tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745814378416915364.post1152361083473599769..comments2023-12-23T00:19:35.005-08:00Comments on ADAM'S ALE: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THEREFr. Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13201561855047420853noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745814378416915364.post-23276626519130425182012-11-24T15:03:38.337-08:002012-11-24T15:03:38.337-08:00Words cannot adequately express the gratitude of t...Words cannot adequately express the gratitude of those who love the Church, just as She is, in the fullness of Her Beauty, Goodness, and Truth, when we hear priests defend Her teachings with courage, intelligence, and compassion, and without apology. It seems many of the clergy forget about the very people who love the Church the most and embrace all she Church teaches, sacrificially struggling to live it well. These faithful are left to figure out for themselves what the Church actually teaches and then to muster up the heroic virtue to live it, unsupported, at times, even by their own priests who appear to be more concerned about keeping the peace. Those making the tough choice to follow Christ radically and counterculturally receive nothing but ridicule from the media and academia, but, thanks be to God, after 40+ years of feel-good catechesis, I see more and more signs of hope that the Church in America is be becoming, once again, a place where Catholics can be fortified to live as saints.<br /><br />So Fr. V., be of good courage. You already know how to write and speak about truth, tempered by charity and illuminated by beauty. In our post-Christian and ever increasingly anti-Christian culture we desperately need the example and the leadership of priests like you to help us stay the course. And, as you say in this post, it will take more than a subtle homily here and there, but rather a meaty catechesis that offers "full disclosure". Might our good God inspire you and all our priests with the wisdom to discern how to help us understand and love the goodness of the Good News to be found in the Church's tough teachings. <br /><br />Speaking of Fr. John Riccardo (in my last comment on the sculptor) he actually did pretty much what you might be talking about here, offering several series of <a href="http://parishbulletin.com/Organizations/3208/Documents/Syllabus_Riccardo_alone.htm#SERIES" rel="nofollow">classes for Catholic adults</a>, that address not only what the Church teaches, but why, with a recurring emphasis on the centrality of a trusting relationship with the God who is Love. Series titles, include the very one you propose here: "Catholicism 101".MaryofSharonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07073267149527666844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745814378416915364.post-42436238439176731252012-11-21T11:25:58.037-08:002012-11-21T11:25:58.037-08:00Good Fathers,
At this point, almost everyone who ...Good Fathers,<br /><br />At this point, almost everyone who would be offended by a clear explication of Church teaching has moved to other parishes.They have been replaced by those who wouldn't mind hearing more Church teaching.<br /><br />If priests would speak kindly (as you do) to us who are caught in something with which we are struggling, we might be given more courage to change.Patnoreply@blogger.com