There was a standing joke at FedEx for a long time that PSP no longer meant People, Service, Profit but rather Profit, Service, People. From what I am seeing these days, especially in my Diocese, is that we have taken Jesus’ words and reversed them too, but it is no joke. Jesus told us we must FIRST love God with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength. Second, we should love others as we love ourselves.
But!!!!!We put our wants, desires, thoughts, interpretations first. Then our neighbors. Then God.
We do so, so often, in the Name of God, but what have we done for God? How have we honored Him? How are we giving Him respect, honor, and Glory? How do we live Jesus without teaching, respecting, and remembering Jesus’ Life and those who brought His Life to us – The Apostles, Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and all the Saints, Choirs and Dominions of Angel?
Most importantly, how are we doing do so without first seeking Him in His Sacraments! We are going into battle unarmed and with just words when we fail to acknowledge and live the Traditions, traditions, and Sacraments of the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. We are placing secular needs, celebrations, and issues above those within our Church
Many may interpret this that I am putting the “Rites” of the Church above our call to evangelize and be the hands and feet of Jesus. I am not. Let me give you an example: When my good Pastor started Alpha at my former Parish, many Catholics were appalled because there was no mention of the Sacraments, Mary, or the Saints. They said it was not Catholic. I maintained that it was the very essence of Catholic. As Fr. J. always reminded us, our mission is to know Him and make Him known. I understood this evangelization tool was simply to carry out the second part of that mission. By making Him known and giving people the opportunity to fall in love with Him, we were asking them to open the door upon which Jesus was knocking. Once that door was open, once they truly knew Him, their hunger to know Him better, to be more intimate with Him, to partake fully in His Church would naturally progress through the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, what am I trying to express here then? Many of the issues of the world and especially the Church would be resolved by focusing on what makes us Catholic. Our Church leaders and authorities need to be focused on teaching and empowering through the armaments that Jesus has given His beloved Church to become disciples of Christ, to act as the hands and feet of Jesus, to live a life that is pleasing to God. If Catholics know, understand, and live their Faith as it was intended, their lives will change others’ lives and the issues of the world will not prevail.
A year ago, a poll stated that 70+% of people polled who claimed to be Catholic did not believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The very heart and soul of our FAITH!!!! For about 6 weeks, I saw a few articles and heard a few speeches from Bishops, but then nothing. I think I heard our Bishop mention or write a couple lines on how sad it is, but no outrage, no recognition of the crisis, no call for prayer and fasting, no programs or plans put in place to address the biggest grass roots scandal of all times in our Church… nothing, crickets.
Then COVID hit and what happened – panic and a call to be concerned about our neighbors’ health and our churches were shut down before the government even required it. Took away our very life- line. Took away the Sacraments. Took away the ability to even spend time in His True Presence. Put physical well-being above soul well-being and doing so for hypocritical reasons. Increased the tension, hype, panic, and anxiety in the flock. No words of Trust or Faith. Just stay home and pray.
We are still in a dispensation state 8 months later (with continued encouragement not to attend Mass) because of news reports, yet we are being told that we should not vote a certain way based on news reports. We are told to make the right choices with informed conscience and again not to believe the news reports written by or in conjunction with the same people who wrote the articles to which was used to shut us down, but not given any direction, no teaching, no leadership, nothing… just “don’t believe everything you read”.
Further hypocrisy, in the midst of all this, the focus has been on racism – not total racism, just racism on blacks and Native Americans (token mention of them). The Feast of Sacred Heart was all but overlooked because it fell on a day that is a “celebration” among African Americans, yet, several in our own Diocese had never heard of it. Yet this secular celebration that is not (or at least not until such a big deal was made over it this year) even celebrated by his flock was placed above a major Feast in the Catholic Faith. Now, there is another call for a day of Prayer and Fasting to end racism (specifically against African American). When is it? The day after the Feast of Blessed Mother’s Birthday, and 2 days before the most horrific terrorist attack on US soil in our history. Is there any mention of these 2 days… no, nothing.
So why do I call it hypocrisy? In OUR Dioceses, there is widespread racism, both within the Clergy and laity, being carried out against those not born in the United States. Heaven forbid someone has an accent. Heaven forbid that Priests are not “Diocesan” Priests, but rather gave up their entire lives to move thousands of miles from family and friends simply to carry out God’s work, to support His Church- our Diocese; to ensure we do not become like so many other Dioceses where there is 1 priest for 3-5 Parishes, to ensure that (when we are not shut down due to fear of lost life vs fear of lost soul)that the Sacraments are available to us. There is a lot of talk about white privilege in what the world deems as racism, but there is even more of that going on against our clergy and laity not U.S. born. There are reports that Hispanics and other ethnic groups are leaving the Catholic Church in droves. Where is the panic on this? Where is the call for prayer and fasting? Where is the compassion, evangelization, the outcry on how they are being ostracized, minimalized, disrespected, ignorance of their culture? (Oh, but it might still be okay for you to vote for the party of death because the other party’s stance on immigration (which, by the way, is totally misconstrued and misunderstood) because we love all people (just as long as their culture or accent does not interfere with me), but, of course, we have to make up our own minds.
A call to end racism is a very great and noble thing, but the way I have been seeing it carried out in our Diocese, it is failing and even causing more issues. The more it is discussed, and the way it is being discussed, the greater the tension. The latest call for Prayer and Fasting even had an air of hostility and degradation toward the Police of which few have committed these acts of racism and is even more rare within the Diocese than elsewhere.
How about instead, we be Catholic and our Church leaders (especially Bishops), teach the flock about the meaning of and the sacredness of our Traditions and traditions, encourage – not discouraged or downplay – the importance of the Sacraments, live a life that demonstrates a belief that not only Jesus is the Christ, but that the Eucharist is truly, sincerely, substantially His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, as well as, our Healer and Protector. How about teaching the Truths, the results of sin, the need for Confession, the need for our devotions? How about demonstrating that faith, hope, and trust by encouraging that we avail ourselves to ALL that the Church has given us – Rosary, devotions, etc.; by leading them yourselves, by openly demonstrating that you believe in ALL that the Holy Catholic Church teaches especially through Eucharist Processions; by being Shepherds, not good buddies. How about addressing the crises in the Church and then the crises outside of the Church will be minimized. If our leaders teach us how and then call us to live Catholic then we will evangelize with our words AND our actions, then we will not be prone to racism or bigotry, then we will hunger to please God in our reverence and actions at Holy Mass, we will be parched with desire to receive Him. We will be more confident in our ability to be disciples when we call upon the Saints and Angels for assistance. We will beg the Holy Spirit to fill us and protect us and give us His gifts that we might truly and sincerely carry on Christ’s mission! We will securely pray the Our Father and know our sins will be forgiven as we have forgiven others. We will be Catholic!
blessedadorer 
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