WHAT are my pastors trying to tell me?

[caroljm36]

I posted this in a different forum by mistake. It’s so hard to post a new thread without timing out!

I go to a Jesuit church with 4 priests. They keep saying God really really loves me but the more I hear it the less I believe it, kind of like a self-esteem program in grade school. Anyway, now one has a column in the local paper. Can’t link to it because it hasn’t been updated yet, but here is the main part.

“What if we could dip a measuring stick down into the collective reservoir of the human spirit and check the level of the authenticity of the spirit for our age? No the level of idological fervor, the invincibility of dogmatism, the intensity of partisan politics, the volume of violence, the ferocity of aimless dissipation or the creativity of trivial distraction. No, the world’s collective level of cooperation with that which is best within us…They say ther is a spirit to every age. Leeet’s get back to checking that dipstick that measures the level of cooperation with the Spirit within our spirits that is the source of that which is best within us. Ah yes, just as I feared! The spirit of our age is one in which it gets easier and easier to settle for less and less”

This is a lot like his homilies. He is very emphatic and goes on at length but I’m never quite sure what he is saying. He did tell us before the election not to vote on the basis of greed. I wondered, did he mean greed to not pay more taxes, or greed to want more benefits, say, so I could quit my job and still have health insurance and not lose my assets due to illness? I didn’t ask because I was afraid it would come off sort of rhetorical, and imply that he was incomprehensible. But they all seem that way to me, much as I respect & love them.

Is this a Jesuit thing?

 

[TNT]

caroljm36:

I posted this in a different forum by mistake. It’s so hard to post a new thread without timing out!

I go to a Jesuit church with 4 priests. They keep saying God really really loves me but the more I hear it the less I believe it, kind of like a self-esteem program in grade school. Anyway, now one has a column in the local paper. Can’t link to it because it hasn’t been updated yet, but here is the main part.

“What if we could dip a measuring stick down into the collective reservoir of the human spirit…Ah yes, just as I feared! The spirit of our age is one in which it gets easier and easier to settle for less and less”
…I’m never quite sure what he is saying. He did tell us before the election not to vote on the basis of greed. … and imply that he was incomprehensible. But they all seem that way to me, much as I respect & love them.

** Is this a Jesuit thing?**

1. Love is a New Age mantra (NOT just Jesuit) and replaces CHARITY for "new age god forgives/overlooks EVERYTHING except Teaching Catholic Doctrine.
2. A sure mark of the Modernist is to couch all that they say in nuance and inuendo. Straight-out honesty will only occur if they lose their cool in an argument or debate. Then the mask melts from the flames and the horns pop out.
3. A good Modernist will never identify himself. He will remain in wordy camoflage. In other words: we were taught if it walks, quacks, flies like a duck, it’s a duck. A worthy Modernist waddles like a duck, barks like a dog, flies like a vulture. Thus you can never say: "It’s a _______ for sure. That’s why he is incomprehensible.
4. If you love those Jesuits, fine. I love my 4yr old nephew. BUT neither of them is suitable to feed your Faith or increasing true Charity.
5. Find another parish where you hear what you should. It will build you up in all sectors of your Spiritual Life…if you follow what the Catholic Faith Teaches…ALL of it.
   That will be tough where you live.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

“What if we could dip a measuring stick down into the collective reservoir of the human spirit and check the level of the authenticity of the spirit for our age? No the level of idological fervor, the invincibility of dogmatism, the intensity of partisan politics, the volume of violence, the ferocity of aimless dissipation or the creativity of trivial distraction. No, the world’s collective level of cooperation with that which is best within us…They say ther is a spirit to every age. Leeet’s get back to checking that dipstick that measures the level of cooperation with the Spirit within our spirits that is the source of that which is best within us. Ah yes, just as I feared! The spirit of our age is one in which it gets easier and easier to settle for less and less”

Hmmm…I read through it a couple of times, and it’s actually pretty profound, and pretty hard for the average person to understand.

What he’s saying, in simple terms, is simply that we are called to work at, say, the level of the beatitudes but have, instead, chosen a lilfestyle that takes the easy way out, that doesn’t get committed to being the light of the world or the salt of the earth.

I suspect he thinks the spirit of this age is best typified by someone like Homer Simpson! A well meaning chap who keeps getting his own pleasure confused with doing good.

Does that help?

Deacon Ed

 

[Catholic2003]

Here is something the USCCB wrote about voting based on greed:

Instead, it intends–as is its proper function–to instruct and illuminate the consciences of the faithful, particularly those involved in political life, so that their actions may always serve the integral promotion of the human person and the common good. We urge our fellow citizens “to see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically, and to choose their political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest.”

So if voting for candidate will guarantee me a million-dollar government contract at the expense of putting five thousand people out of work, then I should not cast my vote in order to obtain the million-dollar contact.

You should vote for what will be the best for all people, not merely the best for you personally.

 

[TNT]

Deacon Ed:

Hmmm…I read through it a couple of times, and it’s actually pretty profound, and pretty hard for the average person to understand.

What he’s saying, in simple terms, is simply…Does that help?

Deacon Ed

So, was he talking to the average person or who was he trying to get through to?
Wonder why he didn’t “simply put” it?

 

[pazdziernik]

I would tell the pastor or priest that you do not understand their homilies or what they are saying. Ask them to say things in terms that you and others could understand. A homily or instruction is next to useless if the average person has no clue about the main idea.

A few years back some of us told an Archbishop in an archdiocese other than the one I’m in now, that the youth that he spoke to did not understand what he was saying. He used technical terms and ideas that the youth could not grasp. He took this to heart and began to teach more plainly and effectively.

 

[Sara_Bickley]

TNT:

Wonder why he didn’t “simply put” it?

Perhaps he doesn’t realize that his accustomed style is obscure. People have said that about me, so now I make an effort to speak more clearly.

 

[NightRider]

Deacon Ed:

Hmmm…I read through it a couple of times, and it’s actually pretty profound, and pretty hard for the average person to understand.

What he’s saying, in simple terms, is simply that we are called to work at, say, the level of the beatitudes but have, instead, chosen a lilfestyle that takes the easy way out, that doesn’t get committed to being the light of the world or the salt of the earth.

I suspect he thinks the spirit of this age is best typified by someone like Homer Simpson! A well meaning chap who keeps getting his own pleasure confused with doing good.

Does that help?

Deacon Ed

Very well put, Deacon Ed. I thought it was pretty profound, too, and a very necessary message for us in today’s times.

 

[caroljm36]

Catholic2003:

Here is something the USCCB wrote about voting based on greed:

So if voting for candidate will guarantee me a million-dollar government contract at the expense of putting five thousand people out of work, then I should not cast my vote in order to obtain the million-dollar contact.

You should vote for what will be the best for all people, not merely the best for you personally.

Well that’s why I wonder. Because for me personally, it would have been better had I voted for the Democrats because they want to give me a lot of social programs–like health insurance which would be good for me right now. But I usually vote against interest because I don’t think we can afford it. So am I greedy? Still can’t figure it out.

 

[frleo]

Would this be the correct link? I found it this evening after I read you post.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/02/09/religion/religion03.txt

It doesn’t take a person from Montana long to figure out where there would be four Jesuits. Seeing that my side of the state only has two parishes with more than one full time priest assigned I figured it had to be St. Francis Xavier in Missoulia - Jesuit parish in a town big enough to justify four priests. I would stop by to visit the church occasionally as I drove to the seminary.

Reading the whole article might help people understand it a little better.