- The Catholic Thing - https://www.thecatholicthing.org -

No, yes, and think it over

"Last month I spent two days and nights in Yankton, South Dakota, visiting a convent (Mount Marty) and had many talks with the sisters about how the Church is throwing too much of itself away. I see this everywhere, and am troubled. Pope John didn’t mean, I take it, when he suggested that everything should be questioned, that all the answers should be NO. There are at least three answers: NO, YES and THINK IT OVER. The Church should be like a strong man stirring in his sleep, even feeling the bed shake; not like a sick man saying might as well die now and be done with it."

– Mark Van Doren to Thomas Merton, 16 April 1968