Day 21. Joan Chittister, O.S.B.: A growing season
Friday, March 16, 2012
Comments (23)
Each day of Lent (minus Sundays) we'll bring you words of wisdom from spiritual guides.
21. Joan Chittister, O.S.B.: A growing season
Lent is not an event. It is not something that happens to us. It is at most a microcosm of what turns out to be a lifelong journey to the center of the self.
The purpose of Lent is to confront us with ourselves in a way that's conscious and purposeful, that enables us to deal with the rest of life well. It is not a "penitential season." It is a growing season. It requires us to determine what is worth dying for in our own lives and what it may be necessary for us to become if we really want to live. (National Catholic Reporter, Feb. 23, 2001)
Chittister is an Erie Benedictine sister, author, and lecturer.
Find spiritual advice for Lent from other guides in 40 days to a new you.
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It is heresy to say that Lent
By Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, April 16, 2011It is heresy to say that Lent is not a penitential season. That would be like saying Christmas is not a celebration of the birth of Our Lord.
You all need to leave the Novus Ordo counter-church and obey the teachings of the Faith as they have always been pronounced.
I rather enjoyed the council
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011I rather enjoyed the council of wisdom. There are serious problems on top of dire behavioral issues here today. None has told me Christ said you need a nuke to make a meal. WE all need to grow, mature as persons. For those whom find issue-of 'sad, foolish, dogma'; may we will the personal strength to persevere to a position of fortitude in meeting our needs. Jesus message includes ...{what is necessary}...'" believe in the works that I do"'...
Catholic Church Talking Points
By Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, April 3, 2011I liked her comments. They are pretty typical of what you would find in many of the daily reflection books. And it is a refreshing change from the usual "Jesus hates gays,wants you to have 10 kids and be sure to vote Republican" line you usually here from the Catholic Church.
You are wrong
By Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, April 4, 2011The Church doesn't teach that God hates gays, just what they do.
You should have said:
"And it is a refreshing change from the usual "Jesus hates gay sex, wants you to have 10 kids and be sure to vote Republican" line you usually here from the Catholic Church."
Then you would have been right.
God hates sex
By Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, April 4, 2011Yes, you are right! But I would add that Church teachings tell us that God hates all sex, except when you're married and making a baby.
To qualify your statement a bit...
By Larryboyyboy (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011Read the book "Holy Sex!" by Gregory Popcak (you may find it at online retailers). Also read JPII's "Love and Responsibility" (though the former is a shorter read).
Revisionist Church History
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011To say that the celebration of "Holy Sex" in these texts isn't a recent turnaround in the Church's teaching and attitude on sex is denying history. Throughout most of Church history sex was presented as something of a necessary evil. That's how I learned it in the 60's and my parents before me. Please don't tell me all the nuns and priests who taught it were wrong. They were teaching the position and attitude of the Catholic Church. Gregory Popcak, who is a little weird in my opinion, and JPII who beat himself with a belt, can write how Catholic sex is great but 2011 years of Chruch history is clear that it wasn't always.
Inferences
By Larryboy (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011In my initial comment, I didn't make any denials about history. Indeed,for many years, the Church had a narrow view on sex; one can find such a historical view both inside and outside the Church (think Victorian Era restructions on sexuality). As for Gregory Popcak and JPII - anyone can have their own opinions about them, but being a "little wierd" and beating one's self with a belt doesn't disqualify one from being able to make statements about how our understanding of Christian sexuality has grown in the past 50 years.
Hey Sis, time for your temperature!
By Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011Popcak thinks teenage boys should chart their sister's periods as training for NFP.
Pope John Paul II wacked himself with a belt for self mortification ("Bad body! Bad body!"). Did he throw himself in nettles too?
Why are these bizzare opinions/behaviors off limits for questioning someone's expertise on Catholic married bodies making whoopie?
Anyone else would be laughed off the stage.
So...
By Larryboy (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011by your logic, anyone who had an odd belief/opinion or practice is suspect when claiming to act as an authority/expert in a related matter. As I said earlier, you have the right to have your opinion about others - this doesn't mean that they don't have anything good to say about a topic. Many saints fall in this category - exhibiting behaviors that could be considered odd or extreme, but ultimately the truth of how they lived and what they said was more important.
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