Words have meaning. Although it’s a truism and seemingly only rhetorical in value, it’s a very important statement. In the midst of a very incisive look at Sacramentum Caritatis, Fr. Z put it this way:
In this post-Christian, post-modern world Catholics must use stronger terms to communicate what we mean.
Although I dislike the term post-Christian as a descriptive, it makes the point. We certainly are not “post-Christian” in the sense that Christianity is gone, but it certainly does not have the breadth and depth of impact it once had. I am fully hopeful this is merely a navel gazing lull, but only time and God’s will shall tell.
But that’s not why I thought that point deserved emphasis. Since “words have meaning”, we “must use stronger terms to communicate what we mean.” That means we need to make sure to say “must” when we mean “must”, rather than saying “should”. And perhaps as importantly, we need to resurrect those two bogeyman words – sin and hell. Truth is truth, whether it’s comfortable or not.
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