A civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love.
To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
For many people today, practical atheism is the normal rule of life...If this attitude becomes a general existential position, then freedom no longer has any standards, then everyting is possible and permissible.
One can readily admit that the Magisterium's manner of expression does not seem very easy to understand at times. It needs to be translated by preachers and catechists into a language which relates to people and to their respective cultural environments. The essential content of the Church's teaching, however, must be upheld in this process. It must not be watered down on allegedly pastoral grounds, because it communicates the revealed truth.
Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral.
Let us remember that cynicism is a sin. When we see someone who seems virtuous we had better give them the benefit of the doubt until or unless we find out more about them, and we are not obliged to seek dirt on them without good cause.
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
September 7 - 20, 2014
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar