Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The Abuse of "Pastoral"

Nailed by these bloggers:

Pastoral literally means to move sheep to the area needed for food and water depending on the season of the year. Drawing from the secular definition, the Church definition means to lead the people of God to God. Rather than a common understanding of the meaning of the word pastoral, which some might define as making doctrines, liturgy, etc. more "accessible" to the people, the true way to be pastoral is to lead the people of God to the truth. Rather than changing truth, being pastoral means to lead to the truth. Bringing the faithful to the truth and teaching them to raise their hearts and mind to God is pastoral.

You can bet that sheep don't like being herded up a hill for food, either...

HT: ChristusVincit

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