Rod, The Letter, and Regensburg

Today Mark Shea posts a link to a post by Richard Chonak about the apparent jump of Rod Dreher from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. Mark and many of the commenters make mention that Rod needs prayers and that we cannot judge him. I wonder why we always feel the need to do this. It should go without saying that we cannot judge someone and everyone needs prayers. We could say the same about an abortionist or Osama bin Laden. That should not stop us, however, from making prudential judgments about actions.

It appears that Rod has left the Church because he is (rightly) upset by the The Scandal. He also wants a place where his children can better feel as if they are part of a community.

Amy Welborn has an interesting post today about The Letter from Bishop Tod Brown of Orange County where Brown laments the Church becoming a sort of sacramental machine where people come for the one time sacraments of baptism, first communion, confirmation, and marriage and are never seen between. Amy makes a great insight:

The answer, or at least part of it, is unintentionally contained in the video sent out to accompany The Letter. It is a sort-of-slick presentation of the matter, replete with folks talking about their experiences of Church, and what they like:

I feel as if I belong...I was looking for fellowship...I enjoy helping others...this has been an incredible journey..

The closing montage is played under a song, of course, and the song is about how we all join "to shine the light together."

The end. Hardly a word about Jesus Christ. I mean...not much.

This is a hard place we have come to, isn't it?

Amidst the violence following the Pope's speech in Regensburg, the main message of his speech seems to have been lost. Faith and Reason go hand in hand and faith is reasonable. "Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature".

Rod Dreher's "reason" for leaving the Church is not reasonable. It is emotionalism. The same goes for Bishop Brown's approach to apostolate. The title of John Paul II's encyclical, Fides et Ratio, does not translate to "Faith and Emotion".

Anger at the failings of some our of priests and bishops is entirely understandable as is the human need for community. These should not, however, be the basis for affirming or rejecting faith.

Christ allowed Judas to be one of the twelve, He has allowed Judases to continue to be in the Church throughout the centuries, and He will likely allow them in the future. Reading St Paul, we can see that there have been serious problems of community from the very beginning.

We should strive to make our parishes more welcoming. We should hope and pray for holy priests and make those who are not accountable. But even when our goals and hopes fall way short, we should still embrace the Faith and the Church.

I am not Catholic because of the choir in my parish really belts it or because my pastor is a nice guy. I'm Catholic because I believe the Catholic faith to be true.

That is reason enough.