You all know the difficulty the Church is going through.
Some local Church leaders are addressing this, and some are not.
I think there is a lot to gain in addressing the problem.
At one parish near our home, in the Rockford, IL Diocese, the priests are calling for fasting on Wednesday between now and the beginning of Advent. That’s admirable. The pastor addressed our men’s group last week with the message, “Don’t follow priests or bishops. Follow Jesus Christ.”
It was a simple, reassuring message that dealt with this nagging problem without going into a lot of details, or playing the blame game.
I don’t know if other pastors and priests are addressing this issue before their congregations. I suspect that many of them don’t know where to start.
But the problem won’t go away, will it?
The sheep are frightened.
We laity need a word of confidence, and a direction to focus our frustration and efforts. What better way than to admit the problem, and pray and fast for our Church leaders, our families and ourselves?
Here’s an email that I recently wrote for one of our religious clients. It will be sent to young men and women in their 20s who are thinking of a religious vocation. (We promote vocations with our Come & See Vocation Promotion Program.) The email is a way to take a crisis like this and turn it toward the good. I suggest that you go ahead and use it. Yes, you may steal it and use it for your own purposes.
(If you’re from Chicago, you know the quote of its mayor, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”)
Steal this email
Subject line: Troubling headlines
Hi Friend,
You may have heard of the trouble in the Church lately.
Big headlines, disturbing stories, etc.
But this isn’t the first time this kind of trouble has occurred. Think of Our Lord himself at the Garden of Gethsemane, and at the cross. Abandoned by his friends. Denied by his hand-picked leader. Betrayed into the hands of his enemies by a trusted friend.
And yet the Holy Spirit prevailed.
What role do consecrated persons play in all of this?
They point the way forward.
The Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, by St. John Paul II talks about the importance of the consecrated state. He says,
It is in this perspective that we can understand more clearly the role of consecrated life as an eschatological sign. In fact it has constantly been taught that the consecrated life is a foreshadowing of the future Kingdom.
A foreshadowing of the future Kingdom. What could be more important?
Vita Consecrata further states,
The Second Vatican Council proposes this teaching anew when it states that consecration better “foretells the resurrected state and the glory of the heavenly Kingdom.” It does this above all by means of the vow of virginity, which tradition has always understood as an anticipation of the world to come, already at work for the total transformation of man.
Whatever happens in the Church, what role will you be playing in all of this?
Is God calling you to religious life?
You might want to consider signing up for our Discernment Retreat to find out.
Our [date] Discernment Retreat will be held here at our house in [city]. (If you signed up, I look forward to meeting you.)
I just ask that you have a heart open to religious life, if that is what Jesus is calling you to.
So, friend, do not be afraid to spend time with Jesus on a retreat such as this one. Act soon since it’s only [number of weeks] away.
Tap or click below to take the first step toward living your life as a sign of the heavenly Kingdom.
