You have received the handout with the next writing assignment. It offers details on the Catholic understanding of sin, particularly social and structural sin. The important insight to remember in that handout of information is that any discussion of social and structural sin begins with personal, individual sin. We're all sinners.
What are the implications for members of the Church? Many people disregard the Church because it's filled with hypocrites and sinners. I just finished reading Do You Believe? Conversations on God and Religion by Antonio Monda. In his introduction he writes:
I've always found less than convincing the position of those who recognize the existence of God and the divinity of Christ but dispute (or even have contempt for) the Church. I certainly don't mean to say that the Church of Rome hasn't made mistakes, even serious ones, in the course of its long history, but I want to emphasize that the believer can't not know that Christ entrusted the keys to Peter, investing with complete authority the disciple who denied him three times during the night before the Crucifixion. In the words of G.K. Chesterton, in his book Heretics: 'When Christ at a symbolic moment was establishing His great society, He chose for its corner-stone neither the brillant Paul nor the mystic John, but a shuffler, a snob, a coward - in a word, a man. And upon this rock He has built His Church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it. All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of this inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link.
Later in the introduction Monda continues,
Reflecting on human fraility, one returns to Chesterton's insight about the very institution of the Church, with all its contradictions - which I don't think have impugned, even marginally, the truth of its teaching. In 1965, the theologian Karl Rahner wrote, 'The Church would be not the true people of God but a purely ideal reality, of almost mythical character, if one thought that the state of sin of its members determined it. If one realizes clearly that the earthly Church remains a church of sinners, one understands how and why it is the holy Church."
How would you relate this insight of our frail Church with the power we have to be the conduit for the Reign of God? Think about the definition of the Reign of God (the power of God active in the world challenging its structures) and the Catholic Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform (link below). How can a bunch of sinners bring about the reign of God? How does the Spirit confront apathy on the part of Church members, young Church members in particular?
Reflect away. Brendan, you judge who the top 5 power bloggers are for this entry...
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The cliche is "God works in mysterious ways". The truth is, it is an amazing statement that the Church developed in the way that it did. Was she constantly besieged by social, cultural, and political pressures? Absolutely. Did she give in to these pressures? Frequently. But does that make the church any worse for the wear? Not really. Forgiveness is just as necessary for the Church as a whole as it is for the people in general. Any institution that can make it through the papacy of Sixtus V in one piece must have had divine intervention (in an effort at full disclosure, I have no idea what Sixtus V's papal reign was like, but you get the idea. We've had some less than stellar leaders of the Church over the last 2000 years).
The truth is, the Church's power comes from the people. Christ's hands are the social worker's blistered and chapped hands as much as they are the finely manicured (I'm assuming) cuticles of Papa Ratzi. Ghandi (who would have made a great Catholic) said "be the change you wish to see in the world". That's basically what the Church says to the Catholic world. Every baptized person is a stockholder in the Catholic Church with an equal stake in the future of the Church. This rationale is why the idea of Gnosticism is so dangerous. There is no "secret knowledge" in the Church, no upper caste of people with the Truth by nature of their inheritance or status. Every Catholic has just as much of a right to understand and change the Church.
One of the major criticisms against the Catholic Church, at least in liberal circles, is that it is hierarchical and authoritative. In one sense, I cannot deny this fact. The Pope and the bishops are not elected by the people. The church has been known to stamp out ideologies that may have actually been compatible or reconcilable with Catholic philosophy (the two most obvious being Socialism and Liberation Theology). But this is not to say that everyday Catholics can influence what happens in the Church. My favorite example would be the Catholic Worker Movement in the 1920's and 1930's. Dorothy Day, a bohemian with a couple of common-law marriages and a child born out of wedlock, and Peter Maurin, one of 21 kids and a failed Christian Brother, started what is arguably the most important social movement since the Hull House. Neither these two, nor the people who helped them, nor the people they served, were perfect people. It's everyday people that make the Church what it is. It's a little bit of an everyday miracle that though we all suffer with our own demons, we have inside each one of us the potential to do something amazing.
