Why are Catholics no holier than others?

[BarbaraTherese]

A combination of cowardice, laziness and apathy. It’s that simple.

Many don’t want to put in the work to better themselves, many are afraid to let others know they are Catholic (I lived in this area all my life and I didn’t truly know a single Catholic till last year!) They are afraid to evangelize and they are afraid to speak up.

Finally there is the apathy which I can sum up like this: “Of the making up of excuses for the laziness and cowardice that many ‘Catholics’ display there is no end.”

Interestingly this subject came up with my director/confessor last visit - and my point was that perhaps the problems in the Church re the laity including lack of religious and priestly vocations is not with the laity as root problem of the overall…rather with our formation. Father pondered for a bit and then said thoughtfully “Perhaps I ought to change my homilies and address these things” (spiritual formation of the laity)…I just gave a firm and definite, affirming “Yes please, Father”…

Finally there is the apathy which I can sum up like this: “Of the making up of excuses for the laziness and cowardice that many ‘Catholics’ display there is no end.”/

I can’t quite agree with the above…again any display of so called laziness and cowardice may not have true actual laziness and cowardice as the root problem or core problem…rather it is a symptom. Over and above that, I think most Catholics, the majority, are very serious about their Faith…it is the Faith Formation that needs addressing and it can only come, I think, or begin to come, from homilies and the pulpit. Then maybe attendances at Parish Faith and Spiritual Formation meetings will improve out of sight. In our parish, all such meetings have folded due to lack of numbers in attendance…hence they are not considered as something that should be put into place, due to lack of interest and numbers.

The other point is, it has been very obvious in the Catholic Church for more years than I can count anyway that attendance at Mass on Sundays almost alone is sufficient to ‘buy the ticket to Heaven’ and qualify as a good practising Catholic…and all the other “stuff” is for those orientated to the - slightly distasteful often - ‘deep and meaningful’ or D & M as it is called here and in a distasteful sort of way… This attitude and prevailing attitude needs addressing - well I think.

Often and in fact I think most often, The Church ‘grades’ itself and its impact on the numbers/staticstics game. The numbers that attend Mass on Sunday, qualifying as good practising Catholics, is the measurement of how well The Church is doing. Scuse me! The Gospel?..is all I can think to say just now.

When a problem crops up that demands attending to in the Church overall, I think “they” are too quick to identify the symptom as the disease.

My take, Cyberwolf

Bessings and Peace with Joy…Barb

 

[littleone]

Wow !!!if I could possess anything like that I might be 1/3 way to where I would love to be.

***Originally Posted by St Gabriel
Thanks Barb for bringing up St. Teresa of Avila.I read her life how she always asked God to place her sins before the eyes of everyone that she encountered **so that they wouldn’t think she was great. How humble is that! *

Lord this is my prayer, help me I say in front of you all.

God bless (me please) and all
littleone

 

[BarbaraTherese]

That is pretty humble, huh! Outstandingly humble.
St. Teresa for me is a model of absolute humility. She really was concerned that she may shine and not Jesus who had so highly gifted her and gifts that she was sharing in her writings…(I think, but unsure, she was advised to write them, hence under obedience. Unsure) because she wanted her nuns to have insight into the mystical and probably, I tend to think, she may have insighted some of them were indeed on the contemplative/mystical path. Not all contemplative nuns are contemplatives in the stricter sense of the word. It is a big subject and given an entire theology of its own “Mystical Theology”.
Also, in the days St. Teresa wrote, there was fair bit of spiritual hysteria taking place in convents. St. Teresa was eminently level headed with practical down to earth common sense and did not want her Sisters/foundations affected by such hysteria and the nonesense connected to it. News of such did find their way into her parlours of course. Also, I think it was her first two books (unsure about this but at least certainly one fell into the hands of theInquisition) - “The Foundations” and “The Way of Perfection” - were in the hands of the Inquisition and this was a very scarey thing in St. Teresa’s day…very scarey indeed!.. and she lamented to her confessor that as long as her books were in the hands of the Inquisition, her nuns were robbed of the insight she wanted to share with them. Interestingly and astoundingly, she never mentions concern about her own welfare and the Inquisition. So her confessor suggest she write a book but not referring to her own personal experience…but write of her experiences without actually writing they were actually her own experiences of which she wrote. “The Mansions/Interior Castle” hence came about. I dont think The Interior Castle actually fell into the hands of the Inquisition in a threatening (to St. Teresa) manner as did the other one book or two…although The Interior Castle was examined by Church authority of some kind.

If the Inquisition had decided her books were heretical, which was on the cards or they would not have been official examined, she would have had to denounce her writings and probably under torture and possible be burnt to death as a heretic. Somehow I dont think St. Teresa would have been the denouncing kind aware she had told the absolute truth in her writings and assured that all was from God, not some other source: hjer imagination/Satan.
This all hung over St. Teresa at the time. She is an absolutely fascinating woman for sure - and a great saint.

It is unwinding that Mother Teresa of Calcutta was also quite fearful that all the publicity she was getting would take from the Glory of God and be settled on her…Mother Teresa it is unfolding was profound in humility also. I read a commentary that perhaps God led her into the severe Dark Night that He did, to shield her soul from all the media glory that was being piled upon her in life…this is only theory of course. No one can know or predict The Lord for sure. She was absolutely adament that all her writings be destroyed at her death - that is to me a sign of profound humility also.

For me personally though, St. Teresa of Avila is a model and essence of profound humility which shows, and most often without her trying to I think, and in all her writings. She was a remarkable woman and character - a fascinating woman. Her sense of humour and the ridiculous was very keen and insightful, and at times very very dry. Yet she was also very intense. When you consider her whole life and how it all was in her earlier years, and where she was when her life concluded, she had been on quite a journey - quite!
I have not yet read in book form or completed text form what we do have of the writings of Mother Teresa of Calcutta to form any sort of personal opinion of my own. I am only readings extracts from her writings and commentaries on these at this stage anyways.

Blessings.Peace.Joy…Barb