Wax Wings

"Wax Wings"

Our shadow is somehow the other side of our gift. If Mercury is our gift-image, I guess I would have to say that Icarus is our shadow-image. As you may remember, Icarus is the other mythological son with wings, but his inflated self-image leads him to fly too close to the sun, revealing and melting the wax that holds his wings together. His pride, his non-listening, his false self-assurance are shown forth as he crashes into the sea. In our case, Icarus is the American Catholic Church that is more American than Catholic, more individualistic than communitarian, more anti-authoritarian than authoritative, more psychological than radically gospel, more into freedom of choice than the real and discliplined freedom of the children of God. The wax of such wings is sure to melt because it is not gospel. Our shadowy tendencies are very difficult to describe and very hard not to be defensive about. I ask you to pray for the grace and gift of ego-detachment, so we can all move to a wider and wiser place where the future of the Amercian Catholic Church can reveal itself.

from “The Future of the American Church”