We come then, to the idea of apathy. What can the church do? Well that is the million dollar question, isn't it? If I may interject a little of my thesis (my apologies, Bryan) it's all about dynamic equivalence, or as I like better, hermeneutics. It is an interpretational theory that recognizes that nothing that the Church has done exists in a vacuum. One must be able to understand what happened in the life of Christ and in the life of God's Church in terms of the modern world. It's easy enough to say that you, like Jesus, would help a leper if you came across one, because luckily for you, the disease has been all but eliminated. But it is substantially harder to help our lepers (those without health insurance, etc.) in the 21st century. Our Samaritans are undocumented workers, living in the country we feel is rightfully ours. You get the idea. I think that occasionally parish priests are hesitant to make hermeneutic shifts in their homilies. After all, it is comfortable to think about the people in Jesus' stories as things that don't really exist anymore, so that we don't need to worry about them. The Church must continue to make itself relevant in the world by translating its eternal message in the language of the everyday. The Death Penalty thing is a great example- using the Church's philosophy of the sacredness of life in a altogether real situation. The tools are all there, thanks to the major social justice and liturgical movements of the 20th century. It is time to use them.
P.S.- "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need." This is an excerpt from today's first reading and all you need to see to know that the apostles were socialists.
“The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for…Didst Thou forget that man prefers peace, and even death, to freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil?” Ivan Karamazov (Dostoyevski’s The Brothers Karamazov) recited a poem he had written in which Jesus Christ makes his second return to humanity. The Grand Inquisitor of Spain promptly arrests Him and questions why He has returned to “hinder” mankind and the Church, why he has decided to give man even more freedom, more control. He cynically, although not altogether inaccurately, concludes that man is meant for slavery, is weak and frail, fearful of freedom and the control it bestows to the extent that he will sacrifice it for a clear conscience and the knowledge that someone else will decide his actions and guide his existence. Man may not be as base as the Inquisitor would believe, but he is not exactly the image of fortitude either. He IS weak. He revels in purpose and worship, in order and community to an extreme that is neither virtuous nor its antithesis. And, this pathetic creation of God is the foundation, the cornerstone, for His church. By extension the church is human, frail. Monda states that for this reason, for the fact that the church was founded on weakness, it is indestructible. But there must be something more as weakness does not imply permanence. If God guided and protected the church throughout history, then it would definitely last forever, and that may be the answer. But men following God’s will as well as men ignoring it have guarded the church. There must be something inherently human that has allowed the church to survive, something intrinsic in man’s existence.
Some people do not question their faith, but take it for granted as true. They do not think about the lives they live or the reason why they should live a particular way. They adore the purpose they receive from the church; they adore the structure of their “Catholic” lives. These are the faithful.
Others question institution and decide for themselves, without ever contemplating, what is right and wrong based on what they are told. In other words, they take doctrines that belong as one, unified, and separate them based on their own personal, selfish whims. These are the heretical.
Together these two forms of humanity are the substance and form of the church, as it is perceived in a concrete, materialist way. However, the church is immortal, not because this is its foundation but because the church is an abstraction of human reality, because Christ willed that it should exist as human, not because humanity willed that it should be permanent. In this sense, I believe Monda was wrong. The fools who establish a distinction between Christ and His church are not forgetting that Christ “entrusted the keys” to a man; they are forgetting that Christ Himself established the church, that the individual of the church in no way reflects the abstract quality of the institution.
Humanity may be weak, decrepit, but that does not mean that that is his nature. Man’s strength has allowed him to persevere; his cognitive ability is his blessing. But he will not embrace and preserve his potential just because it is limitless. No, man’s weakness is his inability, even refusal, to be himself, his lack of self-conscience and fear of life.
If one analyzes the current views of the church (by “views of the church” I mean those standards that reflect the purpose of the church and its creation) on immigration, capital punishment, and abortion, in other words, the realities of modern society and how the church itself has modernized in response, one will notice a disparity between these views and the views of some of the individual members of the church. Some “Catholics” have no moral qualms with vendetta killing, the “eye for an eye” system of justice employed by the United States. Others proclaim "pro-choice," not realizing the self-contradictory nature of the statement. Human beings maintain the view that they should have freedom of choice. That’s great, but then why are some denied that right simply because they have not been born YET? Murdering an unborn child is no more morally justified than murdering another person, but people like to make distinctions. Then there is the issue of immigration. Some Americans believe they have a strong sense of charity and justice. Yet their “American” charity can be summed up in the statement, “we will give you five dollars for Christmas as long as you do not try to come into OUR country.” (This is not actually something someone has said) Others, on the opposite side of the spectrum, swallow the doctrine of the church without making any effort to understand or contemplate its purpose and meaning.
