Message to those who disagree¶
If you feel offended by some idea presented on this website –or by the way it is presented–, I don’t ask you to stop feeling offended. You are welcome to feel offended. I’d rather ask you to forgive me my boldness and to formulate what’s wrong with my thoughts. Obviously my thoughts are not free of mistakes.
It is important to find a consensus on these questions because when two groups of people have controversial opinions about an existential question, then one of them is in Hell and and the other in Heaven. If you feel that I am in Hell and you in Heaven, then it is maybe you who can help me to get out of it. We are together on our way of searching what is good and true.
My vision pushes me indeed into the role of a bull in a china shop.
When you realize that you are a bull in a china shop, the best reaction is to get out of the shop and to limit the damage as much as possible. But in the present case there is no way out. We are together in a same boat, the Church, whether we want it or not. We have no choice but to find a modus vivendi.
When you have a bull in your china shop and can’t get it out of it, then you need to find a way to gain control over the bull. A traditional agricultural method to calm down bulls is a nose ring. But I guess that you would not like me to use your nose ring. So please stop considering using mine. Remember the Golden Rule.
Feeling offended is an emotion and as such does not need to be justified.
The teachings of the Church that need to be marked as obsolete have evolved because they respond to natural human fears. We all suffer from these fears more or less, depending on our personal history.
The fears triggered by the Synod on Synodality are fears that the Gospel calls us to overcome. Overcoming these fears does not mean that you personally must stop feeling or experiencing them. These fears are based on convictions, which themselves are based on our personal history. We cannot undo our personal history just by making a conscious decision. God never calls us to do something that we are not able to do.
But conscious decisions are our choice. There are good fears and “bad” fears. The Gospel calls us to cultivate the good fears and to overcome the bad fears. Overcoming these fears means to discern what is good and what is bad. The Church is an institution, not a human being. Institutions have no emotions.
Trusting in the Synodal Church then means to deliberately decide, at least in the conscious part of your mind: “I do not want to teach these particular fears to our children. At least in theory I do wish I could get rid of these fears! Even if I cannot get rid of them during my lifetime, I want at least our children to not suffer from these fears.” Mark 9:14-29 calls us to cry out with the father of the muted child: “I want to believe! Help my unbelief!”
No human will ever be free from all fears. We have inherited these fears since the day we left Paradise. But by cultivating and training the Gospel, the risen Christ can little by little make himself at home in our heart and help us to get out of Hell and enter into Heaven.
Let us be aware of our weaknesses and mistakes:
Sometimes we fail to speak boldly because we are shy, we fear our enemies. We fear that some knowledge must be kept secret in order to protect it against the enemy.
Sometimes we refuse to speak because of arrogance. We believe that our explanation was clear. We think that the other is not worth that I patiently explain my opinion again.