In our own time

Last week, we looked at the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) as the watershed which created a new flow of life within the Church.  It happened 60 years ago now and we are still talking about it and even still implementing it.  There are those within the Church who have reacted against it! 

This sort of negative reaction has happened after several of the great Councils of the Church.  Even after the four fundamental Councils of the fourth and fifth centuries, there were negative, as well as positive reactions.  This was sometimes on account of misunderstanding but at other times it was simply a refusal on the part of some to go along with the Council, preferring instead to hold on to their own way of seeing things.  And when speaking of those four Councils, the issues were at the very heart of the Christian faith, that is, they were dealing with the question of just who Jesus was and the understanding of the Trinity. 

It was of course the faith expressed in those Councils which prevailed and has endured.  The same result will come out of this period following the Second Vatican Council: the faith as proclaimed by the Council will be what endures.  It is in such representative gatherings of the Church that the Holy Spirit is at work; what emerges out of the discussions and initiatives of such gatherings is the work of the Holy Spirit, not the individual opinions of particular people.  (See Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15).  

So, the tensions present in the Church at the moment should not really surprise us; it has all happened before.  And the Holy Spirit is quite good at working in the midst of the messiness which can be so much a part of our human workings.

Next week, we shall begin a new series.  Next Sunday is the last Sunday of Ordinary Time (the feast of Christ the King), and then the following Sunday we begin Advent.  So, from next week we will begin to look at the Advent and Christmas season.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 15 November 2024