Capital punishment is wrong because no one human being has the authority to decide that another should die. Life is sacred and, as such, untouchable. Abortion is wrong for the very same reason. Like the death penalty, however, where the distinction is made between the “criminal” and the “citizen,” people also like to distinguish between the “living” and the “unborn.” The issue of immigration is just as absurd. People like to ignore the fact that those who leave their families and homes generally do so because there is no other alternative to death. But some Americans feel it is their patriotic duty to uphold the law, even if they do not know what “the law” is.
What all of this comes down to is the fact that only a few try to understand the nature of the church, its foundation and permanence; only a few try to develop their conscience so that they may distinguish between right and wrong; only a few are truly Catholic. The church is frail because its tenuous hold on humanity lies in the few who adhere to Catholicism. The church is everlasting, however, because Christ has founded it and, as such, more people will inevitably become human, Catholic. The most despicable creature is thus the single greatest being in existence. Man makes the choice to follow God, to be moral. The church is a testament to that fact, the means to a heavenly end.
Quick and to the Point.
Forgive me if it does not make sense, it’s just a bunch of thoughts put together.
The Catholic Church is attacked on a daily basis. Indeed the Church is full of hypocrites and sinners, yet it is also full of devout worshipers. Going back to Mere Christianity, Lewis tells us there must be some form of “evil” present in order for there to be “good.” If the Church was perfect, then faith would be simple, therefore the numerous problems may actually help to strengthen peoples beliefs.
What would Jesus say about the Church if he saw what it has become? So many conflicts have occurred over religions, ethnic groups, and even holy lands and their ownership. Would Jesus be happy with the way the Church is run and the way it reacts to the issues occurring in our society? …..I can’t say.
When it comes down to it, Church is not necessary in order to reach heaven, but simply a place to worship with others. This means we should attend, but I feel there is no need to sit in a pew every Sunday and daydream just to show I believe in God (some attend simply to attend). My faith may not be that strong (loving Church), but I know my beliefs and I’m fine with the way I go about handling them, just as I’m sure God is.
The Death Penalty is still morally wrong and flawed in many ways, and should continue to be fought against. “Why do kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?” Not much more to say about it, just that the U.S. loves to kill people, but I guess that comes with the Freeedom.
That’s about it.
P.S. Brendan got a new puppy and I hear it’s a born killer just like him
-Obama 08-
I think that for most people, especially those people who have little or no attachment to the catholic church, sin is something that is very impersonal. What i mean by this is that i think sin becomes something that is normal and standard, void of any personal attachment. Sin becomes something that is both commonplace and universal, and the idea that original sin is part of each and every one of us cements that because it is something that will be part of each of us. What is important though, is that this type of sin does not lend itself to any personal internal criticism or growth because the verdict is that it will be easily forgiven in a simple prayer or a simple attendance at a mass. I believe that the biggest fault that these people have, is the idea of a personal human freedom. It is almost a selfishness because they believe that they belong to the church simply as an individual and not as a member of a community because their sins will not have an effect upon those around them, which is the direct result of social and structural sin. It is too easy for these people to be attached to their church but yet detached from their church community, and this directly lends itself to a selfish and personal agenda when it comes to being an active member in societal change, with issues such as the campaign to end the death penalty and the campaign for immigration reform.
I think that this is also the same group of people that would share in the disputing of the church because of the mistakes that it can make and because of the humanness that it can represent.
This is why jesus was able to entrust the church to peter, the same man who had previously betrayed him three times. Peter's sins were originally very impersonal, just like those people that i have just talked about, because he did not understand that his sins could have an effect on those around them, and he had grown complacent in thinking that his sins would be easily forgiven. It was not until he realized how his sins would affect the most important neighbor that he had, that he would personally reflect on his sins. Jesus was able to entrust him with the church because he knew that Peter had undergone the conversion in realizing his personal sin, which was indeed a social sin. This conversion would be the rock and the impetus for christ's church on earth, because it would revolve around this personal and interior conversion that must be an ongoing struggle and that is rooted in every human. Those people who understand peter's conversion are the people who are most important in forming the structure of the church because not only do they understand the personal nature of their sin and how it also affects their neighbors and community, but they also understand how they can improve upon those sins so that they will be wary of committing the same sin again.
In realizing how their sin also personally offends and hurts God, just like peter's did, they realize how it hurts their neighbor just as much. And this realization is what will directly lend itself to being a more active member not only in church community and society, because they can understand that every human is a neighbor, and in every neighbor is God. It is the continual personal conversion and improvement that makes the church strong and as long as we are not blind in our effort to see, judge, and act, we can be positive members not only of our church, but also neighbors in our society.
p.s. jake's dog's name is happy..
fierce.
