Back in the world

It's been a long time since I have posted on either this blog or the St. James Blog. I've been taking summer hiatus to get caught up on many of the other things that life has to offer, mainly time with my family while we experience yet another summer together.

This summer has brought many events that I hope and pray will translate into both happy and important memories for our two daughters. Some of them involved camping trips, roller coasters at Cedar Point, and swimming. One of the most moving experiences was a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, filled with many emotional visceral expeiences that make you feel a sense of sorrow, wonder, hope, despair, and fear all at the same time. A great deal of thought went into the planning of this experience, which is a better word to describe it than the word museum. You walk out of there feeling as though you have a better understanding of the Holocaust experience.

I came home to read the latest installment of the Catholic Chronicle to read an opinion page letter submitted by a reader who is "Saddened by Picketing."

The closing of parishes is happening throughout the U.S., not just in the Toledo Diocese.

We are only too aware of that very unfortunate reality. She goes on to explain that

It saddens me when parishioners picket and complain loudly about it. Yes it hurts; you have memories connected to that parish and most people don't like change. We must go to another parish and we're so hurt and angry we forget we're blessed to have another parish to attend.

For those who see it this way, I must explain that the closure of parishes does not fit with Christs' vision of spreading His message of divine love and God's forgiving grace. Church is not created by numbers, it is created by community built on the foundation of Christ's promise to us.

The road toward accepting that downsizing the Church, one faithful community at a time is somehow good for the Church is one filled with potholes and lots of twisted logic. To appreciate this letter to the Chroincle editor, one must accept that if I were to cut off my right arm, that I should be grateful that I still have a left arm. The letter continues:

We're a Catholic community; we have to trust God has a reason for the closing. Maybe our talents, our presence are needed elsewhere.

God did not close the churches, Leonard Paul Blair did. God gave us the talent to build a thriving parish. Our experience with Leonard Paul Blair is that our talents are not desired, only unquestioning loyalty to clericalism. If talent were valued, it would make far more sense to prop up vibrant and thriving parishes such as Holy Rosary in Toledo, St. James in Kansas, St. Joseph in Salem, St. Mary in Kirby, St. Jude in Toledo, St. Casimir in Fremont, St. Paul in Hamler, and St. Mary in Junction (just to name a few) so that all could benefit from their example. Instead, they were cut down and their communities were scattered.

The letter goes on to make an appeal to pray for vocations. With my prayer for increased vocations, I will also pray that the culture of secrecy which thrives within the Catholic Church may be replaced by one of openness and transparency. Only through this will the priesthood be able to thrive again. For those who question whether or not it is appropriate to raise our voices about what matters, I will share a quote inscribed on a wall toward the end of the Holocaust Museum tour:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Maintain your comfortable silence if you wish; but it may come with a heavy pricetag. Will you be able to pay for it when it becomes time to settle up?