Usually I don’t find much common ground with Boston Herald columnist Howard Manly but he’s right on in his latest piece. Addressing the Boston parish closings, Manly rejects many of the complaints being made and sees the root problems that many Catholics are ignoring. He cited Archbishop O’Malley’s speech in which he said the closings have more to do with preparing for the Church’s mission than with scandals.
More than anything else, it is that mission which is sorely being tested in these days of abortion rights, gay marriages, divorce and obsession with entertainment, sports and pleasure. The Catholic Church has remained steadfast in its refusal to bend to the will of popular culture and instead has held on to moral values conceived thousands of years ago. That message of God has attracted fewer adherents here in America, largely because of an overriding, uniquely American phenomenon of questioning everything, especially things that no one can see.
“The Catholic Church has remained steadfast in its refusal to bend to the will of popular culture and instead has held on to moral values conceived thousands of years ago. That message of God has attracted fewer adherents here in America, largely because of an overriding, uniquely American phenomenon of questioning everything, especially things that no one can see.”
Wow, powerful words – right on target. One of the hopeful things we see in our area is the embrace of Catholicism (including the tough parts!) by a fair number of Catholic youth – who are disgusted, even at their young ages, with divorce, sexual license and perversion, drugs, selfishness, abortion, profanity, pornography, and so on – and who are embracing not only the teachings of the Church in authentic faith, but also some of the incredibly rich and meaningful traditions of the Church. (Several in our Confirmation group have requested to learn the Rosary.) As Manly alludes to – suffering, in conjunction with trust in and obedience to God, helps bring us closer to Him. When not with trust in God, it often leads to bitterness and fragility of faith. Let’s pray that the former be the case in Boston.
I was watching the news the evening of the announced closing and I observed the obvious “I won’t give a penny more to the Church since they are closing my parish” ignorance, but also that of the old lady throwing up her hands in an gleeful “O thank God they aren’t closing my church”. What? Huh? Seems she-and probably most others who breathed a sigh of relief-missed the point that the Church is Our Church, it’s Christ’s Church, it’s the Universal Church.
I think, as the columnist stated that this bringing together of ethnicities could be one of the best things that Boston could have happen to it. While I appreciate each culture that the neighborhoods seem to keep together, they often tend towards a “us and them” mentality. Ah, that will be the day when one of the Southie girls sits next to a Cape Verdean girl and they will have to turn to each other at the sign of peace.
And I love the same quote, Sinner. Excellent if the world could see that as admirable rather than ridiculous.