thoughts on von Hildebrand

Time to get my thoughts down. Have been pondering over this for the past few months. There will be more to come.

I think D. von Hildebrand says it all when he says that two immediately evident responses to the crisis (for want of a better word) faced by the church are false alternatives, namely to either (1) reject in whole or in part the second vatican council or (2) to go along with the so-called "modernization" of the Church (putting it in my own words).

In Christendom today, we see many examples of (1) and (2), both claiming that their response is the right one in light of challenges faced today. At risk of making sweeping statements, I dare say that (1) fetishizes the past, while (2) fetishizes the secular world. (1) compares the dreary present to an imagined beautiful past, while (2) happily adopts the imagined wonderful secular present and rejects the imagined dreary past. I'm still speaking in general terms, and I could give many examples of (1) and (2), but time is limited at the moment - maybe later.

It seems to me that D. von Hildebrand makes it clear that the right response is not a middle way between (1) and (2), but rather a third way which rises above the two. The third way is simply to have faith in Christ's promise of the indefectibility of the Church.

A cursory glance at the history of the Church will find that there never has been a time when the Church has not faced problems. The solution to these problems has never been to reject or to disobey lawful authority given by Christ himself, nor to compromise on matters of faith and morals laid down by him. The solution is simply for each of us to be Christian, in the true and full sense of the word. Each of us does what little we can do as His instruments, and what we cannot change, we leave it to prayer and the hope that the Holy Spirit will guide the Church. We're not perfect, but we keep on trying.