This is an excellent post written by Fr. Philip. I've been wanting to find time to share it with you and today I finally found the time. Please read.
I had a much longer piece, but I scrapped it for something a lot shorter and more to the point.
1). The Roman Catholic Church isn't WalMart or Burger King; it's the Body of Christ.
2). Catholic priests, nuns, sisters/brothers and laity aren't employees; we are members of the Body of Christ.
3). The doctrine and dogma of the Catholic Church are not consumer products that the Church's employees sell to those who want them; Catholic doctrine and dogma express the unchanging truth of the faith.
4). Life in a Catholic parish is not a trip to Disney Land or Target or McDonald's where your consumer needs and whims are catered to by the whimpering clergy and lay staff; parish life is the life of Christ for the local Catholic family.
5). You do not come into the Catholic Church b/c you like the building better than you like the Methodist chapel; or because the priest at the Catholic parish is cuter than the Baptist preacher; or because you heard that the homilies are shorter at St. Bubba's by the Lake than they are at the Unitarian Church. You come into the Catholic Church because you believe that the Catholic faith is the truth of the gospel taught by Christ himself and given to his apostles.
6). Leaving the Catholic Church because a priest was mean to you, or because sister whacked you with a ruler, or because the church secretary looked at you funny is as stupid as giving up on the truths of math because you hate your high school algebra teacher. Why would anyone let a crazy priest or a cranky nun or anyone else for the matter drive you out of the faith you believe is true? My only conclusion: you never thought it was true to begin with; or, you have a favorite sin the Church teaches against and crazy priests and cranky nuns is as good an excuse as any to leave and pursue your sin all the while feeling justified b/c Father and/or Sister are such jerks.
7). Anyone who comes in the Catholic Church thinking that they will find clouds of angels at Mass dressed as parishioners; hordes of perfect saints kneeling for communion; seminaries packed with angelic young men burning to be priests; a parish hall stacked to the ceiling with morally pure people eager to serve; and a priest without flaw or blemish, well, you're cracked and you probably need to go back and try again. Telling Catholics that they aren't perfect makes as much sense as telling fish they're wet. We know already. Move on.
8). Of the hundreds of priests and religious I know, I know two who could count as saints right now. The rest of us are deeply flawed, impure, struggling creatures who know all too well that we fail utterly to meet the basic standards of holiness. For that matter: so do you. Get in line.
9). The Catholic Church owes no one a revision of her doctrine or dogma. She didn't change to save most of Europe from becoming Protestant, why would you imagine that she would change just to get you in one of her parishes?
10). If you want to become Catholic, do it. But do it because you think the Church teaches the true faith. If a cranky priest on a blogsite is enough to keep you from embracing the truth of the faith, then two things are painfully clear: 1) you do not believe the Church teaches the faith; 2) and you care more about expresssing your hurt consumer feelings than you do for your immortal soul.
Fr. Philip, OP
UPDATE: Yes, I am a priest, and a huge part of my ministry is to console, to be present, to advise, and to try my best to shine out the light of Christ. As a Dominican friar, I do all of that first and best by telling the truth! The best pastoral approach is always to tell the truth, so please, forget the notion that "to be pastoral" is somehow opposed to "telling the truth" or "teaching the faith."
4 comments:
Fabulous post..thankyou
Glad you liked it Jackie.
Way to go Esther for this "keeper". I would like to add that for all those that think the Catholic Church is full of hypocrites...well you better belive it is...from the very beginning.
Take Peter who professed to all those present "You are the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah" but denied he knew Christ three times just days later. And he was the "rock" on which Christ built the Church.
Or Paul who said that the harder he tries to do that which is right he finds himself doing that which he detests the most. And he is the Apostle to the Gentiles for whom the Church is celebrating a Pauline Year of the 2000th anniversary since his birth.
As the priest replied to the young man who said he would never enter a Catholic church since it's full of hypocrites.."Well my son that is as true as it can be. But you are welcomed to enter just the same, we always have room for one more".
In Christ,
Bob O
Thank you Bob!
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