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The Southern Cross, Page 4
Thursday, October 5, 2000
Growth as my goal
By John McCormack
cceptance involves changing my mind
about how I see you or me. Whereas once
upon a time 1 saw something in you or me I dis
liked and judged to be blameworthy or intolera
ble, I now experience this same piece as under
standable and tolerable, perhaps even valuable
and to be appreciated. If I am to grow in accept
ance, I must be open to changing my mind about
how I see our faults, yours and mine.
Unfortunately, I am at times driven by irra
tional beliefs commanding me to accept nothing
less than perfection. Oh, I may say that no one is
perfect and it's OK to make mistakes so long as
I learn from them, but deep in my heart I harshly
chide myself, and you too, when we fail to be
perfect.
Sometimes I drive myself to the brink of
despair with irrational commands such as: “I
should be good at everything I do.” “I should
not make mistakes.” “Basically there are two
ways to do things, the right way and the wrong
way. “I should meet all my family's needs.” “I
should never be upset,” and many more. All are
irrational standards, impossible to attain. Yet I
demand them of me daily, and then whisper
wounding criticisms to myself when I fail. I
punish myself for being less than perfect.
Some say perfection is the goal of true
Christians. “Therefore you are to be perfect as
your heavenly father is perfect” {Matthew 5:48).
Anything less is settling for mediocrity, luke
warm Christianity. I pray that this is an aspira
tion not an expectation, something to aim at but
never expecting to reach.
We are mistake-makers. It is part of the human
condition. Sometimes I pound my fist on the
arm of my chair and hate to admit this truth. Yet,
I am challenged to accept my mistakes, learn
from them, and grow. Peter accepted his mis
takes, asked forgiveness, and became the rock.
He lived and lead in spite of his human frailty.
Judas did not accept his mistake and killed him
self. Perhaps the sin of pride is in expecting to
be perfect, like God, and refusing to accept our
imperfections.
For peace of mind and spiritual growth I must
soften my impossible demands for perfection. I
want to grow in my compassion and acceptance
of my mistakes and limitations. I also want to
stop judging you so harshly when you fail to
meet my expectations.
My prayer is: Please God help me to accept
me as I am. Renew my efforts to follow your
will in my limited and imperfect way. Help me
to recognize and accept my failings as You do,
and grow beyond them. Replace the negative
whispers that I rain on me with whispers of
compassion and self-acceptance. Teach me that I
do not have to whip myself into shape to be your
child. Make growth, not perfection, your goal.
John C. McCormack, PhD, PC, is a
parishioner of Saint Mary’s on the Hill,
Augusta.
601 E. Liberty St.
Savannah, GA 31401-5196
More comments on declarations
Dear Editor:
I would lovingly like to respond to Pansy
Bird’s letter in your 21 September edition. She
states that, “No church is necessary for salva
tion.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church
(CCC 846) states, “Outside the Church there is
no salvation.” Upon examination of the writ
ings of Saint Paul... his body, which is the
Church, Colossians 1:24. He is the head of the
body, the Church, Colossians 1:18, l Corin
thians 15:20, Ephesians l:22f, this statement in
the Catechism makes sense.
I’ll let the theologians debate the opening
lines in the Gospel of Saint John. Most people
will acknowledge that some period of time
elapsed from the day of Pentecost to Saint Paul
writing his First Letter to the Thessalonians.
The Church came first before the canon of the
New Testament. The great commission given
by Jesus in the last chapter of Saint Matthew s
Gospel did not tell the disciples to write this
down, but to teach, preach, and baptize.
“Both read the Bible day and night,
but thou read’st black
where I read white.”
—William Blake (1757-1827), English poet,
artist, and mystic.
This underscores why it’s important that it’s
the “Magisterium’s task to preserve God’s peo
ple from deviations and defections and to guar
antee them the objective possibility of profess
ing the true faith without error” {Catechism of
the Catholic Church 890). For “the Church, . . .
is the pillar and foundation of truth” {1 Timothy
3:15)
Kenneth Beck
Lyons
***
Dear Editor:
Is Pansy Bird a Catholic? If so, Bird’s letter
on the recent declaration declares a shocking
Letters
lack of understanding of the Catholic Faith.
That The Southern Cross give space (quite a bit
of it) to views that are anything but Catholic
without at least an editor’s note qualifying them
as such could be seen by many as a confirma
tion of their validity.
What Pansy Bird presents is the teaching of
Martin Luther and the glue of Protestant oral
tradition. The only thing remotely Catholic I
can relate to Bird’s comments is that the three
bible passages can be found in my Douay-
Rheims! No other source for quotes is offered.
They could be taken from the writing of Martin
Luther. They have a Lutheran ring.
I sincerely hope that The Southern Cross,
having inked this effluence of scandalous com
ment, will see fit to refute it with true Catholic
teaching on such items as justification and sal
vation by faith alone, and our works as having
everything to do with our justification and sal
vation. It would probably be too much to hope
that the doctrine of “no salvation outside the
Catholic Church” also be affirmed given the
current level of ecumenical fever within the
Catholic Church; which one could say is what
led us to this point in the first place.
Pansy Bird’s letter seems to have been moti
vated by a very bad reception to Cardinal
Ratzinger’s recent declaration. The only “insult
to Christ” emanating from his document is that
it has been so long in the coming. For too long
a time now the Church, specifically the CDF,
has been relatively silent in this arena. The
Catholic Church has bent over backwards to
give non-Catholics the impression that
Catholicism has come to hold that one religion
is as good as another and that the Catholic reli
gion is only slightly better than any other reli
gion. Now they are shocked to hear that it real
ly isn’t true after all. It never was.
If Bird’s letter is not enough of a shock there
is also the Headline Hopscotch brief (same
FAX: (912) 238-2339
E-mail:
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Southern Cross issue,) Pope meets with, reas
sures Reformed leaders on ecumenism wherein
it would appear that the Holy Father’s response
is to throw a bucket of cold water on
Ratzinger’s declaration. It would seem that
John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger do not see
eye-to-eye on some very basic Church teach
ings. This should be troubling to Catholics. We
need to pray constantly for the Holy Father and
all our bishops.
George Roth
Savannah
***
Dear Editor:
There have recently been a number of letters
appearing in The Southern Cross critical of
actions taken by the Hierarchy, of announce
ments made by Cardinal Ratzinger in particular,
and of the Church in general. These objecting
individuals deserve and seriously need the
guidance which only the Church can give. I am
astonished that [the] Southern Cross would
print such letters and not accompany them side-
by-side with the explanations and instructions
so desperately needed by these troubled souls.
Surely it is better that a cry for help receive
immediate attention.
W. M. Cochran
Lizella
Editor’s Note: This note is to make it clear
why we do not usually respond with an editor s
note to the letters published in this column. It is
universally understood that letters to the editor
do not necessarily represent the views of the
editor or publisher of a newspaper. Only edito
rials, signed or initialled by the editors or pub
lishers, represent the views of the newspaper.
The editorial that appeared in the issue of
September 14, accompanying the news story,
represents the paper s stance.