A Short Flare within Church Time

100 years used to be a long time.  Rare was the community who had a member whose memory spanned so long, rarer still any significant change within those hundred years.  Though it is a common human sentiment to consider those who come after you softer, less disciplined, etc., human nature doesn’t really change that much, and neither does his actions.  At least, they didn’t used to.  Until very recently, progress was slow and could be relished before moving on to something else; nowadays our technological advancements hurtle forward with breakneck speed, never allowing the consumers of society to really appreciate the wonders of the technology before it is outdated, no longer supported, and replaced.  As humans we do not even know the full extent or ramifications of our own devices, (inspiring movies such as I Robot where technology revolts against its creators), nor can we always track the advancements of our own time: we cannot even remember how we put someone on the moon, less than a century ago and with less tech than the modern car key.  100 years is not as long as it used to be, in most regards: but for the Church, 100 years has never been very long.

The Church has long held the custom of thinking in terms of centuries, and not years.  Think of the great cathedrals which took multiple generations to build, the starters never even getting to appreciate their own handiwork.  Doctrinal development too unfolds over time, with much deliberation and consensus.  Sacraments don’t change, though their Rites sometimes do develop in their own right.  Local customs are handed down from generation to generation within the contexts of local parishes, and Councils are called on rare occasion, usually to combat a heresy.  As the Church usually goes, 100 years is pretty short and not enough time to bring about major change.

One might hold up Vatican II and the current Pontiff as testimonies against what I have just said, that the Church does not move quickly.  I admit that the last half a century and a little longer has seen great upheaval in the Church, ranging from Liturgical abuse and dubious proclamations to outright attempts at changing Church doctrine on key moral issues.  All these tragedies within the Church have one thing in common: they only last as long as the individual people championing them.  By and large, radical abuse has not taken hold in the Church, as demonstrated by the Tridentine communities which are the fastest growing congregations in spite of the now not-so-recent attempts at restriction and the recent federal discrimination.  Orthodoxy stands, beauty prevails.  The few years since Vatican II have been a flare-up, a spark in the movement of the Church, with what is beginning to look like not so long lasting results on the ritualistic front.  There is a growing return of sanity, especially among young people.  What this does mean is that the Church herself as far as numbers go may shrink, but that is happening anyway.

100 years is not long for the Church, and 100 years from now she will look similar to how she has always looked: beset by trials, riddled with human fault, but faithful to God.  We have thus been assured.  This does not mean we will be free from scandal, but it does mean that adherence and faithfulness to the Church means that for us, too, 100 years will not be that long as we view it in the grand scheme of Salvation History