Yeah, it's a little odd for a Baptist pastor to write so much about the Pope (check out my earlier posts):
Perhaps it was that I dated a young lady who was pre-Vatican 2 Catholic (15+ years after Vatican 2!) Maybe it's the class I took in seminary on Roman Catholic Theology (because I liked the professor, a Dutch guy named Dr. Kiweit.) Maybe I'm just jealous of the cool hats Catholic clergy get to wear. Who knows?
Anyway, I just read a new article this morning about World Youth Day in Germany... Pope Benedict had some very interesting comments for the nearly 1 million folks who camped to celebrate Mass with him:
He asked them not to see religion as a "consumer product" where people choose only what they want from it and disregard rules that are sometimes difficult to observe.
"Religion constructed on a 'do-it-yourself' basis cannot ultimately help us," he said. "It may be comfortable but at times of crisis we are left to ourselves."In other words, a faith based primarily on my personal choices is only as good as the quality of my personal choices. When you take into consideration my own track record:
- Angel Flight slacks & silky flower shirts
- the musical stylings of Barry Manilow
- western shirts with pearl buttons on the pockets
- 50% of the wargames I bought that I never played against another person
- the aforementioned Catholic young lady & our dating relationship
- for that matter, the vast majority of my crushes, infatuations & dating relationships
- letting my hair grow out where it looked vaguely like Woody Allen
- my struggle with an addiction to pornography
- and so on...
My guess is that you're in the same boat.
2 comments:
As for Catholic girls, I'm partial to the breed and she's stood me in good stead.
However, the point is well made.
Thanks, Conrad...
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