The Vatican wants to shut down Sunday shopping in Italy. All of a sudden, that’s become a liberal cause: giving small businesses relief from the relentless push from corporations that can keep stores open 24/7. And crush any local competitors.
I wonder how they would weigh in on shipboard retreats during Lent.
I have a theory about that last one, hosted by two of Catholicism’s most “orthodox” bloggers. They couldn’t find a retreat house anywhere on the continent that would host such a thing. But a handful of Catholics among honeymooners, gamblers, and winter vacation-ites. That sounds like some seriously “new” evangelization to my ears. Some serious schism, too, among conservative internet Catholics.
I think you have retreats in retreat houses and at monasteries. I presume cruises are great fun–that’s what I hear from people who have gone on them. I think shopping is great, too. Maybe I’ll have to give some thought to foregoing the convenience of the Sunday economy. Giving up luxury for Lent, though–one would think that’s a given.
I am always curious about forcing the change from the outside – and from above. If what we are doing is so great, why don’t we “show” and not “tell?” I prefer that method, but what do I know?