Faith must have a holistic approach; satisfying the whole person rational and emotiona
In the seventies all kinds of intellectual people were invited into the Church in Europe to help give it a modern appeal. It is certainly true that Faith must be based on reason but in the practice of Faith, in discovering the love of God and returning that love we need more than assent to the intellect.. I love my wife but I do not love her intellectually there is an emotional content. There are the hugs, the flowers, the appropriate words at appropriate times, the saying 'I love you". To make marriage work we need the whole of our person involved, rational and emotional. Love is an emotional thing.
And if I love my spouse I do not make excuses for unfaithfulness. lying to her, purposely spending my time away from her and then claiming that after all I am only human. In the presence of my wife I should feel guilt about such things for that is what true love is about. So if I go against what He expects of me can I really claim to love God. "If you love me keep my Commandments" Jesus said in scripture But the one who does not feel guilty in marriage or the love of God because grown adults for some reason should not feel guilty has somehow lost the way. And bishops and priests who make little of sin and thus make little of the distance people are from loving
God have also lost the way.
A great wisdom was built up in the church over the centuries about how we can learn to love God. It was both a rational and emotional approach. We approached God with little acts of devotion as indeed we would approach our spouses. We would say I love you in a thousand different ways by simple words of devotion like reciting litanies in praise of God's love for us such as the Litany of the Sacred Heart. A heart that was on fire for love of us. And we went further. We wanted to know the people that Jesus loved those so close to him as his own family. We examined this background and praised his mother and his earthly father St Joseph, and we honoured them in the way that Jesus as a boy and man would have honoured them. We asked fair their help and intercession and they and the saints became part of our family It is even framed in the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed we pray at Mass though it is as very long time since I heard a priest comment that this was part of our Catholic Faith. What happened was that in the seventies and eighties when Satan's Spirit of Vatican II was brought into the Church and lies abounded the bishops turned to 'scholars' and 'experts' who sneered at devoitional practices and helped them found an adult Church and those who disagreed were described as children living in the past and we must allow children to think for themselves. Which is fair enough if you actually give them something to think about. It is just like the famous saying. "We take people from where they are". When you check in later you find they certainly did take them from where they are but they took them nowhere. So with children all you need to do is take bout love and they will be convinced. The truth is without devotional practices there is little chance of them falling in love with God. Perhaps in the past the young people had a chance in a society with Christian Values. but today with the refusal by teachers ion the jjChurch to admit their failures and look at what not listening to the Commandments of God has done to our society, young people have paid the price of the Spirit of Vatican II in broken homes and broken families. The love of God is something to talk about at school and not in their real world where they are finding little love in their lives.
Perhaps one day they will discover that it is not the fault of the children that so few go to Church but it is very much their failure to understand what they have done to the children.
And if I love my spouse I do not make excuses for unfaithfulness. lying to her, purposely spending my time away from her and then claiming that after all I am only human. In the presence of my wife I should feel guilt about such things for that is what true love is about. So if I go against what He expects of me can I really claim to love God. "If you love me keep my Commandments" Jesus said in scripture But the one who does not feel guilty in marriage or the love of God because grown adults for some reason should not feel guilty has somehow lost the way. And bishops and priests who make little of sin and thus make little of the distance people are from loving
God have also lost the way.
A great wisdom was built up in the church over the centuries about how we can learn to love God. It was both a rational and emotional approach. We approached God with little acts of devotion as indeed we would approach our spouses. We would say I love you in a thousand different ways by simple words of devotion like reciting litanies in praise of God's love for us such as the Litany of the Sacred Heart. A heart that was on fire for love of us. And we went further. We wanted to know the people that Jesus loved those so close to him as his own family. We examined this background and praised his mother and his earthly father St Joseph, and we honoured them in the way that Jesus as a boy and man would have honoured them. We asked fair their help and intercession and they and the saints became part of our family It is even framed in the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed we pray at Mass though it is as very long time since I heard a priest comment that this was part of our Catholic Faith. What happened was that in the seventies and eighties when Satan's Spirit of Vatican II was brought into the Church and lies abounded the bishops turned to 'scholars' and 'experts' who sneered at devoitional practices and helped them found an adult Church and those who disagreed were described as children living in the past and we must allow children to think for themselves. Which is fair enough if you actually give them something to think about. It is just like the famous saying. "We take people from where they are". When you check in later you find they certainly did take them from where they are but they took them nowhere. So with children all you need to do is take bout love and they will be convinced. The truth is without devotional practices there is little chance of them falling in love with God. Perhaps in the past the young people had a chance in a society with Christian Values. but today with the refusal by teachers ion the jjChurch to admit their failures and look at what not listening to the Commandments of God has done to our society, young people have paid the price of the Spirit of Vatican II in broken homes and broken families. The love of God is something to talk about at school and not in their real world where they are finding little love in their lives.
Perhaps one day they will discover that it is not the fault of the children that so few go to Church but it is very much their failure to understand what they have done to the children.
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