Thinking about the Fat Man.
I hate to quote from G.K. because it seems everyone else always does. I like reading him however. Although I don’t want to belong to any Chesterton society. I love Carmelite spirituality yet I would never want to be a Third Order Carmelite. I love Opus Dei and their spirituality as well, but I would never want to be a member. I just don’t join things. (I have joined a parish however, mainly because I want someplace to be buried from. It’s safe to say no one will be there.)
But here are some quotes I like from the Fat Man:
“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes being corrected.”
(It seems to me that same thought could be stated substituting the labels, Traditionalists and Liberals.)
“If men cannot save themselves from common sense, they cannot save each other by coercion.”
(That makes sense, huh?)
“If the world grows too worldly, it can be rebuked by the Church; but if the Church grows too worldly, it cannot be adequately rebuked for worldliness by the world.”
(Maybe this is what is occurring in our midst. Are the Trads rebuking the worldly Church? Maybe the followers of priests such as Fr. Altier are doing likewise. If this is the case, who gives them the authority to do so? Another blogger I know enjoys quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, (Obviously the basis for this statement by Chesterton.) here is that blogger’s favorite maxim: “It must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly.”)
“I am not urging a lop-sided idolatry of the past; I am protesting against a lop sided idolatry of the present.” (It’s kind of a seesaw thing isn’t it?)
(I like the Fat Man.)