The Church is under constant attack from various other religious or atheistic groups who disagree with Her stances, morals, or traditions. The Church has endured those assaults and prospered in their wake because of internal conformation and conversion. The Church prospered because for true realization of our relationship with God, we must never become complacent and must always be ready to defend our faith. I believe that the Church is a vehicle by which sinners can change societal structures through the Reign of God; but I, like Jake, do not believe that I need to be constantly reminded of my faith.
Through the Reign of God I feel that sinners can work to change structures like the death penalty, because without sinners we would not be able to learn from our mistakes, such as the death penalty. Like C.S. said, if faith was easy then everybody would do it; but because it is not, the world needs sinners like us to act through the church to change a system that perpetuates injustice and intolerance. Therefore, to truly participate in a personal faith, ones apathy to societal issues and the Reign of God must be confronted; so that we may grow in faith with God.
Nobody is perfect. When God sent his only son into the world, he was well aware of the difficulties and hardships that Jesus was to encounter. The Catholic Church, as Chesterton writes, “was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link”. We face the same problems as those who were first entrusted to spread Jesus’ mission. The mere fact that we are all sinners in no way clouds our ultimate goal of bringing about the reign of God. Just as Jesus overcame the entire sin of the world, we as Church members must overcome the pessimism and doubt that is received by the outside world. This challenge, I believe, serves as a motivating tool for all attempting to establish the Reign of God in our world, particularly for young members who may think that they don’t have very much influence on the matter. The Church has a continued responsibility to challenge worldly structures that are in opposition to the vision of God, and this responsibility lies squarely on the bunch of sinners constituting Christ’s institution.
The reign of God must be brought about by sinners. We are all sinners and through this we see the evil that is in the world and the injustice that it brings, and through this we want to make things in the world right through faith and grace that is given by God. God chose to built his church on the rock of Peter because Peter did doubt but in turn had the faith to believe ever more deeply in Christ and through faith we all can be saved so that Hell and Satan never win.
Today in church, a priest at St. Colman's gave a homily that really made me think. He talked about doubting Thomas and the issue of faith. Thomas never doubted Jesus but in reality had a very deep faith in Jesus. What he didn't believe was his fellow apostles story of the visitation of Christ. The priest continued to speak on the issue of faith in general and how we must all strengthen our faith because through this we can truly come to know Jesus.
If everything in the world was perfect and there was no need for faith then how could any of us be truly saved. I believe faith is the most powerful thing there is in this world and through this true change can be made. On any issue from the death penalty nation wide to our own hometown issues.
Faith-confidence or trust in a person or thing.
Embrace this simple definition and live it out.
p.s. jake's dog is extremely small. once upon a time, before jake and i started playing duck hunter or some other old school game like that, i saw it lay atop a plush basketball twice its size. it then proceeded to... inseminate... the basketball. which makes the fact that the dog's name is happy even funnier.
that was a true story, and has to earn me some extra credit.
As has been noted before the reign of god is to challenge structures "on the ground" (if a brotha hasnt looveed has a brotha ever really liiiived). The case also been made that we should "look past the sins of the Church and look forward to changing these structures through the status quo. Yet when we follow reasonable logic this seems to be a terrible mistake in logic.
First let us look at the structures. Lets just name a few: racism, classism, sexism, agism, hierarchy. Now it is essential to understand why the exist in the first place. As we studied in the seminar last year race and its ignorant notions were founded on the pillars of domination and control, in essence prviding a means for the "more powerful class" to justify being so and not sharing its wealth and prosperity with others in "other races" and in many cases enslaving these peoples. THis same concept spans the other isms. THey are all founded on the basic concept of "I am better than you" for such and such a reason.
when we look at the Catholic Church we see a central instituion responsible for perpetuating and in some cases creating these societal structures. Thus i find it difficult to believe that we can just "accept that we are all sinners" and move on to challenge the structures when it is infact those same structures that benefit the Church in the first place. Emperical evidence proves in resounding fashion my claims. Where was the church during the slave trade? Where was the church when millions of indigenous peoples were being exterminated at the hands of the ruling classes? Where was the church during the holocaust? And the response to all is that it was suspiciously an onlooker. These are the reasons why young are leaving such a hypocritical instituion. Because it does nothing to change what is happening because it benefits too much from the suffering of so many. And yet we are told by church scholars that we should just ignore the fact that the church has sinners and should merely attempt to work around such issues. Well if the issues we ignore perpetuate the status quo what is accomplished. The church needs to instead turn an eye in on itself. Realize that it can begin to help by changing ITSELF and by doing so will change the structures it perpetuates.
