The Church is not Walmart!

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po18guy

po18guy

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Just re-found this. Is it cool, or what?

21 OCTOBER 2008​

Church is not Wal-Mart (UPDATED)​

[NB. Permission to repost/copy with proper attribution is given.]

I had a much longer piece, but I scrapped it for something a lot shorter and more to the point.

1). The Roman Catholic Church isn’t WalMart or Burger King; it’s the Body of Christ.

2). Catholic priests, nuns, sisters/brothers and laity aren’t employees; we are members of the Body of Christ.

3). The doctrine and dogma of the Catholic Church are not consumer products that the Church’s employees sell to those who want them; Catholic doctrine and dogma express the unchanging truth of the faith.

4). Life in a Catholic parish is not a trip to Disney Land or Target or McDonald’s where your consumer needs and whims are catered to by the whimpering clergy and lay staff; parish life is the life of Christ for the local Catholic family.

5). You do not come into the Catholic Church b/c you like the building better than you like the Methodist chapel; or because the priest at the Catholic parish is cuter than the Baptist preacher; or because you heard that the homilies are shorter at St. Bubba’s by the Lake than they are at the Unitarian Church. You come into the Catholic Church because you believe that the Catholic faith is the truth of the gospel taught by Christ himself and given to his apostles.

6). Leaving the Catholic Church because a priest was mean to you, or because sister whacked you with a ruler, or because the church secretary looked at you funny is as stupid as giving up on the truths of math because you hate your high school algebra teacher. Why would anyone let a crazy priest or a cranky nun or anyone else for the matter drive you out of the faith you believe is true? My only conclusion: you never thought it was true to begin with; or, you have a favorite sin the Church teaches against and crazy priests and cranky nuns is as good an excuse as any to leave and pursue your sin all the while feeling justified b/c Father and/or Sister are such jerks.
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(cont.)
 
(cont. from above)
7). Anyone who comes in the Catholic Church thinking that they will find clouds of angels at Mass dressed as parishioners; hordes of perfect saints kneeling for communion; seminaries packed with angelic young men burning to be priests; a parish hall stacked to the ceiling with morally pure people eager to serve; and a priest without flaw or blemish, well, you’re cracked and you probably need to go back and try again. Telling Catholics that they aren’t perfect makes as much sense as telling fish they’re wet. We know already. Move on.

8). Of the hundreds of priests and religious I know, I know two who could count as saints right now. The rest of us are deeply flawed, impure, struggling creatures who know all too well that we fail utterly to meet the basic standards of holiness. For that matter: so do you. Get in line.

9). The Catholic Church owes no one a revision of her doctrine or dogma. She didn’t change to save most of Europe from becoming Protestant, why would you imagine that she would change just to get you in one of her parishes?

10). If you want to become Catholic, do it. But do it because you think the Church teaches the true faith. If a cranky priest on a blogsite is enough to keep you from embracing the truth of the faith, then two things are painfully clear: 1) you do not believe the Church teaches the faith; 2) and you care more about expresssing your hurt consumer feelings than you do for your immortal soul.

Fr. Philip, OP

UPDATE: Yes, I am a priest, and a huge part of my ministry is to console, to be present, to advise, and to try my best to shine out the light of Christ. As a Dominican friar, I do all of that first and best by telling the truth! The best pastoral approach is always to tell the truth, so please, forget the notion that “to be pastoral” is somehow opposed to “telling the truth” or “teaching the faith.”

The Truth is Always Pastoral.
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Sadly, a lot of people come to Mass thinking it’s some kind of free entertainment that doesn’t require any participation on their part. I was once approached by a woman who complained that there was a cobweb that was disturbing her, and she was most indignant when I told her where she could find a broom. Perhaps Fr Philip could rewrite his piece as “The Church is not MTV”.
 
This is awesome! It is exactly how I feel. I wish I had written it.

I know we have said many times on this forum, “The Church is not Burger King. You don’t get to Have It Your Way.”.
 
