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From the Pastor&
" If God held all truth in the right hand, and in the left hand held the lifelong
pursuit of it, God would choose the left hand. - Soren Kirkegaard
This weekend we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost--when the Holy Spirit descended on the Twelve Apostles--and on all the Lord's followers. (Acts of the Apostles 2). We often call Pentecost the birthday of the church. Where would we be without the Church?
I often meet people who consider themselves to be Christian but do not subscribe to the teaching of the Christian Tradition. They are very good people, but are vaguely Christian, or mabe culturally Christian. Many of them pick and choose what they personally like about Christianity. They don't consider themselves to be religious, but they are interested in spirituality. Religion needs other people, but a modern spiritual journey is often an "individual" things. If we profess to be Catholic Christians, we can't do it alone--we need each other--we need community--we need the church--with Christ as the Head.
Why does religion get such bad press these days? More people say they are interested in spirituality but not organized religion. Why are people turned off by religion and dismiss it so easily? Is the Church helpful in the lives of modern folks? Some people view the Church as harmful to their psychological health. Maybe they encountered a priest or sister who hurt them in the past, but does one throw away the entire Church of Christ?
Is spirituality more positive, more attractive? How do we disciples of Christ in 2001 make our religion, our Church attractive to the young? When you stop to think about it, organized religion has done and continues to do great things for people. People on a solo spiritual journey don't begin the soup kitchens and shelters for the poor.
If the disciples on the first Pentecost viewed religion in today's popular sense, they would've never left the upper room. They would've been content to stay there and feel good about their relationship with the Trinity. For the last 2000 years women and men have been inspired as members of the Church to do great things for God and the neighbor. People saw the Church as more than an institution--they dedicated themselves to the living body of Christ. Recall all the great members of the Church: Francis of Assisi, Therese of Lisieux, Vincent de Paul, Catherine of Siena, Dorothy Day, Katherine Drexel, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Ignatuis of Loyola, Jeanne Jugan, Pope John XXIII, Cardinal Newman, Teresa of Avila, Benedict, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More, and the list goes on. What a poorer world we would live in if they thought only about their spiritual journey instead of others.
Religion is about God's Spirit present among us. The Spirit is about life, freedom, energy, love, forgiveness, tolerance, and transformation. Spirituality is how we live this. Above all else, it is about a commitment to a person. We need the institutional Church to sustain the spiritual. And that is why there will always be a tension between the two, the spiritual and the institution. All the great saints lived this tension--it's not unique to our times.
If people find the Church stifling, it is our duty as the Church of Christ in 2001 to reverse this notion. It is a challenge for all of us. The Church of Christ is gifted with the Spirit. We need the Spirit to burst upon the scene and surprise us once again--as the Spirit has done throughout history.
I think it's a very exciting time to be a Catholic Christian!
Fr. Bill
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