June 13, 2014
Many Catholics have a bit of Quaker in them. Quakers reject external religious authority in favor of some inner light dwelling in each soul. Many Catholics don’t want any hierarchy to tell them what to do. Such Catholics want to trust their own conscience. It is a bit of the Quaker. I respect it, in Quakers and Catholics. I have some of this Quaker in me. My problem is that I tend to be selfish. I want what I want when I want it. That is the more obvious selfishness most of us know. Only a person with no moral compass sees this as a good way of life. But there are more hidden and subtle forms of selfishness. I may think a path or decision is a good one, but I don’t rub it up against the teachings of Jesus. Or, I don’t resist a cross as long as it is of my own choosing. And so on. Let us respect those Quakers. There is more of us in them then we might at first think.