Monday 13 January 2014

What The Synod On The Family Is called To Do

I want to take up something I said in response to David’s comment on the previous post; that is, that the Synod participants must defend the natural law and not merely the terminology we use to give it expression.

During the run-up to the Government introducing same-sex “marriage” there were prelates who, probably to avoid being seen as judgemental and homophobic, and in order to present as giving compassion and legal protection to all, seemed happy to subscribe to the legal recognition of same-sex pairings as long as the Government did not call them marriage. Yet same-sex pairings, sexual acts closed to life by artificial contraception, cohabitation and serial ‘marriage’ are all contrary to the natural law, and our prelates must be clear in defending this.

It seems to me that if the Synod is going to be successful and bring the Gospel to bear on today’s subjective, relativistic world, then it must, as well as showing understanding of human difficulties, unreservedly teach that any sexual activity outside of marriage (marriage being the exclusive, life-long union of one man and one woman wherein sexual activity is open to new life) is contrary to the law of God and to the good of society. It is too easy to be hoodwinked by the social gurus of today and malformed by the non-judgemental culture to the point where one without meaning to, betrays the Gospel.

The Synod must find ways of helping Bishops around the world to proclaim the Truth and to operate according to it within their Diocese. Certainly we must find a language that the world is able to understand, and provide for those in improper situations to recognise God’s love for them and respond to that love so that these situations be left behind. The Synod thus has a very tough task. It’s participants are under huge psychological and social pressure from the ideologies of the world to adapt (discard) the teaching of the Gospel in the name of inclusion and human rights; as such the participants desperately need our prayers and sacrifices so that they may work with the wisdom that sits by God’s throne (Wis.9v4) and confound the ideologies of the world, remaining faithful to the Gospel and compassionate in its proclamation.

Let us pray that the Synod finds the right words to defend and promote the natural law, and avoid the trap of simply defending the terminology we use to give expression to the natural law. The terminology and the reality must be defended and promoted. With our prayers and the assistance of the Holy Ghost, the Synod can be successful; it can bring the Church to turn an important corner back to orthodoxy and orthopraxis where it has been lost to relativism, and show understanding and support of those whose lives have not panned out as they planed.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY TRINITY FOR THE SYNOD ON THE FAMILY
Most Holy Trinity, from whom our families take their origin and meaning,
bless and guide the up-coming synod on the family.
Open minds and hearts to the place of marriage and family
in Your plan for our salvation.
Help Your holy Church and the world in which She lives
to rediscover the unique place, the profound wonder 
and the great sanctity of marriage,
and to find grace-filled solutions to the breakdown of marriages and family life.
May Your Truth and the wonder of marriage, upheld by the holy synod,
provide a map of life for us in the Apostolic Exhortation it generates.
Seeking the intercession and Our Blessed Lady and of St Joseph, 
of St Peter and St Paul,
of St Michael the Archangel and of all the angels and saints,
we make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

4 comments:

  1. Richard Griffiths13 January 2014 at 12:49

    Why don't you defect back to the schismatic SSPX? The synod is not being called to sign off old formulations of teachings. It has been called to discuss modern difficulties and consider how church teaching and pastoral practice can respond to them. The synod allows for the whole church to speak freely about these matters without the sensibilities of the corrupt curial elite dominating discussions. Good bless Pope Francis.
    Richard Griffiths

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking time to comment, Richard.
      You have overlooked the fact that while formulations of doctrine can change, the doctrine itself cannot. Whatever was given to us by the Lord is preserved in scripture and Tradition, which the Magisterium has the authority only to defend and develop; it is not for the Church to distort what the Lord has given us.
      The whole Church may indeed speak, but whatever is spoken that contradicts previous teachings is not in fact the Church speaking but the father of lies. I am sure Francis is aware that the Church's authority is thus limited, and I doubt he wants to change it: no pope wants to imply let alone determine that we have had to wait 2000+ years for him to get right what our Lord, His Apostles and their successor, got wrong. Francis may have made some wild off-the-cuff comments, but I would not like to ascribe to him the arrogance that would need to be present in him if he were set on changing established doctrine.
      There are indeed modern difficulties for humanity in that we have left behind the Gospel in favour of same-sex pairings, contraception, divorce etc., but the synod must find a way of addressing these with understanding, compassion, and the Truth of the Gospel, not find ways of subjugating the Gospel to contemporary psychological, sociological and political theories.
      God bless you and yours.

      Delete
  2. thank you for the post and the prayer, Father.

    'It’s participants are under huge psychological and social pressure from the ideologies of the world to adapt (discard) the teaching of the Gospel in the name of inclusion and human rights.'

    where there's no Truth, how can there be true charity?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.
      Indeed, my hope is that the Synod "does the truth in charity", as directed by St Paul.
      God bless

      Delete

Please comment using a pseudonym, not as 'anonymous'.
If you challenge the Magisterium, please do so respectfully.
We reserve the right to delete from comments any inflammatory remarks.
If we do not reply to your comment it is through lack of time rather than interest.