tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2850096231666604.post2424412663388980131..comments2023-07-01T00:39:39.762-07:00Comments on Father Geoff Farrow: FREEDOM, SPIRITUALITY AND RESPONSIBILITYFather Geoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03904564207135202567noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2850096231666604.post-50219014087935805342011-02-23T21:35:23.895-08:002011-02-23T21:35:23.895-08:00Fr. Geoff, mighty fine sermon. I think you've ...Fr. Geoff, mighty fine sermon. I think you've hit on a fundamental truth, that tyranny is in some sense a partnership between the tyrant and the oppressed. The tyrant offers the false choice of easy conformity, of rules instead of conscience. Conform to the rules and you're a good person. Defy them and you're a bad person. Of course, whether you are truly a good person is irrelevant. <br /><br />It reminds me of Jesus' injunction in Matthew 6:1-6, to be not like the hypocrite, who cares only to be seen to do right. Or Jesus' rebuke in Matthew 15:1-20 of those who place value only on empty ritual and legalisms, while ignoring the rotten impulses of the heart. <br /><br />The Catholic Church seems to have a problem with the tyranny of rules and the easy morality it promises. Gays in loving relationships are excoriated by the Church to the point of being driven from the pew, and their children are denied places at Catholic schools. Even homosexuals who are called to holy orders--by God's gentle urging no less--are barred from entry unless they can prove their fundamental selves "transient." Yet wife-beaters, adulterers, cheats, thieves and those who harm others in thought, word and deed receive nary a mention, but sit happily with their faces pressed up against the altar.<br /><br />Jesus warned the Pharisees that "you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition," and invoked Isaiah 29:13, that "[t]hese people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." <br /><br />So what is God's rule? John 13:35 gives simple answer: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." How much harder that command.Talhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10370831725911688642noreply@blogger.com