Balance is a hard thing to find in avoiding the Super Catholic Syndrome

Super Catholics

Here is a post from Fr. Tim Moyle over at Where the Rubber Hits the Road:

Teresa Tomen writes on Catholic Exchange about something that is all too evident within the Catholic Blogosphere: a lack of balance that grows from the desire to be a "Super Catholic".

Those of us who are doing are best to try and follow the teachings of the Church know enough not to take our cues from the secular society, especially when it comes to this time of year in terms of what the world says is important. We try not to get sucked into the culture of consumerism and commercialism, of what has become society’s idea of the reason for the season; the emphasis on the material instead of the spiritual. Many of us have been there done that in our former lives and had our own “V 8″ moments so to speak.

All of that said, some of us are now striving so hard to be good Catholics that we don’t allow for balance. We are replacing that former drive for materialism with the push for perfectionism.

She hits the nail right on the head! Her advice would be well taken by those who are blistering away at those that do not hold their particular version of the "truth".

Balance is a hard thing to maintain in any faith life. Prayer is the balance pole that hopefully will keep us from falling off balance on one side or another. Let's (we Catholics, that is) pray for the grace to remain balanced ourselves in our virtual ministries as we pray for each other as well.

I believe that it is a good thing that Catholics and other Christians are coming out of the wood work and wanting to share their faith lives with their brothers and sisters in the world. But, it is all too easy for any one of us to think that we have the answers, not just for ourselves, but for our brethren.

They wrote it. They said it. I read it. I am sure that I have interpreted it all correctly, and there is no room for anyone else to have a differing opinion than mine. Two Ottawa bloggers who are devoted Catholics, and very good men to boot, have been taking the p?ss out of a dear priest, who is a respected theologian, for reasons that they believe to be true.

The particular priest is one I hold in high regard for his orthodox teaching and thought, and for dealing with difficult situations with as much grace as is available to him. When he prayerfully renders an opinion on something, he is seeking to do God's will, and he does not do his work in a vacuum, so there are checks and balances to his work to help him stay on the right path. He is human though, as is the Bishop he serves. In other words, he does not for a moment believe himself to be infallible.

Recently one of the bloggers communicated with him a bit, and was quietly rebuffed by our priest friend. Well, I have read what the two bloggers have said in the past about him, and if you kicked me in the teeth, without as much as a by your leave, and then knocked me down and kicked me again, I probably would not have talked to you either. I might have been less graceful than our priest friend.

So, since he won't engage with them, they write what they want, and feel secure that they have all the answers. This does not work for me, and if I get the opportunity to go to the source and discuss the matters personally with our priest friend, I will respond directly. Failing that I will have to bite my tongue, since I do not want to add fuel to the fire, but want to respond in truth. I like to dig deep, and not start from the answer, but from the question.

We'll see if I get the chance.