New Wine!

Luke 5:38

But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

The Church is often absurdly divided between those called “Progressive” and those called “Traditionalist.”  The “Traditionalist” is thought to be the foe of the “Progressive.”  But it is the nature of orthodoxy both to conserve Tradition and to progress, as in today’s gospel.  This being so, it is often the heterodox who are both “Traditionalist” and “Progressive,” since the former is pining for the Good Old Days while the latter is often simply falling for faddism. Today, we often see this paradox played out with the Holy Father, who is following the logic of the Spirit in the Second Vatican Council and leaving both “Traditionalists” (who want the Old Wine of the pre-conciliar Church) and “Progressives” (who want the Near Beer of watered-down Catholic Faith) covered in confusion as he faithfully drinks and shares the New Wine of the Spirit.  Truly creative and loving orthodoxy trumps myopic political categories every time.

Avatar photo

By

Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU