Thursday, September 02, 2004
The Great Divide
In bantering with Jeff on El Camino Real this week, I was struck by a great divide between us. Not the tradi/prog thing, though that is indeed a significant obstacle. No, I was thinking of the basic outlook of optimism and pessimism. I don't know Jeff terribly well, so maybe I've misread him. But I think the talk of running away from the world, of liberals not having any common ground, etc.. struck me as sadly pessimistic.
While I consider myself a realist, I also embrace a good degree of optimism. I think the challenges within the Church provide us all with an unparalleled opportunity to delve more deeply into our faith and its expression in the modern world. Though I think the excitement of the early post-conciliar days has been tempered considerably, there's still a lot to be grateful for, a lot to work toward.
While some people moan about the heaps of trash being published in liturgical music, it might also be that more good music is being composed than at any other time. When the wheat and chaff run through the separator, I think people will look back on these decades as very rich.
While there are also tons of bad books out there, especially with the advent of easy self-publishing, I find there is no lack of good spiritual reading by modern authors. In a century or two of hindsight, I would bet that several Doctors are alive today.
I think lay movements: Cursillo, ME, Renew, Generations of Faith, TEC and REC and the like give ordinary Catholics so much fodder for religious and spiritual involvement. And lot sof parishes are humming with excitement, even the tradi ones. They've discovered being Catholic as a life's choice.
So like Jeff, I complain about my opposites on the ideological divide, but unlike many people on both sides, I still harbor a reservoir of hope about the state of the Church. With th eHoly Spirit's guidance, we will be part of a triumph in spite of the worst we bring.