This is great. If that priest was posting now I would say, Amen Father…be that preacher of truth! Go veritas! And happy feast day of saint Dominic …I would guess for all you Dominicans it is a feast day. 😇
 
I wish Catholics would stop assuming that being right gives you license to be a jerk, or smugly self-satisfied. Honestly, meet people where they are and help them with their struggle, don’t just tell them, “You’re wrong!” and smirk. That’s what comes across to me in this writing.
 
Lookingforjoy said:
don’t just tell them, “You’re wrong!” and smirk. That’s what comes across to me in this writing.
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Without any context, I can understand why you would think that.

But if you’ve lived in this Western culture for any length of time, especially as an adult, you’ll find the Church being verbally attacked and accused on a daily basis, often about dumb stuff like what was demonstrated in this opinion piece.

I’ve had a lady tell me she left the Church because she couldn’t concentrate when she said the Hail Mary and was afraid she’d go to Hell.

Another lady told me she left the Church because a priest told her elderly relative to divorce his wife when she couldn’t have sex with him anymore.

Interestingly, when both ladies were explained the correct teaching, neither came running back to the Church, which just shows, they had decided on their course of action and weren’t going to be confused by facts.
 
Remember that this piece is 11 years old. I think that Fr. was reacting out of frustration to those who picked and chose, and left. He bemoans the consumer mind-set that 21st century culture has lapsed into.

And, as Fr. said, the truth is always pastoral. Here at Contrary Answers Forums, it is also invariably controversial.
 
This article isn’t directed to “struggling” people, it’s directed to the ones who do the things stated in the article, such as pick a church based on how short the sermon is, or complain that a nun was mean to them once in high school so they chucked the Church and now live a sinful life, or don’t understand why the Church doesn’t change its teaching to fit more with today’s society in order to get more people to attend.

These people don’t have an open mind to why the Church is doing this or that. They just complain because they think they’re right and church is wrong.

As Scarlett said, we hear this all day every day, and it’s frustrating. Eventually, we clap back. If somebody doesn’t like it, too bad.
 
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Yeah, there’s nothing Jesus loved more than a good clap back.

I’m just saying, there’s nothing to be lost by being compassionate. People don’t walk away from a beautiful tradition that they fully understand because of trivial reasons. I think there are deeper reasons sometimes. We lose nothing by conducting ourselves accordingly.
 
You’re entitled to your opinion. I don’t see any lack of compassion in what this Dominican wrote. It sounds exactly like how my mother taught me. Compassion doesn’t mean you avoid straight talk or you pander to everybody with an excuse or a minor complaint.

Your mileage may vary. I see no reason to justify the post to you though. It’s true and on point.
 
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This article can be read by two kinds of people:
  1. Lapsed catholics who left with excuses.
  2. Seriously hurt catholics by a memeber of the Church.
For 1) this article is fine, for 2) the point about “stop complaining” is uncharitable. I know a 2) person, a mother whose child has a psychological problem and was mistreated by his previous pastor. She returned throught our community. But if she encountered a dominican like this all the time, I don’t think she would have returned.
 
John 6:67 Jesus said to the twelve “Do you also wish to go away as well?”

This is what comes to my mind when I read this opinion piece. Jesus did not meet the disciples who had been following Him “where they were,” but rather made it VERY clear where He was on a truth to be held by all who wished to be His disciples. His congregation that day even said “Lord, this is a hard saying,” yet Jesus was firm and did not water down the truth for the sake of not wanting to “rock the boat.” How many modern day Catholics if they were to go back in time would have thought of Jesus as smirking or being a jerk? That’s pretty “in your face” by Jesus when he asked them if they wanted to leave as well.
 
As Bear said, mileage may vary. Some days I would read this and think, “Yeah! Right on!”, and others it would strike me differently. That’s more on me than the speaker/writer of similar things. I do like a priest who isn’t afraid to tell us things directly and challenge us a bit. Sometimes being uncomfortable is a good thing.
 
If difference in music or homilies brings more people around hear the Word of the Lord, I’m for it.

We have candles, beautiful stained glass, air conditioning, all kinds of things to make people feel at home in church. No reason other components like music can’t be incorporated to appeal to those who otherwise would not attend Mass.
 
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