This evening I did something that I hardly ever do; I went to a Saturday evening Mass. Normally I go on Sunday because that day is the Lord's Day. However, I went because Archbishop Gregory was going to celebrate that Mass. And he did - more on that later.
As I was going into Mass, I saw the CCHD collection envelopes in a bin for usage. I grabbed one and had time to jot a note to explain why I won't give to "Catholic Cash Helping Demons". I signed my note, put it in the envelope and dropped it in the second collection basket. Read this little compendium for more reasons why not one penny should be forked over to that bunch.
There was a respectable number of people at that Mass, but it was by no means crowded. After Mass I greeted him and said that I was looking forward to having some of the current mess cleaned up. He replied "I'll try" then turned away. Clearly I brought up an unpleasant topic, but it was necessary. I believe that he will be showing up at many archdiocesan parishes. I hope many others join me in letting him know that we will not rest until the rot is cleaned out of the chancery. This excellent article by Christopher Manion will explain why I'm not optimistic that Gregory will join us but rather will have some 'splainin' of his own to do.
Good for you. Even if one day we can't say we were part of the solution (if there is one) we can say we were part of the Resistance.
ReplyDeleteWe tried. I've been positing lately that is it not time that a more noticeable resistance begin? By that I mean withholding money, and I don't mean just for special collections. There is not another thing that will get the church's attention, not another thing, unless we all agreed to stand together outside chanceries, and even then, they'd sent out pizzas and wait for us to get tired and go home. If we worked toward ending Refugee Resettlement Funds which give bishops millions of dollars and which have made them financially independent, and combined that with a refusal to financially support this corrupt church, we would finally get some action in our direction. What we seem to need is organization, to lead the effort to stop Resettlement Funds, which I believe is under scrutiny right now, and to stop financial contributions.
As long as we refuse to even consider such action, the bishops are safe. Look, they don't CARE if we're unhappy or the flock scatters. They-don't-care.
Is it not time to think outside the box? When I think of our church being used as a gay bath house, the numbers of boys WE OWE justice to because they were molested/raped/sodomized on our dime, the good seminarians we lost, the fact that the church is being destroyed in front of our eyes, if not now, when!
Obviously what we are doing has no effect whatsoever on these men or our dire situation. If this were an actual battle there would be only one word for us, losers, losers who should retool think rethink our strategy or accept defeat and surrender.
You’ve done it now. Your picture will be on an Outlaw Wanted Poster in the Sacristy! All these cats get a headsup on the local faithful Catholics. Good work!
ReplyDeleteWe'll see! There were enough Standard photographers scampering all over the place during Mass. :-)
DeleteI will send ALL my money to the fight against the loss of "biodiversity ". After all, Poop (sic) Francis says this is our biggest threat!
ReplyDelete