Back
Back. From Wisconsin and Illinois.
8 days, several tornado watches, severe thunderstorms, cancelled plane flights, floods, dams breaking, one lake emptying out, social time filled with panicked cell phone messages from family members because the monastery where we are has no internet access or TV. Instructions on where to go if a tornado is sighted. Dead hard drive and unplanned visit to Genius Bar in Chicago mall.
The usual.
And the chance to talk to and pray with 40 fascinating people from all over the country and all over the spectrum. The gamut. East coast, west coast, deep south, and of course, the upper mid west. Battle of the councils. Liberals certain we are trying to turn the clock back to 1950 because we are focusing on the proclamation of Christ and initial faith despite reams of quotes from conciliar and post-conciliar sources. Cause we quote from the Council of Trent, ya know.
The traditionally minded who have "heard" that we are trying to raise up a lay cadre to undermine priests. Despite the fact that we quote from the council of Trent. Cause we're talking about the the gifts, mission, and formation of the laity and trying to actually do what the Second Vatican council asked us to do. Parishes from different parts of the spectrum looking at one another and saying "what are you doing here?" The usual in a highly polarized church.
Over the days, the tension and suspicion begins to dissipate and understanding and interest grows. God is at work.
Amazing stories of God at work in the lives of people who are open. Lots of energy as the implications of intentional discipleship dawns. Lots of invitations to come to various parishes and dioceses. 6 new Called & Gifted teachers trained including fellow blogger Gashwin Gomes who writes about his experience here. God is at work.
Oh - and the phrase of the week. Stunning. Told by ecclesially savvy participant that he had heard two different seminarians from two different seminaries refer to lay Catholics as "lay trash". It was supposed to be a joke but clearly wasn't. When men preparing for spiritual fatherhood talk about their prospective sons and daughters in that way, something is seriously, seriously wrong.
And now I'm home. Got a conference call with a diocesan director of evangelization at 8 am. 600 e-mails to work through. Visit office. Figure out which files and applications might have been corrupted by dying hard drive. Wrap my head around the very different sort of work that awaits me here.
More topical blogging later.
posted by Sherry W @ 6:45 AM
13 Comments
13 Comments:
Welcome home, Sherry. Missed your blogging while you were gone. Susan
"Lay trash"! Guess the seminarians missed the class on respect and kindness.
Welcome home Sherry and Mike!
Sue
[two different seminarians from two different seminaries refer to lay Catholics as "lay trash". ]
Quick: get a copy of The Territorial Imperative and you'll see how wannabe silver-backs occasionally try out their chest-thumping techniques. (I suspect a lot of what you encounter by way of hostility has to do with the "territorial imperative". Whaddya think?)
WOW: TTT is available for free on the web at http://www.ditext.com/ardrey/imperative/imperative.html
Good to see you're back again.
Peace, .ed.
Funny, considering these individuals are laymen themselves.
As one on the "inside," you see this most often in younger seminarians. It's always made me roll my eyes. Maybe it has something to do with them adjusting to the clerical role, a role that is - no matter how you slice it - atypical.
Consequently, in my experience, the ones who throw around such terms are the first to leave seminary. Anyone pursuing the priesthood with a sense of superiority and entitlement isn't going to last very long.
So, pray for these seminarians (and me also). They'll get it eventually.
Hi Josh:
Thanks for the insights from "inside".
But you are not kidding me that younger seminarians go around saying stuff like this? And that these two guys aren't some kind of freak fringe?
We have already seen what happens when we don't address this sort of thing pronto. We don't need any more grotesquely immature and self-absorbed clergy out there.
Sherry W
I went to the second worst seminary (at the time) in U.S. and never heard anything so derogatory of the laity (whom we actually referred to as "the faithful").
What a shame!
Mark R
Mark R:
Well, that's hopeful. Thanks!
Sherry W
They will get IT eventually. Let's hope we all do...
One day in my seminary class on the sacrament of anointing, we were treated to a lengthy harangue by a female lay student against the church's stubborn insistence that only priests/bishops may anoint the sick. She said, "I spend weeks with these people and then when are about to die, I have to call in the dog with his collar to smear grease on them!" We all sat there for a sec., waiting for Sister (the prof) to rebuke her for her anti-collaborative rantings and...lo and behold...Sister simply called on the next female lay student who launched into another harangue...and so on. Now, could the student friars complain to the academic dean? No. Why? She was a notorious haranguer herself! :-)
'Nuff said...
Keep up the good work, guys!
Fr. Philip, OP
Hi, Sherry:
I've never heard anyone make comments similar to this one in theology school (phase two for most of us). It used to be worse, from what I understand, before the Scandal; that kind of cooled off any kind of holier-than-thou-art tendencies some may be prone to otherwise.
But I heard similar comments a couple of times in philosophy, mostly from guys in their first couple years of formation, straight out of high school. Not a widespread deal, thankfully, and by no means am I saying that this is amongst younger seminarians. The vast majority know what they're there for.
Thanks, Josh, for clarifying. Let's hope to God those few who do possess this attitude make a hasty exist.
Sherry W
I've recently been doing a lot of reflecting on two canons in the Code - c. 528 and 529. Directed towards pastors of parishes, these canons also apply, mutatis mutandis, to associate pastors and all priests. Indeed, the principles at work here also apply to all who collaborate with the pastor in the parish.
The common conception is that, prior to the council, rectories were rife with clericalism but now all vestiges of clericalism have been swept away because Father no longer wears a cassock. I don't have any experience of the Church before the council, so I can't speak to the first point, but I can say that clericalism is certainly alive and well, even when Father is wearing jeans and a golf shirt.
How many priests and parish ministers can look at the first part of canon 529 ("the parish priest is to strive to know the faithful entrusted to his care. He is therefore to visit their families, sharing especially in their cares, anxieties and sorrows, comforting them in the Lord. If in certain matters they are found wanting, he is prudently to correct them.") and say, yup, done that!
How a priest can effectively preach the Gospel to a congregation that he remains aloof from, I'll never know.
I may be lay trash but I've never sexually molested any minors.
I suppose the seminarians who said that think our role is to hunt, to shoot, and to entertain. (Read the book by the same name.)
Hope they never end up at my parish, they wouldn't last a minute!
As another "inside" person, I would say that attitudes like that are pretty rare.
I've heard seminarians say some pretty stupid things, but I don't believe I've ever heard one put down the faithful like that.
We (at least most of us) know that we are relying on them during our time in seminary and we are learning to serve them.
One thing that has struck me since I've been in formation (for 3 years now) is the generousity of the people of my diocese. They send me money, cards and always want to know how I'm doing.
Please pray for all of us seminarians. I'll be praying for you.
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