Many tout the "new" and "ruptured" ecceleisiology of Vatican II for all kinds of novelties when it comes to the Church and the Holy Mass and the role of the laity.
However the Extraordinary Synod on Vatican II in 1985 made it clear that it just ain't so:
3. The Mystery of the Church
The whole importance of the Church derives from her connection with Christ. The Council has described the Church in diverse ways: as the people of God, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the family of God. These descriptions of the Church complete one another and must be understood in the light of the Mystery of Christ or of the Church in Christ. We cannot replace a false unilateral vision of the Church as purely hierarchical with a new sociological conception which is also unilateral. Jesus Christ is ever present in his Church and lives in her as risen. From the Church's connection with Christ we clearly understand the eschatological character of the Church herself (cf. LG 7) In this way the pilgrim Church on earth is the messianic people (cf. LG 9) that already anticipates in itself its future reality as a new creation. Yet she remains a holy Church that has sinners in her midst, that must ever be purified, and that moves amidst the persecutions of this world and the consolations of God, towards the future kingdom (cf. LG 8) In this sense there are always present within the Church the mystery of the Cross and the mystery of the resurrection.
4. The universal vocation to holiness
Because the Church in Christ is mystery, she must be considered a sign and instrument of holiness. For this reason the Council proclaimed the vocation of all the faithful to holiness (cf. LG 5). The call to holiness is an invitation to an intimate conversion of heart and to participate in the life of God, One and Triune, and this signifies and surpasses the realization of man's every desire. In our day above all, when so many people feel an interior void and spiritual crisis, the Church must preserve and energetically promote the sense of penance, prayer, adoration, sacrifice, self-giving, charity and justice.
Men and women saints have always been founts and origins of renewal in the most difficult circumstances throughout the Church's history. Today we have tremendous need of saints, for whom we must assiduously Implore God. The Institutes of consecrated life through the profession of the evangelical counsels must be conscious of their special mission in today's Church, and we must encourage them in that mission. The apostolic movements and the new movements of spirituality are the bearers of great hope, if they properly remain in ecclesial communion. All the laity must perform their role in the Church in their daily occupations such as the family, the workplace, secular activities and leisure time so as to permeate and transform the world with the light and life of Christ. Popular devotion, rightly understood and practiced, is very useful in nourishing the holiness of the people. It therefore merits greater attention on the part of pastors.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is our mother in the order of grace (cf. LG 61), is an example for all Christians of holiness and of total response to God's call (LG chaps. 8).
5. Suggestions
Today it is extremely necessary that the Pastors of the Church excel in the witness of holiness. It is necessary already in seminaries and religious houses to give a formation that educates the candidates not only intellectually but also spiritually; they must be seriously introduced to a daily spiritual life (prayer, meditation, the reading of the Bible, the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist) According to what is expressed by the Decree "Presbyterorum Ordinis", they should be prepared for the priestly ministry in such a way that they find nourishment for their spiritual life in pastoral activity itself (cf. PO 16) Thus, in the exercise of the ministry they will also be capable of offering the faithful the correct counsel for their spiritual lives. The true renewal of the Institutes of consecrated life must be favoured in every way. But the spirituality of the laity, founded on baptism, must also be promoted. In the first place, it is necessary to promote conjugal spirituality, which is based on the sacrament of marriage and is of great importance for the transmission of the faith to future generations.
2 comments:
"and certainly before that too"
May I draw to your attention, Father, that Pope Paul VI in his weekly catecheses in 1969 discussed the Council - and false interpretations of it - at great length. See, in particular his catechesis of 2 July where his line of thought under the cross-heading "Ritorno alla Sorgente" can be detected from these few words:- "il nuovo non può essere nella Chiesa prodotto da una rottura con la tradizione." (The "new" cannot be produced in the Church by a rupture with tradition).
He goes on:- "La rottura a noi concessa è quella della conversione, la rottura col peccato, non col patrimonio di fede e di vita, di cui siamo eredi responsabili e fortunati. Le innovazioni necessarie ed opportune, alle quali dobbiamo aspirare, non possono venire da un distacco arbitrario dalla viva radice, che ci ha trasmesso Cristo dal momento in cui è apparso nel mondo ed ha fatto della Chiesa «segno e strumento» della validità della nostra unione con Dio"
In tribute to your Italian heritage I do not offer a translation, but the only rupture he admits is the rupture with sin, and not any rupture with the heritage of faith and life.
Ringraziarla per le sue osservazioni scritti a me in italiano!
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