“If you want to know the wrong definition of a word, look it
up in the dictionary.” This was maxim
given to us in the seminary. Often words
that the Church uses to describe something has been co-opted by popular culture
and given a new meaning so that when the Church uses it the way it had for a
very long time, all of a sudden she appears not to be saying what she intends. A parallel example would be the word “gay.” 150 years ago describing someone with this
word let you know that the person was happy.
To describe a guy with the same word today intending to imply that he
had a positive disposition might lead one to assume something about him that
could lead to an awkward situation.
That being said, the next section of Lumen Gentium is called, “The Cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
the Church.” The word “cult” has fallen
on hard times within the Church as of late.
It has been reinterpreted as meaning something controlling and the
phrase, “Drink the coolaid” comes to mind.
But that is not at all what is meant in this context.
Another unhealthy cult, written about here before, would be
a type of cultish dependency on a saint that says something like, “Sure fire
novena! Say these prayers for nine days
in a church and leave nine copies of this prayer for others to find and you
will get your prayer.” That delves into
superstition and the idea that we can control God. This is very unhealthy.
In Church speak, “cult” means a devotion or honor afforded
to a particular person. Of course there
are healthy and unhealthy cults.
Somebody who bases their faith on a particular priest, for example,
would be unhealthy. The cult of Mary,
for example, as far as it leads a person more deeply into the faith and into
the arms of her Son would be healthy.
Another unhealthy cult, written about here before, would be
a type of cultish dependency on a saint that says something like, “Sure fire
novena! Say these prayers for nine days
in a church and leave nine copies of this prayer for others to find and you
will get your prayer.” That delves into
superstition and the idea that we can control God. This is very unhealthy.
The next couple of paragraphs of Lumen Gentium will describe
the proper cult of Mary and how she is to lead us more deeply into the heart of
Christ.
2 comments:
I've seen that Novena and have been told that it's my Church so if I see crap like that, I can toss it. And it's silly; all novenas are "sure fire" novenas because our prayers always reach God and he responds with what is best for us.
I don't like the word cult . . . any way that it is used
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