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I BELIEVE THE QUOTE IS: “FRANCIS, FIX MY CHURCH.” (not: “I don’t care what you do! Just DO SOMETHING!!!”) by Kelly Clark — the lady in the pew — August 17, 2003 Unless you’ve been vacationing on Jupiter over the last month or so, you’re probably aware that we here in Boston have got ourselves a new archbishop. And from what I can see, there are more people pelting him with advice than California has gubernatorial candidates. This advice includes, but is not limited to: where he should live, how he should live, how he should comport himself, how he should handle “The Media” (not surprisingly, this advice comes from members of the Fourth Estate), how he should manage archdiocesan property, whom he should meet with, what he should say to those with whom he meets, and how he should say it. I have no advice at all for the new archbishop.* *Well, that’s not entirely true. As a Capuchin Franciscan, Bishop O’Malley wears the brown robe associated with the order, along with sandals. So my advice to Bishop O’Malley is: consider socks in the wintertime. Sorry about the asterisk, but at least I didn’t make you scroll down to a footnote! But while I have no advice for Bishop O’Malley, the type of counsel he is receiving troubles me. Because from what I can see, the O’Malley pundits all seem to be concentrating on “new processes,” and “new systems,” and to a man (yeah, okay, and to a woman) they’re urging the Bishop (and presumably, all of us) to “hit the ground running.” Where’s God in all this pointers? What scares me is the notion that we humans can somehow “engineer” ourselves out of our troubles. The reason this scares me is that it leaves God out of the picture. In which case, we’re doomed. And “hit the ground running” is more than a tired cliché. (Which reminds me: have we been told to start “thinking outside the box” yet? If not, it’s just a matter of time.) “Hitting the ground running” — or finding fast, fast, fast “solutions” — can get us into some sticky wickets, as my great uncle Mickey used to say. An example: “Talking About Touching” When the scandal hit the fan, Cardinal Law set up a “blue ribbon” (another one for the cliché collectors) “Commission for the Protection of Children.” These good folk “hit the ground running,” apparently determined to DO SOMETHING RIGHT AWAY!!!. While the desire for a hasty solution is, itself, not objectionable, the “solution” reached seems a tad wanting. Wanting, for example, in Catholic teaching on morality. Archdiocesan Representative Deacon Anthony Rizzuto, describes the “Talking About Touching” Catholic school program thusly: TAT is an award winning, nationally recognized program based on over 20 years of research that demonstrates the qualities of an effective, beneficial personal safety program. This program is supported by research psychologists and other experts because of its thoughtful approach to teaching important personal safety skills to children and its developmentally appropriate content. TAT is used in thousands of schools across North America; indeed it is the longest-standing and most widely-implemented personal safety program in the country. In selecting and integrating the TAT program as a standard part of the Catholic school curriculum, we support a consistency in approach and ensure that we are responding system-wide. One problem: there’s precious little “Catholicity” about the program! And Catholic parents are — and in my opinion, rightfully so — upset about it. I’ll provide links regarding this program along with the objections to it at the end of this article. Others have done, and are doing, a far better job explaining both than I ever could. Although I should mention that the program has received the Planned Parenthood™ stamp of approval. Call me negative, but I wouldn’t consider this a positive sign. My main point, though, is that it’s caused a still another rift in the Archdiocese of Boston. A rift that, in my opinion, could have been easily avoided. How? By not being so damned determined to “hit the ground running” and “for heaven’s sakes, DO SOMETHING!!!” “Fix My Church.” According to tradition, while the Church was suffering from scandal and turmoil during the thirteenth century — and by the way: could somebody tell me when the Church wasn’t suffering from scandal and turmoil? — Jesus told Saint Francis of Assisi to “fix my Church.” No doubt due to Archbishop O’Malley’s Franciscan affiliation, this story is circulating throughout the Archdiocese and beyond, buoying romantic and sentimental expectations that the new Archbishop is “the new Francis-the-Fixer,” destined to somehow repair the Church Jesus founded, and that very soon, everything will be just as it was before January, 2002. Whoa, Nellie! First of all, we don’t really want the Church in Boston to be just like it was before January, 2002, do we? I mean:
Secondly, to rely on one man to do the necessary repair work is not only unfair, it’s unrealistic. To fix Jesus’ Church, let’s fix ourselves. We don’t need systems and procedures, so much as we need holiness. We don’t need secular programs and models (award winning or otherwise), so much as we need prayer. We don’t need good press relations. We need the grace to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. We don’t need consultants, lawyers, and spin doctors. We need the guidance of The Holy Trinity. Where do we find these things? That’s the beauty of it! They are all so very near our grasp. They are in more frequent reception of the Sacraments. More frequent moments of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass during the week, if at all possible. We can find them in personal, daily, reflective prayer. In bringing back the tradition of the family Rosary. In grace before and after meals. In fasting. In private acts of charity. We can find them by forgiving those who have wronged us in any way. And by seeking, in all humility, the pardon of those we have wronged. We, you and I, can find them by making Heaven Priority Number One, and then by acting accordingly. Hey! We can become channels of Christ’s peace! You know. When there is hatred, we can sow love; injury, pardon; doubt, faith; despair, hope; darkness — “Uh, Kelly? You’re not going to break into song, are you?” Sorry. The choir sang “The Prayer of Saint Francis” at Bishop O’Malley’s installation Mass and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I don’t know the Bishop at all. But those do (or claim to), have opined that he is a:
Niceness, warmth, kindliness, and courtesy. Laudable qualities, indeed. (Pssssssssst: Between you and me, though? I was kinda hoping more for your tough S.O.B type. Keep it under your hat.) Then again, Father Richard McBrien, of Notre Dame ™ fame, tells us that Archbishop Sean Patrick O’Malley is: “Uncritically loyal to the Holy See” and “would not veer one millimeter from its policies and teachings on anything.” Hey! Now that’s what I call reason for optimism! Thank you for joining me today. I beg your prayers for every one mentioned in this article, as well as for me. Please know that I pray for you all the time. In Christ,
Kelly End notes: As a rule I tend to give “Catholic” groups who call themselves “concerned” a rather wide berth. These folks are an exception. I pray that their legitimate misgivings about the “Talking About Touching” program will be taken seriously by the Archdiocese of Boston, and, more importantly, acted upon. Concerned Catholic School Parents http://www.catholicschoolparents.org/ Deacon Anthony Rizzuto is a friend of mine. In my experience, friends can disagree and remain friends. Deacon Rizzuto chairs the: Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation, and Oversight: http://www.rcab.org/ChildAdvocacy/HomePage.html And now for the fine print: Kelly Clark is your basic nobody. She serves on no parish councils, belongs to none of the myriad of designer-chic "Catholic" groups, or any Catholic group, for that matter, other than the Roman Catholic Church. Holding no theology degrees, she has no desire to see herself or any of her sex wearing a clerical collar. She figures Jesus knew what He was doing when He established His Church, and also figures that it’s His Church, not hers, and not yours. She’s an ordinary parishioner of Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston. Use the links on the left to e-mail Kelly, to visit her parish, read past columns, and check out other cool stuff. (If you don’t see any links on the left, you’ve probably been directed here by a search engine. Just point your browser to http://www.pewlady.com to get to the main site.) Copyright: Kelly Clark, 2003. I don’t care if you share this stuff with others. In fact, I hope you do! Only I’d appreciate it if you’d link me, or print it off as it is. In other words, don’t change anything. Thanks. “The Lady in the Pew” column is updated regularly, God willing. To be notified of updates, please e-mail me. The link’s on the left. “Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.”
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