Open to Everything, Dedicated to Nothing, by Dr. Donald DeMarco

Ed Pentin’s Book Preps Cardinals for Next Papal Election, by Thomas D. Williams
June 25, 2020
Cancel Culture Comes for the Catholic Church, by Casey Chalk
June 25, 2020

Photo by Mwesigwa Joel on Unsplash

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange, June 25, 2020

Dr. Donald DeMarco—Prof. Emeritus, St. Jerome’s University; Adjunct Prof., Holy Apostles College & Seminary. He is a regular columnist for the St. Austin Review.  … 

“Merely having an open mind is nothing,” wrote G. K. Chesterton. “The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

We have elevated “openness” to the status of a principle and in the process have forgotten what it is that we should select. Therefore, we are left hungry. Political correctness, the attempt to please everyone, is a restaurant without a menu, a church without dogma, a life without purpose. When we are open to everything, we find ourselves dedicated to nothing.

Fulton J. Sheen explains, in his monumental work, Life of Christ (1958), the essential dynamism of the Catholic Church which holds it together and gives it both meaning and unity. He refers to a delicate balance between two forces, one seeking the center, the other going out to the world: “As unity in doctrine and authority is the centripetal force which keeps the life of the Church one, catholicity is the centrifugal force which enables her to expand and absorb redeemed humanity without distinction of race or color.” The Church reaches out, but she has something to offer. Her teaching is not sterile; her outreach is not empty. In a sense, she provides food for all. …

Read more here:  catholicexchange.com/open-to-everything-dedicated-to-nothing