Zowee!

A blistering jeremiad of the Catholic episcopacy in Rembertland the USA, by Fr. Joseph Wilson, is making its way around St. Blog's. And for good reason.

.... Grace does not destroy nature, but builds upon, perfects and transforms it.

The bishop, sacramentally, is in most intimate contact with graced realities on the very deepest level. Every time he ascends the altar to offer Mass, the local church is gathered around him in spirit if not physically; with every act of pastoral ministry - teaching and preaching, being father to his clergy, stirring up the grace of the Spirit in confirmandi, exhorting catechumens, motivating catechists and teachers to open their own lives to grace and teach the pure doctrine of the Faith to others, &c., - he himself is immersed in a privileged opportunity to grow in grace. Placing his gifts at the service of the Kingdom, praying for enlightenment and then setting about the duties of a Father-in-God with vision, zeal and humility, the bishop's own life should be a model of the transforming power of grace.

What we see instead is sad, even pathetic. After the typical festive coronation/enthronement, the diocesan wheels settle back to their usual slow grind. The severe crisis faced by the Church in every aspect of her common life, the obvious and steady, even accelerating decline in the institutional vitality of the Catholic Church in this country is not something that concerns them, seems not to be something that they even notice. From their corporate comments as a bishops' conference and their private comments to clergy and lay gatherings, one arrives at the certitude that they are wholly unaware of the danger to an institution of corporate narcissism, insularity, self-absorption and self-congratulation. Repeatedly we hear appreciative, laudatory words addressed to this group or that, or to the diocese in general: virtually never do we hear the word of warning, the note of caution, let alone the cry of alarm....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 02/18/03 12:04:46 PM
Categorized as Religious.