Mark Dohle

[Cooky]

What an honor and a blessing it is to have Br. Dohle here with us. Most other sites are not fortunate enough to have such a resident, and I've even told other Catholics from Christian forums that they should come here, and talk with us, but I think they're too invested in where they're at to step outside of their comfort zone. What a shame and what a loss, because there is a lot of good content they're missing out on.

At least I know I feel more comfortable in small numbers, and I've got this DIR, with Br. Dohl pretty much all to myself. Which is an honor. @metis is also a good, knowledgeable Catholic, and I'm very glad he is here as well.

 

[metis]

I'm very glad he is here as well.

Ditto on that, plus we are also living proof that not all Catholics agree on everything, and that's quite OK even according to the Church.

 

[Quiddity]

Ditto on that, plus we are also living proof that not all Catholics agree on everything, and that's quite OK even according to the Church.

That is quite true.

I don't personally find a considerable amount of solace in being afforded such freedom in the Church. It's caused plenty of division.

The Church leans toward precision when speaking authoritatively, and I love that about her. But she also takes her time.

Precision of language takes time and some back and forth........I get it.

I often ponder what an alternative look like.

 

[metis]

I don't personally find a considerable amount of solace in being afforded such freedom in the Church. It's caused plenty of division.

Usually more division is caused when there's attempts to be more specific.

The best example I've run across on the role of the Church and the average parishioner is from a priest from Belfast that I've been friends with for a couple of decades now, and he uses this example: the Church is like a Roman traffic cop, waving his hands to direct traffic, with some drivers paying close attention to him, some others paying scant attention, while some others just ignoring him. But if something goes wrong, or there is a conflict, (s)he's there to try and sort it all out.

The point is that the role of the Church is to teach that which it thinks is largely correct, but then it is up to us as parishioners to make our own choices, hopefully at least paying some attention to what the Church actually teaches.

The Church leans toward precision when speaking authoritatively, and I love that about her. But she also takes her time.

Amen to that.

I often ponder what an alternative look like.

Alternative to what, please?