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<p>Great article Alan. As Chitizer says the church is making some
progress. <br>
</p>
<p>I am reminded of <u>Christians and 911</u> by David Ray
Griffith. At the council of Nicea, the church changed course
dropped its critique and instead became an advocate for
Constantine and the Roman Empire. Today many of us hold our
faith in the goodness of the empire at an even greater level than
our faith in the church. We cannot consistently recognize the
potential for evil by the empire. We no longer believe that the
empire is the <strong> "beast</strong> with ten<strong> horns</strong>
and seven heads" (Revelation 13) <br>
</p>
<p>Art<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/03/21 8:08 a.m., Allan Baker via
craic wrote:<br>
</div>
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cite="mid:D6620AF8-B9B5-454D-BA3F-06AF58F0D352@gmail.com">
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CRAICers;
<div class=""><br class="">
<div>I received this note from a friend, and I thought that you
might like to read some words from Sister Chittister.</div>
<div>Allan</div>
<div><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; border: none;
padding: 0cm;" class=""><b class="">Sent:<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>May 1,
2021 2:02 PM<br class="">
<b class="">Subject:<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Chittister
article<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p
class=""> </o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">I know
some of you like this author.</div>
</div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p
class=""></o:p></div>
<div class="">
<p class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></p>
<p class=""><b class="">Joan
Chittister <span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>recent
article in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b
class="">Reporter Magazine<o:p class=""></o:p></b></p>
<p class="">Over the years, we have begun to discover
some differences between Jesus and the church: Jesus
has credibility.</p>
<p class="">The reputation of the church, on the other
hand, teeters. The papacy, the very cornerstone of
the church, is a little-known history because so
many of the early popes themselves were morally
decrepit. The institution itself has wavered between
the preservation of the faith and the amassing of
power. The call of the church to protect the faith
deteriorated into the Crusades rather than into
universal unity. Evangelization became more a game
of denominational competition than wholesale welcome
of the ecumenical others.</p>
<p class="">Until finally, the renewal of the church
has been swamped in regalia, clericalism and wealth.
The eminence of the church has become more
architectural, more institutional than ringingly,
obviously, universally compassionate. At least not
as the divorced Catholic saw it then. Not as the
Catholic in a mixed marriage saw it. Not as the
beaten women they were telling to be more obedient
to their husbands saw it. And certainly not as LGBT
persons seeking real love and the sacraments they
need to maintain them even now.</p>
<p class="">Yet, it is also the church that saved
itself over and over again. The church recoiled from
nepotism — the control of the church by family
dynasties. The church faced a long, long struggle to
do it but managed finally to free itself from
secular power in a monarchial world that had come to
engulf it in simony and the selling of positions,
pastorates and religious hucksterism.</p>
<p class="">Even more, the church pursued idea
development well beyond the errant levels of piety
gone astray or magic confused with sacramentalism.
The church triumphant educated generations of the
faithful who sought to lead both a spiritual life
and a humanly fulfilled life. And, from age to age,
the church gave the world models of sanctity that
kept Jesus alive in our midst.</p>
<p class="">Over the years, we have begun to discover
some differences between Jesus and the church: Jesus
has credibility.</p>
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<blockquote type="cite" class=""><br
class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div style="margin: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family:
-webkit-system-font, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Subject: </b></span><span
style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">RE:
Chittister article </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family:
-webkit-system-font, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Date: </b></span><span
style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, 'Helvetica
Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">May 1, 2021 at
2:19:54 PM EDT<br class="">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;" class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;">
<div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;
font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I
should add the last section</div>
<p class="">The desert monastics tell the story of Abba
Arsenius, a scholarly man, who is seen asking a
peasant for advice. "Why would you, who are so
learned, ask this peasant for advice?" And Arsenius
answered them, "Yes, I know a great deal about Latin
and Greek yet I have not learned even the alphabet of
this peasant."<o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="center" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left:
0cm; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri,
sans-serif;">The modern church needs a listening Abba
Arsenius badly.<o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="">To do otherwise is to confess to some kind
of charade where the church pretends to care about the
concerns of the laity — but actually ignores them,
where the concerns of the laity are solicited but not
treated publicly, where "the priesthood of the laity"
is theologized but not included in the foundation of
this new church in this new time.<o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="">And that's where the difference in the
Christian life sets in: Jesus was credible.<o:p
class=""></o:p></p>
<div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;
font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a
href="https://www.ncronline.org/authors/joan-chittister" target="_blank"
class="" style="color: blue;" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
class=""><img class="" apple-inline="yes"
id="141D1966-304A-467E-BA4A-06405A9B70CE"
apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes"
src="cid:part1.800D9523.BBE72E0A@integralshift.ca"
width="180" height="180"></span></a><o:p
class=""></o:p></div>
<div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;
font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p
class=""> </o:p></div>
<div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;
font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p
class=""> </o:p></div>
<div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;
font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Sent
from <a
href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986"
class="" style="color: blue;" moz-do-not-send="true">Mail</a> for
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