The recently terminated thread "Can a woman be?" interested me beyond the limits of its particular subject matter, or the suspected motivation of the poster. Reading through it, I remembered myself as an adolescent boy deeply frustrated with the CCD classes I attended, taught by nuns every Wednesday, attended at first with curiosity and later by parental insistence. I wanted to understand! But that was not on the agenda. Read the Baltimore Catechism. Read the Questions, Read the Answers, repeat. I was full of questions, some sincere, some I'm sure - with sorrow and regret - were meant to trip up the poor Sister. But my unanswered questions led to a wrong conclusion on my part, that the Church had no answers. So I began to look elsewhere untamed, untrained, imprudent and unwise.
There are good, solid reasons why a woman is not to be a leader over men in the Church - and as a corollary, no woman priests - but it seems to me that the decision of the Church in favor of girl alter servers presents "bad optics" in the matter. Girl altar servers appear to be a contradiction (and contradiction is deadly in a Church seeking to live Truth.) Many priests used to think - and still do - that altar servers were a possible pathway toward hearing a call to priesthood. Thus, "what about these girls at the altar?" is a valid and important question that deserves a considered answer. A Church that cannot resolve an apparent contradiction is not properly witnessing to Christ Who is, of course, without any contradiction.
It appears to me that the Church was premature in deciding for girl servers. I noticed one member (Gnarwhal) posted "They shouldn't be, that's a pastoral mistake the USCCB has made." And by the way, the current "Synodality" bandwagon is internally dedicated to precedence of "pastoral" over "doctrinal" in theology - a very dangerous and imprudent guideline to follow, one would think. Slow down. Dangerous curves ahead.
What is the proper understanding of God's intention in the creation of this person a man and not a woman, and of that person a woman and not a man?
Truth is consistent, non-contradictory, possessing integrity, luminous and not misleading but ever-formative toward wholeness, and holiness. When we cannot think how to explain this point or that, we need to talk less and prayerfully ponder more deeply the Truth that we do know, and trust - and beg for light and grace to see more deeply, and love and grace to respond more deeply to those outreaching for wisdom. And there are such seekers out there! And in this time in human history, the evil one is delighting to find every crack of imperfection and error that he can find in the House of God being built today.
There are good, solid reasons why a woman is not to be a leader over men in the Church - and as a corollary, no woman priests - but it seems to me that the decision of the Church in favor of girl alter servers presents "bad optics" in the matter. Girl altar servers appear to be a contradiction (and contradiction is deadly in a Church seeking to live Truth.) Many priests used to think - and still do - that altar servers were a possible pathway toward hearing a call to priesthood. Thus, "what about these girls at the altar?" is a valid and important question that deserves a considered answer. A Church that cannot resolve an apparent contradiction is not properly witnessing to Christ Who is, of course, without any contradiction.
It appears to me that the Church was premature in deciding for girl servers. I noticed one member (Gnarwhal) posted "They shouldn't be, that's a pastoral mistake the USCCB has made." And by the way, the current "Synodality" bandwagon is internally dedicated to precedence of "pastoral" over "doctrinal" in theology - a very dangerous and imprudent guideline to follow, one would think. Slow down. Dangerous curves ahead.
What is the proper understanding of God's intention in the creation of this person a man and not a woman, and of that person a woman and not a man?
Truth is consistent, non-contradictory, possessing integrity, luminous and not misleading but ever-formative toward wholeness, and holiness. When we cannot think how to explain this point or that, we need to talk less and prayerfully ponder more deeply the Truth that we do know, and trust - and beg for light and grace to see more deeply, and love and grace to respond more deeply to those outreaching for wisdom. And there are such seekers out there! And in this time in human history, the evil one is delighting to find every crack of imperfection and error that he can find in the House of God being built today.
