The Reformation Continues

I have been following with interest the plight of the local Polish Catholic church in St. Louis. The St. Stanislaus Kostka church located at 1413 North 20th street in downtown St. Loius was founded before the turn of the century by Catholic polish immigrants. When they formed their parish they set up a not for profit corporation that was controlled by a board of lay parishoners which owned the church building and controlled their treasury. This has been a sore spot for the local Catholic authorities for years. Recently, the new St. Louis archbishop, Raymond Burke, demanded that the little parish turn over all of its property and control to the St. Louis archdiocese. When they refused, he issued an interdict order and removed their priests. The parish went out and hired their own priest. Today, the front page headline in the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the archbishop has excommunicated the new priest and all the lay members of the board of dirctors. For more details see: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/9B78D25C411ABD19862570D9005BDD11?OpenDocument

It is interesting to me that the same sort of struggle over the sale of indulgences by the Holy See is what triggered Martin Luther to nail his famous 95 theses on the door to the cathederal at Wittenberg Germany in 1517. Yet, the same struggle continues to be played out in my little city today in 2005. It does seem self-evident to me that what is at the heart of this struggle is the central theme of all history - "Who has the authority?" History is the study of the rise and fall of nations and people. And the one common thread of all of all history is "who is in control?" It is the same issue we have been looking at since the Fall of man. Who is going to call the shots? When Eve looked at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, she thought it looked pretty good to be "as wise as God". In other words she was saying in her heart, "I will be in authority of my own life." These issues will never be resolved until we each put God back into the equation and make him the supreme authority of our lives. How does one do that? It is really very simple. Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" Somehow I can't see Jesus in Archbishop's Burke's attitude and demands. How do you see it?