Catholic and Enjoying It!
…writes the single best piece I have read on Maciel and the LC/RC crisis.
The longer I look at things like this, the more convinced I become that Augustine is right that sin is not much a matter of people thinking to themselves “What evil can I commit today? Muhuwaahahahaha!” but is rather, for most people, a matter of “How do I protect what I love?” and then carrying that impulse beyond the bounds of right order. Love, far more than fear or hate or greed, is an enormously powerful force and when it gets decoupled from the love of God, can do enormous damage. It was love for Fr. Maciel (a man skilled at manipulating love) that led to most of the tragedy we are seeing in the broken hearts of those who trusted him or trusted those who trusted him. The devil is a skilled exploiter of our loves.
The world’s solution to the problem of tendency to disorder love is “Don’t love.” God’s reply is rightly ordered love: God first, then neighbor. Part of that love (and this is the hard part) means risking losing the love of neighbor when he does evil.
I feel tremendous pity for the people victimized by Maciel. I wonder if there’s some way in which the Church can explore the charism of discernment more thoroughly to help prevent future such tragedies.
No big insights here. Just sorrow after reading Zmirak’s moving piece.
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