23rd February, 2013
Throughout the years that I’ve been writing, I’ve received lots of criticism. Sometimes it’s bitter and mean-spirited but sometimes, the criticism is sincere, thoughtful, and genuinely challenging. One such critique has to do with my approach in general: “Why, do you write the way you do, invariably with some kind of secular bent? Why don’t you focus more on catechesis, on teaching church doctrine, on explaining the creeds, on defending the church’s position on moral issues such as abortion, and on doing apologetics for the church?”
Ron Rolheiser, OMI
THE NINETY-NINE AND THE ONE
My answer: Because I am trying to be a missionary and missionaries have been asked, by Jesus himself, to leave the ninety-nine and go after the one who has strayed.
This requires that our teaching and preaching, and our reaching out to the world in general, must contain more than only catechesis, explanations of our creeds, clarity around dogma and morals, and even the repetition (however valid, needed, and timeless) of the language of Scripture and the creeds. Those things need to be done, but that is only part of the task. The other part, equally needed and perhaps more difficult, is the task of relating these things (Scripture, the creeds, our dogmas, our moral teaching) to the energy, the color, the endeavours, the longings, the health, the sickness, the virtues, the sin, the beauty, and the pathos of our world.
More and more people feel themselves thoroughly disconnected from our church circles and our church language, and the fault isn’t all on their side. We need missionaries to the world, people like Henri Nouwen, who can stand solidly within the church and invite the world, with all its desires and grandiosity, to join us, not as adversary but as family.
I don’t claim to have accomplished this, or to be anybody’s expert, but I do know that Christ’s mandate is to reach out to the world and not just to those who are coming to our churches.
To read more click here
Or copy this address into your browser
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/?id=71
The Ninety-Nine and The One
23rd February, 2013
Throughout the years that I’ve been writing, I’ve received lots of criticism. Sometimes it’s bitter and mean-spirited but sometimes, the criticism is sincere, thoughtful, and genuinely challenging. One such critique has to do with my approach in general: “Why, do you write the way you do, invariably with some kind of secular bent? Why don’t you focus more on catechesis, on teaching church doctrine, on explaining the creeds, on defending the church’s position on moral issues such as abortion, and on doing apologetics for the church?”
Ron Rolheiser, OMI
THE NINETY-NINE AND THE ONE
My answer: Because I am trying to be a missionary and missionaries have been asked, by Jesus himself, to leave the ninety-nine and go after the one who has strayed.
This requires that our teaching and preaching, and our reaching out to the world in general, must contain more than only catechesis, explanations of our creeds, clarity around dogma and morals, and even the repetition (however valid, needed, and timeless) of the language of Scripture and the creeds. Those things need to be done, but that is only part of the task. The other part, equally needed and perhaps more difficult, is the task of relating these things (Scripture, the creeds, our dogmas, our moral teaching) to the energy, the color, the endeavours, the longings, the health, the sickness, the virtues, the sin, the beauty, and the pathos of our world.
More and more people feel themselves thoroughly disconnected from our church circles and our church language, and the fault isn’t all on their side. We need missionaries to the world, people like Henri Nouwen, who can stand solidly within the church and invite the world, with all its desires and grandiosity, to join us, not as adversary but as family.
I don’t claim to have accomplished this, or to be anybody’s expert, but I do know that Christ’s mandate is to reach out to the world and not just to those who are coming to our churches.
To read more click here
Or copy this address into your browser
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/