• Bulletin Board, Announcements, Calendar
• Editorial - Op Ed
• Welcome and Website Protocol
• Article Archive

Print this page

Article Categories

• Book Reviews
• Open Letter
• Editorials
• Notes, Quotes & Comments
• Pastor's Study
• Project Millstones
• Sidebar Comments
• Weekly Message

Links

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Search

Daily Scripture

+ 3rd Week in Lent

We are guided by perennial truths and live by perennial values.

Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20 Matthew 5:17-19

Teach them to your children and to your children’s children. [Deuteronomy 4:9]

Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. [Matthew 5:17]

Indeed, Jesus did not abolish the ancient law and prophets. The ‘rule of law’ remains in effect and contain perennial truths to guide us as we make our way along life’s journey.. It is true that the commandments are summed up in the law of love – love of God and love of neighbor.

Though we begin each day with the firm intention to live that law of love, it is not as simple as it sounds in the midst of confusing realities and conflicting values. Instead of telling the truth, we often slip into prevarication to hide the truth. Some politicians are good at this and not a few churchmen have been guilty of the same. On one hand, few people hold us accountable when we tell someone we love her new hat though in truth we may consider it the most ugly hat we have ever seen. On the other had, integrity makes greater demands on our moral comportment. Respect for the goods, rights, services and property of others, public or private is very demanding and is rooted in the fifth and seventh commandments and the list goes on.

A friend of mine starts his day with a wonderful ritual. Making the sign of the cross on his forehead, his heart and his lips he prays, “Lord, help me to think good thoughts of my neighbor, to speak well of others and to have positive feelings that lead to good deeds.” Amen!

PS At the conclusion of Mass this morning, I acknowledged that women do not wear hats any longer so I suggested replacing it with, “I love your new wig”… then I thought in the interests of gender equality, I should have added “hair piece.”

A bit of humor in the midst of a challenging day can help to make our burden’s lighter.

Still a feudal system

Tuesday May 5, 2009

DONALD COZZENS, Renowned Priest and Author, Speaks in Naples

Submitted by Peg Bisgrove, VOTF, Naples, Florida

The singing of these words from “Hosea” filled St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in East Naples, Florida Feb. 28th during Mass. Immediately after, at VOTF of SWFL’s National Speakers’ Forum, Fr. Donald Cozzens told us, “Small treasons are wounding the Body of Christ. We are not quite at home in church. We are feeling exiled=2 0in place; alienated. We have been disillusioned. But that is turning into wisdom”.
0A

The great treason is the sexual abuse of children. And the small treasons are daily ways the truth gets chipped away along with integrity. Examples are plentiful in the spin that’s put on words along with denial, deflection and exaggerated deference.

How did this mess happen? Father Cozzens said two factors contribute. The first is that people are not in touch with what it means to be church. If we don’t know, groups like Voice of the Faithful will be seen as traitors. The primary reality of church is Christ in the assembly as people of God.

Secondly, we are witnessing the unraveling of the last feudal system in the west; a system based on unquestioned loyalty, with no power and no voice. The system originally thrived largely because the people were uneducated. Vestiges of the feudal system remain today such as kissing rings of hierarchy, and titles of Excellency and Monsignor. Excommunication and censure are still practiced today. Said Cozzens, “Loyalty, obedience and respect are necessary for the life of the church in an ordered structure, but a healthy church is authoritative, not authoritarian.”

What can we do? “Join Voice of the Faithful!,” said Fr. Cozzens. “This is the laity’s moment.” The laity has been called out of exile. Very often their education exceeds that of their priests. The feudal system of superiors and inferiors keeps the church stuck in adolescence. We have an obligation to move away from that system. We need a Consciousness of Discipleship to change the system. This raised consciousness shows in simples ways – like being fully present as a baptized, responsible person who insists on being treated as an adult; like the perception to know when priests and pastors live in truth and integrity. Without living Redemptive Honesty, silence, denial and frustration will thrive.

How can change happen? Fr. Cozzens insists that he does not know the particulars in the local churches, but what he does know is that, “The Holy Spirit is loose in the world!” We need to move closer to Pentecost than to Canon Law. We need people in authority who ring true as having lived experience of God’s love. We need less parenting and more partnership between laity and the ordained. Be brave. Act in love. Know the difference between strategy and tactics. Go to the www.votf.org website and sign the petition demanding constructive action!

Prophets with courage to speak will shake the foundation. If we fail to listen to peoples’ experiences of discipleship, we tend to muzzle the voice of God. In the last fifty years there has been much corruption. The church does not need fixing. It needs a new system that yearns to be invented: a system that will gather her people in partnership to celebrate the homecoming. We’re on the road.
“Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.”

…………………….
Fr. Donald Cozzens is a priest of the Cleveland Diocese. He is visiting
professor of Religious Studies at John Carroll University and past
President-Rector of St. Mary Seminary. His most recent book is “Sacred
Silence; Denial and the Crisis in the Church”.