For the first time ever, St. Corbinian's Bear blog turned off comments for three days. Everybody, including the Bear, needed some time out.
Now comments have been reactivated.
For three days, you can say whatever you want. You're leaving the woodlands forever; the Bear should be Bruno-ed; why the Church sucks; why our only hope is [fill in the blank] instead of the plain ol' Roman Catholic Church. You can say the fix is in for the synod approving gay marriage and communion for "divorced and remarrieds." (Bear suspects no / yes, but we'll all know for sure, soon enough.)
Above all, you may comment on the articles posted.
After three days the Bear shall use a heavy paw in moderating comments. He is not going to shake people's belief in the Church. (We have enough people inside the Church doing that without piling on.) He is not going to provide a platform for others to do so. Fair enough? Make sense?
In other words, this is no longer a general purpose conservative Catholic blog.
"Here's the important part!"
Now the Bear holds up a fish to demonstrate the importance of what follows. What the Bear will do is talk about being a faithful Catholic in the Church as it is today. That's not always easy. The Bear believes Catholic identity -- belonging -- is not a matter of right belief (like the Orthodox) or passing individual judgment on everything (like the Protestants). A baby is baptized, and he's a Catholic. He belongs. The baby doesn't know anything. Doesn't prefer a Latin Mass, isn't for or against the death penalty, but is nonetheless a Catholic.
Obviously, what we believe matters, but when we put our orthodoxy before the very Church from which we receive those beliefs, something is wrong. What we believe matters, but why do we toss the Catechism of the Catholic Church then study Denzinger, comments by saints, private revelation, and any sources, as long as they are prior to 1960? Do we run the risk of piecing together our own personal "FrankenChurch" in opposition to the plain ol' Roman Catholic Church. There's something wrong. And when we can't abide the overwhelmingly predominate liturgy in the Catholic Church because it's not "correct," and we don't like it, something is wrong.
Some say the Church is wrong. The Bear says we're often wrong. He realizes this is not a message his previous readership appreciated. Most of them are already gone. Obviously this makes the Bear sad, even though he knew it would happen. The Bear is sorry, but not for the change in course. He believes he is pleasing God if he helps just one person. The anger from which many of his articles came is gone. The Bear feels peaceful, and it is not just a pre-hibernation drowsiness caused by the cold snap.
The Bear's philosophy is loyalty to the plain ol' Catholic Church. That doesn't mean any aspect is above criticism in context, as the Bear's latest article on Pope Francis proves. The Bear believes anyone should continue enjoying this blog -- except, perhaps, some who refuse to be challenged by the occasional article on something they don't agree with.
The Bear is not above any other Church critic. He devoted a whole blog to cleverly entertaining people at the Church's expense. Read his "Confession" if you haven't, and are curious. Read his "Schism" for the practical aspects of this new attitude. (That got picked up by Pewsitter, for some reason, but the Bear is grateful.) Read "Tell Me is Something Eluding You Sunshine?" and "The Wicked Bear -- An Allegory." (And "The Wicked Bear" is not about marriage, the Bear will tell you that.) He is not sitting in judgment of anyone but himself.
What you will see, if you read these articles, is the Bear struggling with the morality of what he was doing, and developing a new approach. One that "counsels the doubtful" and "comforts the afflicted."
The Bear has been a mere circus sideshow attraction long enough. Now he's going to be a circus sideshow attraction while handing out pro-Catholic tracts. Nothing is easier than cleverly riffing off of the boobery of Church nabobs. Stick around and watch the Bear play this game on hard mode.
After three days, any comment that would tend to encourage people to leave the plain ol' Roman Catholic Church, will become a Bear snack. This will be in the judgment of a mercurial, fallible but sincere Bear who is doing something a little different for the sake of his brothers and sisters, and the indefectible Roman Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation.