A Time for Renewal

As I prepare for a transition of pastors at the parish where I am employed, I have been thinking about returning to finish my Master's degree in Divinity, thus paving the way for greater and varied opportunities for ministry in the future. Here in my diocese of Joliet, it has been an interesting and stressful year. Recently, two of our priests were removed from their pastorates because of an allegation of sexual abuse that surfaced from over 30 years ago. In the past few months, one of our newly ordained from last June tried to commit suicide after he was accused of sexual abuse while he was a seminarian. Three of our young associate pastors left their parishes to deal with vocational issues. One of them is thinking about coming back. Another of our younger pastors was put on leave in order to deal with personal issues. This past weekend, there were five new priests ordained for the diocese. It has been a rough year for the clergy and the bishop and also the faithful. This leads me to my question for this blog...where are we headed? What is going to happen to the church?

We keep hearing about bishops who are closing parishes and merging others due to a lack of priests and declining attendance, closing schools due to declining enrollment, etc. Meanwhile, a greater number of lay men and women are preparing for professional ministry in the church while pursuing graduate degrees in theology. More men are becoming permanent deacons. Perhaps it is time to rethink our vision of what it means to be "church." Most Catholics are somewhat removed from what goes on in the Vatican and the hierarchical church. The church is taking on more of a corporate and business attitude, instead of a pastoral and compassionate one. More bishops are acting like CEO's instead of like shepherds of the flock. The average Catholic is not having their spiritual needs met, though there are some wonderful parishes out there that already follow a new model of evangelization. The Catholic church is losing members to the non-denominational mega-churches like Willow Creek and places like it. The message is more practical and down to earth, and it is more bible-based and speaks to the life situation of those who attend. These non-denominational churches are also more mission-based; they really focus on service not only in the local communities, but also the global community.

I say it is time for a new vision of Catholicism. The old, hierarchical model is not working. If Jesus were to return to earth today, would he be impressed with the Vatican with all of its splendor and vast wealth? Yes, the Vatican does reach out to help the poor and the oppressed, but is all that oppulence and pomp and circumstance really necessary? Jesus does not care about what the temples (church buildings) look like. The building is not the church; the people are. What are we doing to advance the message of Christ and help to build his kingdom here on earth? The bishops are more concerned with "damage control" and staffing parishes with priests when it is becoming more difficult to do so. How about appointing qualified lay ministers as Pastoral Life Coordinators and keep parishes open, rather than closing them? If the lay person is married with a family, they could move into the empty rectory and use it as their house for the time that they are assigned. There is no doubt that many dioceses are beginning to face a clergy shortage as priests retire, die or leave the priesthood. What is being done to continue to provide for the christian faithful in this time of crisis and change in the church?

Love One Another as I Have Loved you

I just returned from celebrating a communion service at the nursing home. In the Gospel from Sunday, Jesus gave a new commandment, "Love one another as I haved loved you." Who would have thought how difficult it is to put those words into practice. Jesus loved with a genuine and unconditional love. He did not place limits or restrictions on the love that He showed, and He did not just talk about it; he showed us how to do it! We see countless examples in the bible of how Jesus reached out to people and had pity on them because of their condition in life. He forgave the woman caught in adultery when everyone else was ready to stone her to death. He gave her a challenge..."go and commit this sin no more." He didn't try to change her behavior by saying that He would forgive her, but only if she stopped committing adultery! The ultimate example of love was His excruciating and painful death on the cross. He made the ultimate sacrifice and we are the recipients of that love.

How hard it is these days to love others with that same kind of love; it is even more difficult to love those that make it hard to love them. People are always trying to change us. Spouses try to change undesirable behaviors or habits. Our children let us down and disappoint us much like the prodigal son. They wander and stray and fall into bad habits and destructive behaviors. They look for love and acceptance in the wrong places. They fall in with the wrong crowd. Sometimes the people that we are closest to and love the most are the most difficult to love. We are often hurt by the ones that we love. People in the days of Jesus had problems and issues, but it is much worse today. Satan is trying hard to destroy the Church and bring as many people down with him as possible. There is much violence and evil in the world. We see our leaders in the Church who have betrayed the trust of their flock. Priests and bishops have abused children and others have covered it up and swept it under the rug. Who can we trust? Church leaders? The Government? Politicians?

If we look to our political and religious leaders to save us, we will surely be disappointed. There is only one person we should place our trust in and that is God alone. Yet, our society is trying to shove God out of the way! Perhaps that is why we are seeing an increase in natural disasters of every kind....it is punishment for our sins and for our disobedience of God. Just as in the days of Noah, when God sent the flood and wiped out the entire population; once again, God is purifying the Earth. Our Blessed Mother at Fatima warned of the impending chastisements; could it be that now is the time?

One of my professors in the seminary used to say that "the Church is not a dysfunctional family in need of reform, rather we are a sinful people in need of redemption." Thus, the title of my blog. In this month of May, let us pray to our Blessed Mother for her guidance and intercession. May she help to hold back the hand of her Son and lessen the force of the chastisement. May we strive in this Easter season to live according to the command of our Lord, "Love one another as I have loved you."

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, have mercy on us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.