This can’t be good for the Church. It is all too black and white, good versus evil, them against us. Whilst I do not doubt that there are some seemingly within the body of the Church who are hell bent on destroying it, playing out some real life “Lord of the Rings” with our fellow Catholics is wrong.
I offer a humble solution below. Look to the Apocalypse (chapters 2 & 3).

Ephesus: A righteous church, but Christ warns John that “they may have less love now than formerly”, I see the most startling parallel with our own conservative brethren here. It is a trap we can all fall into.
Smyrna: A persecuted Church. Hammered by the devil, great saints will be forged here, but isn’t it worth remembering that where persecution is greatest, there are also great opportunities for harm to be done, a persecuted church is asking that all its members behave like saints here on earth. Would not anger, hatred and a desire for vengeance swell in my heart if I were a Catholic in Iraq, the Holy Land or China?
Pergamum: This resembles the Church today in the affluent west. Many openly flouting the laws of the Church yet calling themselves Catholics. Real repentance is called for from all of us, no matter how small our transgressions are. For those of us of a conservative mind set, are we not guilty of the sin of omission, for not shouting out loudly enough what the Church stands for in such a way that others will hear and take note.
Thyatira: A persevering Church, a grade A for effort but only a D+ on sound teaching and theology. A church openly welcoming false prophets and possibly New Age “spirituality”.
Sardis: The sleeping church. Aaaargh, I know this one too well!
Philadelphia: A conservative church that loves the law and doesn’t want to think too much "outside the box". Christ promises to protect them and recognises their weakness. And weakness is probably no bad thing. They seem to be a church that is doing nothing wrong however, one gets the feeling the Philadelphians would probably not make good missionaries.
Laodicea: Wealthy and lukewarm. Offensive, repulsive and a travesty, it offers no solidarity to the poor, the uninformed and the oppressed. Just remember, lukewarm can feel hot if your hand has previously been in cold water. However, we are not a Church of relatives, we are a Church of absolutes, and lukewarm is lukewarm and vomitsome.
3 comments:
I enjoyed reading this post Rita. Your comments are rather apt too. I am going to think about this.
Rita, thank you again for a first-class meditation. I know I have complimented you on earlier posts, but this is the best so far! You hit the nail squarely on the head -- the hyper"conservatives" and the hyper-"liberals" aren't doing theology at all, but simply playing with mundane politics behind a pious mask. But you did it so well, so much less offensive than I am when I say it.
Go, girl!
I love your pithy resume of this part of apocalipse!
For the benefit of any fundamentalist reader: yeah OF COURSE
John as the divinely inspired author has put it better for all time, but for a particular purpose here and now , hitting a lot of nails on the head superbly.And bringing on a wry grin of selfrecognition here and there, God forgive me!
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