DAZZLE ME

I pray for wonder.

God is so awesome.  But we are so accustomed to HIs awesomeness.  And just as it is a terrible thing to grow accustomed to evil, it is even more egregious to allow the glorious to grow common.

So pray and fight against it.

One way to do this is through beauty.  Beauty grabs your mind and heart in a vice grip and says, “Wait a minute!  Consider me!”  And instead of fighting against it like we might a dissertation or street preacher, we are utterly helpless, at least for a moment, before true beauty.

The other day I was sitting in the a side chair of our sanctuary praying my Liturgy of the Hours and reviewing my homily before Mass when a server came out to put something on the credence table.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw him look, do a double take, and then just stand and stare at a painting we put in our sanctuary for lent.  

As you saw yesterday, St. Sebastian is in another periodical because of the art generated at the parish.  Nobody asked for a printout of my last homily (which was brilliant and erudite by the way), but they did an article on a painting and because of it I was able to also talk about some truths of the faith.

I think about the time we were on tour with the choir and they began to warm up in the parking lot of a church in which they were about to perform.  People paused in their touring about and stopped and listened.  Had I been simply extolling the virtues of beauty my bet is I would catch fewer people and held on to them for a shorter period.

As Fr. Benedict Groeschel would say, “It is ultimately beauty that will save us.”  You cannot win anyone over if you do not first have their attention.  You won’t get anybody’s attention if you don’t have something beautiful.  Beauty does not come out of a catalogue of mass produced articles.  People are looking for a unique, beautiful voice.  How are you going to give it to them?

I pray for wonder.

AUTHORITY QUESTION

So how does one help the Church continue on her mission?  Every last member of the Body of Christ has a role in the mission.  What is yours?

 

The first step, according to Jim Lundholm-Eades of the National Leadership Roundtable, is to figure out where what your authority is within the hierarchy of the Church.  There are four types of authority.  The first is cultural.  Cultural authority is somewhat bred into us.  We respect teachers because we know if we do not, we will answer for it at home.  Little does a classroom of seven year olds realize that they could rise up and take over the school if they organized themselves.  In much the same way we culturally give some amount of deference to clergy and religious, usually amplified by a Roman collar or a habit.

 

The second is positional.  One listens to the manager at work because he has been placed in a position of authority and is able to call some resources to his aid when trying to lead the company in a certain direction.  Likewise priests or bishops, or a mother superior (or the parish secretary for that matter) etc has some given authority because of the role in which they have been placed.

 

Relational is the third.  Because you have a relationship with a person you also have some influence over them.  If your son asked you for twenty dollars for gas to get to school (assuming he doesn’t do it too often) you might be more inclined to give it to him than someone walking up to your table at a restaurant and saying, “Hey, can I have $20?”  Likewise, getting someone to go to Church is more effectively accomplished by a friends saying, “Hey, wanna come to Mass with me?” rather than a billboard that says, “Hey!  Come to Mass!”

 

And finally there is competency.  This person has authority because they are good at what they do.  You go to the dentist and listen to what he tells you because he knows about teeth.  As highly as I think of our facilities manager, even if he said to me, “Father, I have a pair of pliers and I could rip that tooth out of your head for you for a fraction of the price” I would not listen to him.  Hence, they guy who knows how to fix the boiler in the Church should have more authority over the boiler than the parochial vicar.

 

So if these are the areas of authority within the Church, the first step is figuring out where in this system you fit.  Most laity will find themselves in the relational and competency areas of authority though occasionally in the other areas.  Understanding this allows one to understand his or her responsibilities.  After that, it is best to memorize the sobriety prayer, “Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  It is also good to remember that despite human beings being involved in the running of the Church for over 2000 years, she is still here and still strong.  Evidence enough that it is the Holy Spirit running the ship and can magnify and purify our feeble efforts.

A CALL TO CATHOLIC ROYALTY

So yesterday I'm trolling about in my priest mobile listening to NPR when lo!, a program came on about religion in which the Catholic Church was prominently featured. It was, of course, a show that was challenging Catholic teaching and Tradition which is fine, we are not so sensitive as to shy from discussion.

HOWEVER, it seems a good deal of effort was put into finding prominent persons withing the Great Diocese of Cleveland that would not support nor well represent Catholic teaching on the matter. In addition to that, the moderator of the discussion made an occasional dig at the Church. Most interesting was that after she made the dig, she would cut off all discussion on the matter. For example, she would say quite out of the blue, (paraphrased - remember I was riding in my car and have to depend on my memory) "Of course the Catholic Church abandoned Jews during World War Two, but that's a discussion for another show."

If we cannot talk about it, why even mention it all? Did it add to the conversation in any constructive way? No.

Remember friends that at your baptism after the water was poured and the words of baptism were said, Sacred Chrism was traced in the form of a cross on the crown of your head and Christ enrolled you into His three fold office of priest, prophet, and king. These are not just nice titles and they are not a right, but a responsibility. As king you have the duty to "infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which you live." (ccc 2105) If we say nothing, then we give tacit approval to such remarks and wonder why people feel so free to say things about Catholics in way they would never dream about saying them about almost any other group of people without being fired. Please don't be like Roxie, the dog here pictured with Maggie, my horse.

Let people know what you think, that you are Catholic, and you don't appreciate being put down constantly. We don't have to be nasty. Don't become what we hate. Be kind. But make your point known. Holiness has always taken long lasting roots not through committees, programs, or initiatives, but by individuals leading holy lives. Live your priestly, prophetic, and kingly role and help bring healing to our community.

If you speak out on anything, I'd appreciate hearing how it went. If I hear back from latest venture at such, I'll share it with you via this blog.

God bless.