Offensive Faith II

A priest was walking along the school corridor of the church’s school, when a group of students were trotting by on the way to the cafeteria. One preschooler stopped and looked at him in his clerical clothes and asked, “Why do you dress funny?” He told him that he was a priest and that this is the uniform priests wear. Then he pointed to the priest’s little plastic collar insert and asked, “Does it hurt? Do you have a Boo-boo?” The priest was perplexed till he realized that to him the collar insert looked like a band aid. So the priest took it out to show him. On the back of the collar are raised letters giving the name of the manufacturer.  The little guy felt the letters, and the priest asked, “Do you know what those words say?” “Yes I do,” said the lad who was not old enough to read. Peering intently at the letters he said, “It says, ‘Kills ticks and fleas up to six months!”

Amazingly one of the most effective ways the enemy has worked over the last four thousand years is trying to downplay, if not completely destroy the authority of the priesthood, thus disallowing the faithful to participate and reinstate the weekly, often daily, grace offered in these most precious affairs. “What to Do About the Priest Shortage” (U.S. News and World Report) By Kent Garber, Posted April 18, 2008, According to statistics, the number of U.S. priests began falling in the 1970s, and the decline has since accelerated. In 1975, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University reports, there were 36,005 diocesan priests in the United States. By 1995, the total had fallen to 32,300; in 2005, the count stood at 28,700. The most recent count, from 2007, puts the number at 27,971. The decline appears to be even more precipitous when one includes “religious” priests, members of religious orders who tend to live within the priestly community. In total, the number of Catholic priests in the United States dropped from nearly 59,000 in 1975 to about 41,500 last year. The causes of the decline are many. As the pope has said, changing family structures and social values are one problem; fewer children mean fewer potential priests, and parents are less likely to encourage the vocation. At the same time, more young Catholics—and more young people in general—are attending college or immediately entering the work force, thereby bypassing priestly considerations. Behind these trends is a strong cultural pull: American society prizes not only wealth and choice but also, to an increasing degree, mobility (the average American, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, will switch jobs 10 times between the ages of 18 and 38)—a privilege not in keeping with the lifetime commitment required of priests. And, of course, there is the celibacy problem.

This morning I want to talk a little about the priesthood and a lot about the sacrament of reconciliation. The Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as the Sacrament of Penance, or Penance and Reconciliation) has three elements: conversion, confession and celebration. In it we find God’s unconditional forgiveness, and as a result we are called to forgive others. This can be done communally or privately. Sunday after Sunday, I (together with the whole Church) hear, “May almighty God…forgive us our sins” (Penitential Rite); “You take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us” (Glory to God); “Though we are sinners, we trust in your mercy and love. Do not consider what we truly deserve, but grant us your forgiveness” (Eucharistic Prayer I); “Our Father…forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Lord’s Prayer); “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world….Lord, I am not worthy…but only say the word and I shall be healed” (Invitation to Communion). At each Eucharist we hear Christ’s command: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.” And in Holy Communion, I am in com-union (union-with) Christ and the Church. As my sins distance me from Christ and the Church, Holy Communion draws me back into intimate union with Christ and his members. Meals, especially ritual meals, have traditionally been times of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is not surprising, then, that for many Catholics the Sunday Eucharist has become the usual sacrament by which they experience the forgiveness of their sins.

When it comes to private confession, which the CEC includes as an important Sacrament, we receive this grace that is mostly required in our lives. Catholics believe that God is so close to creation that the divine enters our life in the most personal manner imaginable: God becomes a visible part of our world in the person of Jesus Christ. The role of priest is this physical, outward sign, dare I say stand-in, that Jesus is very present in our lives. This Jesus meets you in the sacraments of the Church in order to give you the gift of his presence through the most common elements of your daily life: water, bread and wine, touch and speech. Jesus gives you the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a help because He understands that you often need to hear a voice other than your own to assure you that you are forgiven, that all is well and that you do not need to be haunted by past mistakes. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is not merely a time for spiritual direction (as wholesome as that is), or a time for seeking moral guidance (as necessary as that may be at times). Reconciliation is primarily a sacrament—a corporate act of worship which builds up the Body of Christ. Amazingly society has oftentimes found ways to denigrate these instructions. So what we have left is people’s opinions over God’s commands. We hear these views everyday in the news. Without mentioning names, because I believe politics and pulpits don’t mix, recently a candidate was criticized by the media as well as dozens of people I personally heard this week at work or socially. And what was the main criticism? What kind of person keeps her baby even after finding out he was going to be born with Down’s syndrome. O how powerful the enemy is when children with special needs are disregarded as objects we could and should destroy. The last time rhetoric like that proliferated a country, was mid-1930 through early 1940’s Germany. With such disregard for life, we need the Church, Her Sacraments, and Her Priests to fight these modern day battles.

It was the same in the sixth century B.C. (All quotes New King James Version) Ezekiel 33: 7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

Ezekiel gives us another slant on the difficulties inherent in being one of God’s priests as well as prophets. One of the functions of a prophet is to be a sentinel, a watchman, a lookout that sees the danger coming and tries to rouse people out of their depression before it is too late. As we see in many prophets, reluctant listeners will not take kindly to the bad news and may, in fact, blame the messenger and make his life miserable (and even kill him if they get the chance). Since this is true, it would not be unusual for the prophet to draw back from the harsh message in order to avoid this difficult confrontation. Tell people good news, what they want to hear. Find out what their needs are and cater to those needs. Don’t tell them something that will put them off or they will find another church where they won’t be offended. This word from Ezekiel seems to be addressed to the messenger who is balking, who doesn’t want to speak the word of warning. God makes it clear that the sentinel is called to warn the people. If he does not do that, then he is responsible for their fate. On the other hand, if the sentinel does speak the word of warning, then, whether people heed it or not is their own business, not the responsibility of the sentinel. As with modern priests, these words make clear that God takes no pleasure in bringing punishment. God wants people to live and not die. God wants people to make the choices that will enhance their life and not lead to terrible consequences for themselves or others. So God depends on sentinels who will do their job of speaking the truth, even if unpopular, in order to persuade their listeners to do what is necessary to prevent disaster. These are not the words of a judgmental God who can’t wait to punish people who are disobedient. Rather, this is the pleading of a loving God who wants people to succeed, be happy, live.

Statistics show that no Christians flee their countries to find refuge in Islamic countries. Since the Roman Empire the ideals of Christian national government are to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,( do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America). And we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (Declaration of Independence).

As we remember September 11^th this week, allow me to accentuate that though we can forgive, we should never forget. The key to forgiveness and obedience and living a sacramental life is love. Here is a comparison between this morning’s reading and another chapter 13. Romans 13: 8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Corinthians 13: 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Finally I want to end with the Gospel, the Good News that God wants you back. Matthew 18: 15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Jesus is in the midst of us and the most tangible expression of this is through the Sacraments. In this our lives are continuously made anew. The scriptures are filled with times of new beginnings, whether it is Adam and Eve in the Garden, Abram leaving home, the slaves leaving Egypt, Joshua entering the promised land, Saul becoming the first king of Israel, Jesus being born, or the disciples responding to their mandate after Jesus has left them. All new beginnings carry with them the anxiety of the unknown. From the beginning, God has provided members of the community of faith with the gift of memory as experienced in the Sacraments. So if your life is facing difficulties especially in the area of relationships, remember that Jesus is there for you through His Church and through the celebration of the Eucharist. And if you love that Sacrament, please avail yourself to another Sacrament that enriches your life, and provides for your happiness, the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

~ by ordani on September 7, 2008.