Issue 028: Tradition and Conversion

Newsletter: An Attack on Tradition, and Conversion in St. Francis

Greetings Readers!

We now prepare to enter the holiest time of the Church year. The statues in our Churches are veiled, we have prayed and fasted for 40 days, and the Sacred Triduum is set to begin. We with you all a happy and holy Triduum and, this Sunday, Easter. This week, we offer two brief reflections on St. Francis and the Call to conversion and on the value of tradition today.

Happy Reading,

St. Francis and the Call to Conversion

An apocryphal quotation often attributed to St. Francis, “preach the Gospel at all time, if necessary use words,” is often used by Catholic today as an excuse not to preach the Gosel at all. Yet St. Francis, contrary to this quotation falsely attributed to him, was a man firmly committed to preaching the Gospel, firmly committed to calling others to conversion, and firmly committed to the power of words. We need to recapture his zeal, and remember, honor, and imitate the Saint who called others to a life of conversion, penance, and union with God. Read more here.

Breaking Tradition: The Ultimate Fool’s Errand

In a recent speech given at one of the “synodal way” gatherings in German, one theologian declared, “We’re all equal. There is no norm. The only thing holding us back is this tradition in the Catholic Church. And I would like to break it today.” As horrifying as the speech is—tradition is holidng us back and we must break it— this speech is helpful in understanding the current attack on tradition in the Catholic Church. Read more here.