Legal Commentary

Affirmative Othodoxy

Archbishop Chaput (rhymes with "a-choo," by the way) of Denver reminds me of G.K. Chesterton, in the sense that if you start to put post-its by passages of his speeches or essays that are particularly meaningful, you look back and realize that you've carpeted each page with post-its.

His piece in yesterday's First Things was a feast for priests who wish to engage the world within and without their parishes with the call to evangelize, the call of the Acts of the Apostles.

It?s important to remember that the title of the book is the Acts of the Apostles?not the Good Intentions, or the Excellent Plans, or the Plausible Alibis of the Apostles, but their Acts. Words are important. Actions are more important. Christ said he loved us. Then he died to prove it. He said he would rise from the dead and give us new life. Then he really did it. And when the first Apostles said they believed in Jesus Christ, they acted like they meant it, because they did?and then they proved it by turning the world upside down with the gospel.

Put up or shut up.

There's so much more there, for pastor and layman alike. Each paragraph is a treasure trove. Yet, what struck me as much as anything he said were his words about the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, a visit by a man he acknowledges with the highest accolade: a pastor.

I want to conclude on this last point of leadership because I was in Washington last week and was struck by the strength, simplicity, and goodness of Benedict XVI as a pastor. I?ve admired Joseph Ratzinger as a thinker for many years, but I really didn?t expect to be so moved by his visit. He has a gift for what has been called affirmative orthodoxy. That sounds complicated?he?s a theologian, after all?but it really isn?t.

Benedict has the talent for being very frank about sin and calling people back to fidelity. And yet, at the same time, he illuminates that fidelity with warmth in a way that reveals its beauty and disarms the people who hear him. His warning about the ?silent apostasy? of many Catholic laypeople and even some clergy has stayed with me because he said it in a spirit of love, not rebuke. Apostasy is an interesting word. It comes from the Greek verb apostanai?which means to revolt or desert, literally ?to stand away from.? For Benedict, our people and priests don?t need to renounce publicly their Catholic faith to be apostates. They simply need to be silent when their baptism demands that they speak out, to be cowards when Jesus needs them and asks them to have courage.

Benedict beautifully described the American Catholic community as being large and influential?but, even more important, diverse in its origin, creative, generous, and full of religious fervor. He reminded us all that American Catholics need to use our numbers and influence and creativity and generosity and fervor to enter into the public square in an active, faithful, and life-giving way. He called us to bring Christian hope to the public debate, to be clear and united in our Catholic presence in society, and to be a leaven in our nation?s public life. That work needs to begin here, today, right now.

Especially those of us who blog need to be reminded of the old street maxim: don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk. I said yesterday, and I'll say it again, as much to admonish myself as any other person: talk is cheap. Entering the public square "in an active, faithful and life-giving way" is the true test and the true calling.

Full post as published by Counseling Kevin on May 01, 2008 (boomark / email).