A new year, a new insanity

[QuisUtDeus]

OK, this is something that's been rattling around in my cage for a while, and it's probably a good time to give it a go and see what happens.

I'm an oddball, and I know it.  I also have had trouble my whole life finding a spirituality (e.g., Franciscan, Dominican, etc.) that I feel comfortable in.  And the more I try to discern, the more I think God is kind of leaving it up to me to do something or not, so I will attempt to do something.

What I am going to try to do is start an association of Christian Faithful as provided for under Canon 215 and Canon 216 (1983):

Can. 215 The Christian faithful are at liberty freely to found and direct associations for purposes of charity or piety or for the promotion of the Christian vocation in the world and to hold meetings for the common pursuit of these purposes.

Can. 216 Since they participate in the mission of the Church, all the Christian faithful have the right to promote or sustain apostolic action even by their own undertakings, according to their own state and condition. Nevertheless, no undertaking is to claim the name Catholic without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority.

The general outline will be the following:

1) The goal is the same as that of the Church - to aid in the salvation of souls, and that will be its highest rule.
2) It will be (at least initially) for men 18 and older.  This will be a brotherhood or fraternity of men.
3) The overall charism will be one of penance and service to one's brother by helping them to be better Catholics
4)  Each person will choose a secondary charism based on a religious order or Saint that they feel drawn to.
5) It will be based on traditional Catholic practices and a traditional Catholic worldview, but one doesn't have to be a traditional Catholic.
6) It will be appropriate for both the married and unmarried man; the practices, etc., will not be something "undoable" in our day and age.
7) Anyone can leave at any time based on their choice and they will be considered non-members from that point forward, stricken from the membership list and the prayer rolls.
8 ) There are no permanent vows or any vows of that kind, and no one would be kicked completely out (i.e., at the very least they would remain on the membership list and on the prayer rolls) since the charism is to help each other to be better Catholics - we sinners belong there most of all even if one is excommunicated etc.; we would pray God that they come back to Mother Church.

I'll post more at another time when I have it hammered out more.  But, I am hopeful that some others after reading what I post will be interested and want to work on getting this started with me.  Really the goal is something I said I had a long time ago: I want to be a better Catholic and help others to be better Catholics (and clearly have others help me to be a better Catholic!); and that comes down in my mind to penance and service to others.

[Beware_the_Ides]

 

[JoeVoxxPop]

will it be focused on prayer and personal penance, or acts of Charity?
Will it have a specific outreach to the wider community (Newsletters -free roserys, pamphlets, buttons, medals, sacramentals, candles? that kind of thing)
what kind of resources do you see being applied to help other Men be better Catholics.?
where will this meet...in cyberspace...or real place?
Am I already over complicateing it?

[QuisUtDeus]

Well, as far as I know of in Church history it will be unique.      But definitely not in a bad way.

The resources are each other.  We will help each other to be better Catholics by giving what we have to others and letting them help us at the same time.  We do things like that on the forum all the time.  If one of us has struggled with something and we say, "What can I do?" others who have the same struggle say, "I did this, and it helped" or "You need to talk to your priest" or whatnot.  And we pray for each other and do penance and acts of prayer.  That's the penitential aspect, but it will have other aspects as well.

But it can be taken to another level.  Back in the day, LumenGentleman (Jacob Michael) used to hold Scripture Study in the chatroom because he knew a lot about Scripture.  If someone has this skill, they can offer it to others and they can learn enough to hold Scripture Study either for other members or in their community.  And then they can at the same time move on to learning something else from someone else.  Like maybe MagisterMusciae can offer his knowledge about Gregorian Chant to people and help them start a choir (difficult over the internet, but possible - or maybe a collection can be had to send someone to MM from time-to-time for lessons).

And as far as charisms go, that's to help the spiritual.  It's to cultivate a devotion to a Saint or a form of prayer and help each other actually progress in that as far as laymen might be able to help each other.  If someday clergy associate themselves, there could be help that way for people, too.

It could be in person or completely in cyberspace.  For in person, there may be stricter rules such as meeting places, elections and stuff, just because there has to be, but I think at first it would just be in cyberspace.   But we would make it so anyone could join - they could write a letter and get a pamphlet and materials back if they don't have internet.  I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.

Let me write a proposal - just enough so people can see if they are interested.  Then we would work on formalizing things together as to the hows and whys.  It will take a week or two.  All of this stuff has been in my head for years, but I need to write it down.

[CollegeCatholic]

Hrm, I'm kinda interested.

[Beware_the_Ides]

Will we have a standard?  Will suits of armor be issued?  Shields?  Swords?  Guns?

[QuisUtDeus]

Will we have a standard?  Will suits of armor be issued?  Shields?  Swords?  Guns?

Actually, yes to the standard!  Why not?  Catholicism can be fun - a sad nun is a bad nun and all that.  Boys like swords and standards and such, so we could have certain things like that if people want.  But since the charism is penitential we should avoid extravagance.  Wooden swords and sackcloth "armor" would be more in keeping with penance methinks....  This is about Spiritual Combat, not going on Crusades. ;)

[Baskerville]

Will we have a standard?  Will suits of armor be issued?  Shields?  Swords?  Guns?

This is about Spiritual Combat, not going on Crusades. ;)

Ahh not as much fun.

[Gman]

Will we have a standard?  Will suits of armor be issued?  Shields?  Swords?  Guns?

This is about Spiritual Combat, not going on Crusades. ;)

Ahh not as much fun.

But more rewarding

[Iuvenalis]

This sounds almost like a crowdsourced 3rd order.

Very wiki...