The Association of Catholic Priests of Ireland posted a submission of Father Gabriel Daly’s to the “Tablet”, entitled, “Let the Battle Commence”. Father Daly’s title refers to the ensuing debate in the Church between the so called liberals and conservatives for the next Synod on the Family which is scheduled for October, 2015.

There are many phrases in Father Daly’s writing that I would passionately discuss e.g. “soul of the Catholic Church”, “true reform of the Church”, “dissent as a moral and theological duty”, “two mind-sets in the Church agreeing to disagree”, and I’m sure there are more. I have written on this website about the two “camps” that exist within the RC Institutional Universal Church and it has certainly been the case for all of my 56 years. I’m sure it will continue to be so, unless, Pope Francis with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit can create cataclysmic change. I know that I am very weary of having to wait and accommodate those who oppose most of Vatican II. I’m positive I’m not the only Catholic who is tired of it all. I remain a Catholic, because, it isn’t only about belonging to a religious organization. I, like so many, many Catholics who yearn for a Church of integrity, are Catholic from the inside out. I cannot leave myself. I have only two major concerns to do with the Church, and that is, clericalism in all its forms, and the exclusion of women from the preaching ministry. I, like Pope Francis, would rather focus and channel my energies into the work of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Again, I’m probably not alone in that attitude and action. I believe Pope Francis will direct only as much energy as is required for institutional reform. Most of his ministry is going to be about promoting Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Monday’s Gospel reading is from John and the topic is Old and New Wineskins. There is much Old Wineskin in the Universal RC Church. How much energy ought to be devoted to reforming the Old Church? I suspect Pope Francis will do what is necessary, but he is probably hoping and praying for the New Wine of Jesus Christ to create New Wineskins……whether those wineskins be people, processes, ministries, or institutions. Jesus in the Gospel of John, is the New Wine to follow Judaism. We don’t see Jesus making any efforts to change the status quo, but with his death and resurrection, a new way, known as “The Way” is created. I often speculate, muse about, another New Way that proceeds from where we are and where we have been, but, is irrefutably …..NEW! I love my RC Church and it has been very, very, hard to accept that it is not what I thought it was….however, from a spiritual perspective, there is, and remains, an unblemished bride of Christ, the Church…It’s just that this “true Church” is not marked by politics, noisy gongs, clanging symbols, arrogance, or hypocrisy. It is marked by what our Blessed Mother Mary and the Great Saints have told us…..”Jesus Christ is OUR ALL” No doubt, we need to have a Church Structure that always reflects this spiritual church identity and so, yes, we need the voices of so called dissent. Not all dissent is prophetic, but, there is, to be sure, the prophets in our midst.

A New Way would be prophetic! I see the New Way as inextricably linked to a New Evangelization and New Evangelists. Those Evangelists would be women called to preach the Gospel for a very troubled world and I suppose a very troubled Church. Our New Wine is Christ working through Catholic Female Evangelists, who create a new evangelization, and hopefully, a rejuvenated and re-energized Universal Catholic Church. I do not anticipate the Lord messing with correcting very much of the old wineskins, however, I expect that the Lord is creating new wineskins.

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