Death penalty is wrong but offences like murder and rape are things that i believe should land a person in jail for the rest of thier lives.
also i heard brendan's dog drove a car all the way to oakland, ate jakes dog for dinner, went to happy hour at hemmingways, and went home and passed out on richie's bed. Talk about a good first night...
Dear Diary,
Fresh off mixing it up at the spring mixer, im ready to blog....first of all..since i dont believe in extra credit i will take this chance to talk about my plans to become Mayor Of Pittsburgh..first move---get the 59 take-home cars used by city employees to get some whistles on them(((refer to---http://youtube.com/watch?v=YK18wQA-tHs))
3rd QTR power rankings
1) PAZ--clearly the heavyweight of the blog...we'll see if his reign continues headed into 4th qtr or will he be too worn out after writing 200000 pages for Mr sudnik??
2)Jake- Makes no sense on this blog or in class..but the number 2 ranking is given out of compassion and respect. A true OG.
3) Lepore aka Bubba--Although he hasnt posted yet and probably wont..im giving this number 3 spot to him for taking down the argument king b woll...I dont know whats better Mrs Lepores cooking or listening to Bryan and Lepore go back and forth.
4.) Oliver- controversial, unique, tombradyisque.
5)Bryan--could be higher, loss to lepore kinda hurt your RPI...can you say appalachian state vs Michigan??
Bubble Teams-
G stacy-always seems ot be in the mix of things
CJ-extra effort
JP- quick, to the point..probably will break top 5.
Yates- Cornell.
NIT
J nutttt--where is he??
Grant--should stop dancing with freshman at mixers and start posting.
Curtis--can i get a post??
-Sir Brendan
--
Alex stacy is on the bubble
Brendan Marchione became the 60th Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, America’s Most Livable City, on September 1, 2010. The 20-year-old Pittsburgh native – who holds the distinction of being the youngest mayor of any major U.S. city – took office upon the resignation of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Mayor Marchiones ascent to the top of Pittsburgh government began less than three years earlier when he became the youngest member ever elected to Pittsburgh City Council. Just two years later, his colleagues unanimously voted him Council President. In the May 2008 primary election, the people of Pittsburgh displayed their confidence in Mayor Marchiones leadership by electing him by the largest percentage of votes in the City’s 250-year history.
Curtis 50 Cent Jackson once eloquently opined "Sunny days wouldn't be special if it wasn't for rain, joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain." That really doesn't seem to have a lot of relevance here, but it does.
God gave us the free will to choose good or evil. Without one, the other ceases to exist. Without sin, we cannot know the Reign of God. Simply put, our sin allows us to recognize human mistakes and subsequently, challenge the structures that perpetuate evil. An omnipotent God surely could have created humans to be autonomous, sinless beings that uncritically existed in a harmonious world. Instead, He chose to give us the capability to think, feel, love, sin, etc. It is this set of emotions and actions that allows us to make the choice, the leap of faith, to not only believe in him, but to carry out His work on Earth.
RON PAUL '08- HOPE for America
Join the Revolution
Sin is rampant despite the world being the Reign of God. The Church is Christ corrupted by man, by the weakness of man. The Church is the collection of earthly sinners who know better but still fail to life up to the divine likeness of God. Despite the pessimism and insult in the previous statements, and my own penchant for pessimism the Church still has a decidedly positive influence on humanity. As a collection of sinners who know better, we can affect change. Sinning is not about accepting sin because it happens, but continuing towards ending sin no matter how futile it seems. The futility of these idealistic campaigns seems to drag down man to give up the fight. The Catholic Church as an institution is a refuge, the headquarters of the fight. It is inspired by God and thus contains the necessary weaponry to combat social sin. The personal sin is a self battle, but the social sin that we all commit in the ways of capital punishment, poverty, and racialized immigration is a fight that collectively, even as sinners, is a battle which can be fought. The Church of course is not blameless; for the most part Martin Luther had a point. The power of the Church comes from its ability to work past sin, like people who belong to the Church, to work against graver sins. As a human organization it is open to the same human temptation, but the same can be said for its power. It has the same ability as humans to change and in changing help to transition social justice from idealism into reality. A personal Church can work for one person and they may feel better knowing that they are in control of their sins, but it ignores the social aspect of sin and the true global nature of sin. The Church is most powerful as a community, even with the sins of the world, because as a unified body it is easier to work against problems with respect to life on all fronts- be that birth, death, or movement between.
