"Wouldn't it be nice if being Catholic
didn't make us so annoyingly different from everyone else? If we didn't
have such a strong emphasis on sacraments and hierarchy, while those
around us rely on egalitarianism? If Sundays meant football and not
church, if Fridays meant hamburgers and not fish? If we could follow a
comfortable relativism in which each religion was equally valid, instead
of espousing the politically incorrect claim that there is one true
religion and every other is in some way erroneous? Wouldn't it be nice
to be like them?
"This is, in one sense, what the
Israelites sought from Samuel when they asked for 'a king to govern us
like all the nations' (1 Sam. 8:5). They wanted to be like everyone
around them, to have the earthly stability and security of a monarchy.
They found it inconvenient to be governed by the Judges,
charismatic leaders chosen extraordinarily by God - it cut against the
established customs of the world. Who would foreign leaders approach?
When a war needed to be fought, who would lead them? In times of
prosperity, who would they bestow honor and affection upon? God would
raise up leaders and judges when necessary, but the Israelites desired
to have a ruler of the same kind as everyone else."
In a recent commentary, Brother Hyacinth Grubb, O.P., reflected on some of the consequences of living/not living our Catholic faith.
To access Br. Hyacinth's complete post, please visit:
Dominicana: To Be Like Them (24 JAN 18)
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