s conclude by quoting Pope Francis, who, in a recent homily, said God is both the God of the law and the God of surprises, and asking whether we are prepared for the surprises that God may have in store for His church.
We have become a society centered around instant gratification. We don’t want to be patient, as Rogers suggests, or appreciate history as Ramseau argues. And we want what we want, not what God may surprise us with. Too often we want our answers neat, ordered, immediately, and digestible in 30 seconds or less.
Given the immediacy provided by today’s media, many people feel emboldened to claim the right to decide these issues for themselves because they’re impatient with the church, which means they are impatient with God. Others, having listened to the tempest, just throw up their hands in disgust and walk away.
God doesn’t need anyone’s advice on how to run his church, and he has never allowed theological or spiritual pirates to hijack it. So the only logical choice for me and other Christians is simply to do what the Lord said in Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”
Be still. Wow, what a revolutionary concept!
