tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7504941035373421150.post5254216453267932858..comments2023-07-09T00:34:41.765-07:00Comments on Love the Tradition: On the fear of excellenceFr Ravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17787765571125444119noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7504941035373421150.post-70274431673147918572010-08-02T20:30:38.037-07:002010-08-02T20:30:38.037-07:00Actually, berenike's suggestion is excellent b...Actually, berenike's suggestion is excellent but what he was really referring to is the universality of the work of a housewife: he says something like 'Queen Victoria in her domain, legislating to the children, the grocer in her domain, dispensing goods to the household...' The quotation can be found in the anthology "Brave New Family," I believe the essay is called 'The Universal Stick.'Mary Sextonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04191292882369976934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7504941035373421150.post-80008339960309131512010-07-01T23:57:30.357-07:002010-07-01T23:57:30.357-07:00Our blog's first (and returning every so often...Our blog's first (and returning every so often) tagline: "Scotland and the cult of mediocrity". <br /><br />I think Chesterton was referring to things like prayer and love letters ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7504941035373421150.post-67168447642560012822010-06-28T16:13:06.078-07:002010-06-28T16:13:06.078-07:00”Somebody please direct me to the appropriate ques...<i>”Somebody please direct me to the appropriate question in the Summa for this one.”</i><br /><br />OK, I’ll take a stab at it. The closest I can come to the Angelic Doctor dealing with excellence in the Summa is the section: “On the State of Perfection in General” (II-II, Q184 ss.).<br /><br />Granted, he is here addressing the pursuit of perfection in persons and states of life (with particular attention to religious, bishops, parish priests and archdeacons…!). But one can infer that if one is personally committed to that pursuit, it will have outward manifestations as well – the internal state informing the outward <i>acta</i>, as it were.<br /><br />You will be relieved to find that in the quest for excellence St. Thomas doesn’t feel that you as a parish priest have to lay down your life for the sheep (that’s the bishop’s job!): <i>“Parish priests and archdeacons have not the chief cure [of the sheep] but a certain ministry as committed to them by the bishop, so the pastoral office does not belong to them in chief, nor are they bound to lay down their life for the sheep, except in so far as they have a share in their cure.”</i><br /><br />From which I conclude that while you may be expected to take a bullet for the flock, it doesn’t have to be a mortal wound – a slight grazing or flesh wound will suffice…!GORhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14313101159848740722noreply@blogger.com