(I was able to download the pdf. before it was replaced)
Sorry, for the repost, as this bulletin - Volume: VIII - No. 39 . October 5, 2008 was replaced with the current one.
This commentary demonstrates that 'things' are probably 'changin' in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:
Pastors 2 Cents: From: Fr. Jim DeBruycker
I hate to point fingers at any one person but I think Karl Rove has gone from being a person to being an icon of a certain point of view – divide and conquer. As a society in the body politic, it’s hard to come to consensus. We have learned to vilify, demonize, degrade the other’s position and then stomp on them when they are down. Truth is secondary, weakness or defeat is synonymous with being wrong. Despite the severity of the economic issues, it is almost fun watching the political parties being forced to sit down and try to find a solution that is bipartisan.
I wish we had this kind of issue in the Church, where we actually had to sit down and work together. Since I have come to St. Joan’s I have certainly seen the ‘Karl Roving’ of the Church. If you ever want to be disgusted, google St. Joan of Arc, but don’t go to our website, read the blogs about us. Julie Madden (Peace & Justice Ministries-my edit) is the only person I know with the stomach to do it on a regular basis. We are, in the world of ultra-conservative Catholicism, the evil incarnate. If a bad motive can be ascribed to anything we do, it is ascribed to us.
Of course we cannot live reacting only to this hatred—there is too much to do. However, our detractors are smart enough to make sure this info is packaged and sent directly to Rome so that the local hierarchy is pressured from above and the haters can’t be ignored. Rule by internet
innuendo—it works.
Why bring this up? Oh poor me, oh poor us? No! The Gospel tells us of a mythical society where the stewards of the land become so convinced they actually own the land that they kill the real owner’s son in a misguided attempt to usurp the power of the real owner.
Jesus message is pretty obvious. The religious powers of his time have so identified with their power and have such a sense of entitlement that they have exchanged their message for God’s. God sending his son is not enough to change their minds or sense of entitlement so they even kill the son.
In a world of hatred and hyperbole, it is good for all sides to step back and look at what message they are presenting or killing.
“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
