The Church in the beginning (Level 3)

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In looking at my previous comments on Level1and 2, I realize that more could be said. But as I indicated I am not trying to write history but do want to comment on the state of the church today. Thus, I pick up around 1900 with a church that has a defined liturgy and many accomplishments influencing the world toward better living the second great commandment. It is here that I will make some general comments before proceeding. Like the growth of an individual, we see the childhood years with all its physical and intellectual development. Then we see the teenage years with all the physical and emotional and intellectual growth. What come next should be adulthood. What we see in the first 2000 years is a church that on the positive side has greatly enhanced the world through education, healthcare, and beautiful liturgies. On the negative side it’s message to its members is fear of God, fear of the world, and fear of hell. I struggle in how to explain what I see as a church with two faces. One that has made the world a much better place, and one that has turned its back on the second great commandment. I have recently come to realize that the church has evolved a sense of power that seems to want to replace God and his plan for the world. This flows from my comments in another section on my view of God’s creation (check index when available). I have too many competing thoughts as I write this so I will try to refocus on 1900. The church was facing a century of two world wars and many smaller ones. It had great cathedrals, hospitals, and growing congregations. A world of crises. 

I paused here because I continue to be discouraged at what I perceive is the church today. I see many faithful Catholics who struggle to pray and support the church while being left to stray lost in the wilderness. I care deeply about the church and believe it has an important role to play in God’s plan for creation. Yet I see it turning away from its role to be something it wasn’t intended to be. I have to find a way to express my opinion while trying to avoid my most negative thoughts and statements. If anyone ever reads this keep that in mind. You need to find the truth and make that god’s light in your life. My words are spitting in the wind. I just hope the wind is blowing in the right direction.

Back to the church at the beginning of the 20thcentury. It was a church of the Baltimore Catechism. Churches were full; Litugies were “bells and smells”; and God was out to get you. The church was a church of arcane rules: Don’t chew the host; Fast from midnight until receiving communion (no sip of water; worry if you had to take medication during that time); stand trembling while waiting for confession. It seems unreal to even write that, but I lived through most of that environment. Upon reflecting on the churches history, I have come to realize that there were two Catholic churches. The one of the Saints (people who tried to live out the Lord’s will) and the church of the aristocracy. That is the church that replaced God’s kingship with its own dynasty. Just what God warned when the ancient Jewish people said they wanted a king. In my reading church history, I failed to make that distinction until recently. I believe that it was only the saints (small s and capital S) that allowed the church to survive). As the world and the church faced the coming world wars, missionaries gave their time and often their lives to spread the core gospel message. People like St. Damien; St. Elizabeth Seton, and many others were models of what God could accomplish through his people. Churches were full and the people were told they were sheep and acted accordingly. Two world wares came along and many people died on each side. The institutional church did little to mitigate the suffering while the militant church did what it has always done, bound-up the wounded. It’s not clear to me who or what the church should have done, but it’s clear that the culture was changing. An era of scientific progress was underway. On one side was the bomb, on the other advances in technology and medicine. Education was bearing fruit. People slowly began to recognize that they were not only called sheep but treated as such. They were cannon-fodder for the aristocratic elite of the world. Since ancient times the multitudes of the world had been told that God had created special people who deserved to be placed at a higher level than the rest. The church since shortly after its beginning bought and sold the same story. I have not yet found any significant theological justification for God wanting a hierarchical structure for his people. Yet that’s what the church evolved into. I still believe what Jesus called the two great commandments were in fact the foundation of what God wanted for his people. A lot of what I’ve said has taken me most of my life to recognize. I’m sure it is through the lens of my own sinfulness. Nevertheless, I will quit my current rant, and try to move on into the current timeframes when I continue the next comments.