Pope Francis reminds us that “the Church is herself a missionary disciple; she needs to grow in her interpretation of the revealed word and in her understanding of truth. It is the task of exegetes and theologians to help “the judgment of the Church to mature.” The other sciences also help to accomplish this, each in its own way” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 40). Hence it is important and imperative that theology and scripture scholars and professors help the bishops by sharing with them latest findings of their respective fields. My impression is that very few bishops really update themselves.

The “itinerancy of Jesus’ movement is radical because it is a symbolic representation of unbrokered egalitarianism. Neither Jesus nor His followers are supposed to settle down in one place and establish there a brokered presence.”

“In Jesus’ movement all patriarchal authority disappears …No one is above the others. No one lords it over the others. There is no rank or class. There are no priests, Levites and lay people. There is no place for intermediaries. Everyone has direct, immediate access to God, the Father of all.”

“The older blueprint supposition, by which Jesus had the church clearly in mind and had already planned its structure, sacraments, etc., has little or no textual support.”

“There is no word for sacrament in the New Testament.” “The Church lived through its entire first millennium and then some without ever having settled upon even a final definition of sacrament, let alone their precise number. On the contrary, there were literally hundreds of sacred rites (what we call today ‘sacramentals’) which were simply referred to as ‘sacraments’.”

“Eucharistic hospitality to followers of other religions could be our expression of a common bond that exists de facto within the universal economy of salvation. There is no more disciplina arcani (secret discipline), as in the Early Church. Nowadays people of other faiths are often present at Eucharistic services… If sharing of Scriptures is to be promoted, those who so desire, may be welcomed to a fuller experience of the one Word in the Eucharistic Communion. Word and Eucharist cannot be separated in one act of Christian worship. Moreover, where there is a profound sharing in life and common commitment, one cannot be satisfied with substitutes at the climax of the Eucharistic celebration of life.”

All these quotations are taken from books\articles written by respected Roman Catholic Scholars.

“But can we disturb the faith of simple Catholics?”

“Is it faith or superstition?”

“Are we afraid to tell our people the truth?”

Truth will set us free from our false sense of power and prestige. It will make us more responsible the way we get and use money.

– Subhash