EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT

After a particularly intense week of roasting the Catholic Church I woke on Sunday morning to see a front page article on the Diocese of Cleavland's new religious curriculum for high school students.  (?)  It seemed so bizarre.  Then I saw this article (which had to be greatly edited for print here) that might help explain it a little bit.  This seemed important enough to skip Monday Diary and so the special edition of Adam's Ale:

DISSOCIATED PRESS:  CLEVELAND:  Sunday morning the people of northeast Ohio awoke to the shocking revelation that the Catholic Church may have done something right.  A front page, above the fold article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer revealed the disturbing details.  The diocese, under the leadership of their bishop Richard Lennon is implementing a new high school religious curriculum that better reflect the Church’s teaching that is to be used in all high schools throughout the diocese.

Reaction throughout the embattled diocese was swift and pointed.  Percy Perfidious of Fallen Away Catholics Together (FACT) were among the first to make a public statement.  “In the whole article there was not one mention of priestly abuse or church closings.  This was a slap in the face of FACT members everywhere and we will not take it laying down.”  Nor on the golf course apparently.  FACT leadership is encouraging all its members to give up golf on Corpus Christi weekend and protest the affront to their beliefs by showing up and participating at Mass.  “We’ll show them,” said Perfidious, “They’ll wish they had never closed any parishes.”

Meanwhile numerous calls were made to Miss Kwoeted, the official spokesperson for the Diocese for the diocese’s reaction to this singular turn of events.  Kwoeted however refused to say anything except, “I have no idea how to respond.”

Meanwhile the city of Akron has announced that it will be suing the diocese for inciting a riot.  “Many thought that it was the beginning of the Apocalypse” said a lawyer for the city.  “Grocery stores were flooded with people buying canned goods and batteries, fearing that end of the word was at hand.  Shop windows were broken and several cars overturned as panicked citizens raided the Acme Number One.  Such a large organization has a certain responsibility to act consistently and not subject communities to sudden acts of good will that can only cause public disturbances.”

In a counter protest, a handful of faithful Catholics resubscribed to the Plain Dealer.  “Somehow this doesn’t feel right,” said one of a handful of protestors, “but I can’t think of anything else to do.”

Professor Wahdayah Wannahear of Knotsow Catholic University called for calm on both sides of the debate.  “This is a singular occurrence,” said Wannahear, historian and social scientist.  “There is still Vatileaks, unopened reopened churches, the nun investigation scandal, and the very real possibility that out of the well over one billion Catholics in the world a good number will continue to do stupid things that we can complain about.”

Time alone will tell.

See related article on page 9: Bishop Hospitalized after Reading Paper.

WATER INTO WHINE

I love happy Catholics. They give me so much energy. I enjoy their questions, their excitement, and their wonder. A Catholic who exudes joy does so much good for the sake of the kingdom. You want to rekindle in yourself what they have. It is infectious. It is wonderful.

So why are their so many Catholic complainers? (Here is a self-fulfilling prophecy.) There seems to be little end to otherwise faithful Catholics who can’t stand the pope, who think low of the bishop, who hate the pastor, who are bored with the mass, who barely tolerate the music, who think such and so teaching unfair, who (insert common complaint.)

Gripes can be very legitimate but so many people seem to thrive on them. Let’s face it; it seems much more exciting to talk about what is wrong than what is right. Who called the bishop last time they liked something a priest did?

So to be honest, we are at times not very attractive. Yesterday the question was asked, “Why won’t God save Chicks with amputations who do good works?” The fact is that even if you have the perfect answer to that question and it proves the existence of God and all the tenets of the Catholic Church, if all we do is complain the rest of the time about what it wrong with us, we will not win many hearts. If being right does not lead us into charity, into hope, into accepting that not everything will go my way as the pope tries to lead over one billion people, then being right does not count for much.

I once had a spiritual director who would not allow me to speak ill of my bishop with him. We could debate issues of course, but we practiced obedience. That was far more constructive, far more charitable, more joyful, and quite frankly, a more attractive path to take.

That is not to say that we can never point out a flaw debate a statement, but those too should be done with great respect and honest conversation, not a passing disdain. Many more hearts have been won by having the right answer in combination with great charity than by just being right alone.