|
go here to buy my stock photography
Alan Creech
 Custom Search
sharing a special bible: my 1980 NAB sites & things i like
abbey of gethsemani faith communities christ the king blogs i read
aaron klinefelter
|
October 23, 2007
> 5:45 PM
a little rahner > on law and the church  Everybody needs a little Rahner in their life, so I'm here to serve. I first saw the beginning portion of this quote on my e-friend Steve Bogner's site. Don't blame him though. ha! These quote come in the context of some reflective writing, from a book called Encounters with Silence. I'm getting it from a book called Spiritual Writings, which is a collection of Rahner's stuff. I hear these words and they beat a bit in time with my heart. I share them not to sound like a big rebel, but to share what likely is the heart of many a faithful Christian in the Church, whether Catholic or not. And I'll note, nobody ever threw Karl out of the Church. He may have been slapped on the wrist a couple of times, but nothing big. He was able to say what he said and remain a respected theologian in the Catholic Church. Pray for us, Fr. Karl.Permit me once, God of freedom and honest speaking, to express freely what can go through my heart in grumpy, grumbling moments – for, after all, you hear such thoughts kindly. Lord, you got rid of the old law "that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear" (Acts 15:10). But you have also appointed authorities in this world – secular authorities and principally spiritual ones. And sometimes it seems that they have been busily filling in the holes that your Spirit of freedom had torn out from the fences of laws and directives in the Pentecost storm.Now, these are strong words from the heart, from a Priest, a Catholic theologian, who lived the stuff for a long time. To add a little perspective, he also goes on later to speak about not wanting to just be one who complained about the "office holders," as he called them, and then turn around and be a cause for people speaking poorly about the Church himself. And he wasn't talking about throwing it all out the window either. He makes that clear in many places. He did, though, want to be a voice which helped to work things out. That kind of talk is hopeful talk for me. If that talk is shut down, a little hope gets shut down with it I think. If understood properly, within the context of a real, living life of faith, of deep connection with God, the "rules" and guidelines we have to deal with in the Church (again, not just in the Catholic arena) are not oppressive, but will lead us to Freedom. Of course, there is a limit - it depends on how much gets stacked on top the top, of the top. That may get a little -- over the top? We can't change Truth. We can't become the transformed beings we were created to be without pain and discomfort (moving from our broken state to a state of "fixedness"). Some of us who are trying to be a part of helping to rethink some things are not always just trying to make things easier. I can only speak for myself. What I'm trying to do is to find the way and help the way be found which most effectively helps that transformational process to work. God help us to go in that direction. technorati tags > church law, christianity, karl rahner, freedom in christ Labels: catholic, church, rahner, theology 0 Comments:| permalink | e-mail me | 
|
daily prayer
ordinary time lectionary readings > today
my blog post labels
blogging archives
|
038
