Back in the 1950s a woman was angry with the Catholic Church and after mass one Sunday approached Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and yelled at him in the narthex. She looked at him with a red face and said, “Im leaving to find a perfect Church!” He apparently retorted, “Once you find it bring me an application!”
As beautiful as Catholicism truly is, the truth is that the “institution” of it can sometimes leave us jaded and cynical if we allow it. In other words, as Pope Francis often notes, in our parishes there are no shortage of very fallible and flawed people, including priests. Our parishes are at times cliquey, routine-prone, and unwilling to change. As St. Paul tells us in the 2nd reading today, we have to choose love instead. Lord knows we are all in need of God’s grace and self-examination, and I put myself at the front of the line. That said, somehow God still uses the Church and her imperfect members. I often tell people, in marriage its not your spouse’s job to make you happy, even though you can truly find happiness with your spouse and
God. Likewise, in the Church its not your priest’s job to make you happy, though one can truly find happiness with God brought to us by the priest in the sacraments. In Jesus Christ alone is our peace, though he still uses imperfect people to do His will.
As beautiful as Catholicism truly is, the truth is that the “institution” of it can sometimes leave us jaded and cynical if we allow it. In other words, as Pope Francis often notes, in our parishes there are no shortage of very fallible and flawed people, including priests. Our parishes are at times cliquey, routine-prone, and unwilling to change. As St. Paul tells us in the 2nd reading today, we have to choose love instead.
Lord knows we are all in need of God’s grace and self-examination, and I put myself at the front of the line. That said, somehow God still uses the Church and her imperfect members. I often tell people, in marriage its not your spouse’s job to make you happy, even though you can truly find happiness with your spouse and God. Likewise, in the Church its not your priest’s job to make you happy, though one can truly find happiness with God brought to us by the priest in the sacraments.
In Jesus Christ alone is our peace, though he still uses imperfect people to do His will.
Recent Comments