The Bishop's Synod: A Ray of Hope?
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that there may be a ray of hope from the Bishop's Synod for conservatives in the Catholic Church. Apparantly, the idea has been floated by at least one of the participants that "Communion in the hand" has been detrimental to the piety of the faithful, even going so far as to suggest that perhaps there should be a return to the universal norm of receiving Our Lord on the tongue while kneeling! No, that is not an earth tremor you are feeling but rather just the combined shudders of millions of liberal "cafeteria Catholics" as they contemplate the loss of their so called liturgical liberties.Do I think that it is really possible that such a drastic reshaping of Catholic worship is possible? Well, if it is possible, then I think that this Pope would be the one to order it. That being said, I don't think that Benedict will think it practicable at this time to reach so far -- although he may stress that the practice of receiving on the tongue and kneeling is still the universal norm even though it is not widely practiced and even discouraged in the Church in America and elsewhere. But I do think that he will use the finding of this Synod to bolster his arguments that a "reform of the reform" is desperately needed. Even though I do not forsee an extensive reshaping of Catholic worship, I would not be the least supprised to see decrees from the Holy See demanding swift and sure remedies for at least the gravest ills tormanting the liturgy of the modern Church.
We must pray much for this Pope. John Paul the Great has laid the theological groundwork for an authentic implementation of Vatican II and the need to return to traditional Catholic piety. It may well be the mission of Benedict XVI to find a way to bring about concrete changes based on that groundwork.
Labels: Catholic, Catholicism
posted by Norm Johnson @ 5:22 AM
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