I find myself, as a Catholic, forced to deal with frequent remarks criticizing the Church for such controversial moves including, but not limited to: the Inquisition, general anti-Semitism, sex scandals with priest, and the Crusades. Most of these people make a rational arguement, namely how can the Church profess morals when it does not practice them? Catholics, to them, are naturally baptized hypocrites.
But as Paz eloquently pointed out, the power of the Church is not found in the Vatican, but from its followers. The power of the Kingdom of Heaven does not necessarily come from the ideal itself, but from the faith of the masses. If no one believes, what purpose is Jesus' message?
As such, the Church is not perfect. Think rationally, if the power of the Church stems from humans, it shares the fallacies of human beings. We've had popes that have acted outside the teaching of Christ, we've had priests that have partaken in political affairs, but people make mistakes. The beauty of the Church is that like some, it learned from its mistakes and became better as such.
The reason I remain a Catholic is because of my firm belief that the Church itself is capable of doing more good than evil. We've seen the Church do bad things before, but we have seen the Church do great things much more often.
I would like to open by quoting Frank. He writes, "Sinning is not about accepting sin because it happens, but continuing towards ending sin no matter how futile it seems." Thats almost C.S. Lewis like in its interpretation. I would like to build on this point. While the Catholic Church has seen its fair share of corruption, sin, and complete wrong doing, it is because of human resilence that we are able to over come these things. To learn from them. That is God's goal for us, He already knows we're goin to sin, thats a given. What God wishes for us is to live by Jesus' example of total selflessness, to be one with God. We're going to trip and fall, but its our ability to get up and keep going which gains us God's favor. Monda talks about the church being founded by a 'weak' man, thus making it indestructable. i would challenge him on the use of the word 'weak'. Humble, yes, but by no means was he weak. He showed the absolute strength, its one thing to so physical force and crush an opponent, it shows even greater strength to have control, and NOT lash out. Sin is merely a lack of self diciplne, we lose focus and bam sin occurs. To site Lewis just one more time God is the one who will pick us up off the ground, knowing full well we're going to fall right back down, but he won't stop helping us up.
When thinking about the fact that the Church works towards an ideal of
perfection--heaven and the reign of God on earth--I'm reminded of
Plato's "Republic." Anyone familiar with the work knows that the
type of government advocated by Plato is far from Republican. He
essentially develops a system in which flawless philosopher-king rule,
and the people entrust them to rule justly. But we know that no
person can be as perfect as Plato's philosopher-kings, especially in a
world like ours, filled with so many vices and temptations. And so we
developed (and continue to develop) a system of representative
democracy, which, although far from perfect, aims to fill the needs of
the people and periodically reform itself through elections.
Similarly, the system develops over time to accommodate changes in
culture and socio-economic nuances, but the original framework of
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" remain firm.
Analogous is the institution of the Church. Made up of imperfect
individuals who have certainly committed grievous sins over time, the
Church as an earthly, man-made construction is far from perfect. As
it has evolved over time, it has amended its role in the world and has
progressed in many different ways. Like our system of government, the
hope is that we will eventually grow enough so that our long term
goals are met: equality and justice for all in our political world,
and the realization of the reign of God in our spiritual world. There
is no easy way to achieve these goals, seeing as how our world is made
up of imperfect people. But working towards perfect, idealistic ends
is one way in which we will be able to continue to challenge ourselves
to realize our ideals.
We must always take the good with the bad, in each individual person.
It is no wonder that Jesus aligned himself with the impoverished and
marginalized in society, for they often have the most to teach us
about individual human value. It is critical that we remember that
for all of humanity, people and civilizations have failed. But
ideas--especially when it comes to those advocated by our Church--can
live on, and only imperfect people can work through and past their own
and others' imperfections in order to achieve those ends.
putting curtis 50 cent jackson's point as well as bubba lepore's piggy back into a more real world situation i cite the one the only diddy, formerly known as puff, formerly known as p diddy, formerly known as puff daddy, you get the point. J-LO?!?! whoa outta control.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=63qZUxL_GZI&feature=related
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