The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #149160   Message #3472975
Posted By: BrendanB
29-Jan-13 - 10:51 AM
Thread Name: BS: Sacristan Duties
Subject: RE: BS: Sacristan Duties
Eliza, I agree entirely with what you say about charity. 'There are faith, hope and charity and the greatest of these is charity'. That should be the focus of what churches do and, to be fair, is the focus of many.
I am not sure however that we can question the sincerity of all those whose focus is structures and processes rather than spirit. While we can readily see what is wrong with their approach, and indeed the harm they can do, we cannot be certain that they are not as sincere in their practice as we are in ours. I don't know if I'm right but when we look back into history we see people whose behaviour appals us but who seemed to act out of belief rather than malice. The iconoclasts during the English reformation and civil war spring to mind. Joe's comments about John Paul II in an earlier post also illustrated this.
Thank you for starting such a thought-provoking (and civilised) thread!