This was in the sidebar of a blog I visit regularly. The title caught my eye.
Happily not in Communion with Francis - AKA Catholic
I don't know much of Mr. Verrecchio's tacit beef with Mr. Sammons and Dr. Kwasniewski in this piece. I don't know if what he implies about them is correct. Thus, I will leave that where it is.
However, Mr. Verrecchio's base point - that the words we speak and the actions we perpetrate matter - is correct. Words do matter. Actions do matter. Both need to be taken into consideration when we think about someone and a quality of theirs. This is something the Church has held for centuries, drawing from Our Lord's interactions with the people of the Gospels, His Parables, and the vagaries of human nature. An example is helpful. Let's say one of my close friends says he really likes the colour yellow. He frequently says yellow is his favourite colour. However, whenever I am in his presence, which is often, I cannot help but notice that he does not wear much yellow. Green, yes. But very rarely yellow. Therefore, I am right to think that he does not like yellow as much as he says he does. Green is likely his favorite colour. What he said does not mesh with what he acts as.
Bringing this back to the Church, the words we say about the reality around us, and how we act in relation to those words, does matter. They matter a great deal, perhaps more than we realize. If, to use Mr. Verrecchio's impetus as an example, we say we are in communion with Francis as Pope, do our actions afterwards confirm our words or betray them? I leave that to you to answer. We can use this process towards anything, Church-related or not.
May you have a blessed Advent.
