On the Discernment of Charisms, and Suffering
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,508
    Cross-posting from the Chant Cafe.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks for this, Kathy. I loved this excerpt from the document.

    Any tensions that may arise are a call to the practice of greater charity in view of the more profound ecclesial communion and unity that exists

    Of course, how one defines "the practice of greater charity" might be debatable, that is, the understanding of it differs greatly from person to person.

    I've had the "You're not being charitable" card flung at me by good people, and I've had to think about the meaning of charity long and hard. What I try to point out as kindly as I can is that charity doesn't mean one must sacrifice the truth. Charity doesn't mean one must be silent. Charity doesn't mean doing something one finds morally objectionable. Rather:

    Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: (I Cor. 4-8)
    Thanked by 2CharlesW francis
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Julie,

    Charity, as you well know, descends from caritas, which the Church uses to signify the love of God. As such, it can not be separated from the truth. It is intimately connected to it.

    charity doesn't mean one must sacrifice the truth.
    indeed, but sacrifice, instead, for the truth.


    Thanked by 3JulieColl CHGiffen CharlesW
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,508
    I think the point of the letter is one of contextualization. Jesus prayed for unity AND truth on the night He was betrayed, not for one or the other.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen CharlesW
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks for that, Chris. The opening paragraphs of Pope Benedict's encyclical, Caritas in veritate, expound on the topic and explain his title which wasn't the usual formula:

    Hence, the need to link charity with truth not only in the sequence, pointed out by Saint Paul, of veritas in caritate (Eph 4:15), but also in the inverse and complementary sequence of caritas in veritate. Truth needs to be sought, found and expressed within the “economy” of charity, but charity in its turn needs to be understood, confirmed and practised in the light of truth. (Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI)

    It's interesting that he reversed the sequence.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Ut omnes unum sint.

    How difficult to realize Jesus' fervent desire for His Church.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    P.S. It was both John Paul II and Benedict XVI who taught over and over again that nothing is more contrary to true ecumenism than a false irenicism that sacrifices or downplays truth in an attempt to find unity, but in reality ends up doing violence to both.

    Both popes made the point that there is no dichotomy between charity and truth, and both must go hand in hand in any attempt to foster unity.
    Thanked by 3CharlesW M. Jackson Osborn eft94530
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    I've had the "You're not being charitable" card flung at me by good people,...


    At which point, I tell them, "You don't know the half of it! On my bad days I am even worse."

    You are correct about charity and truth going hand in hand. If we stop being Catholic and no longer believe much of anything, we can have unity out the wazoo. Who needs that?
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    Justice and Peace are kissing cousins, according to Psalm 84 (Douay-Rheims, of course.) We need to remember that in our personal and public lives, instead of insisting that they "get a room".
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
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