Apparently I have been suffering delusions of grandeur lately.Must be, since I asked to be put on the agenda to speak at the next meeting of the parish council- at a beautiful parish in the far western suburbs of Chicago.
Before putting me on the agenda they wanted to know, what was my proposal exactly?
Resolved: That the parish council adopt as goal that we always have a full complement of priests to minister to the parish, a full rectory.
With an amused smile, I was told this would not be allowed -- on the grounds that it was unrealistic.
Nevertheless, indulging my fantasy life a little further I actually drafted my remarks, which I would be happy to make to any pastoral council that would hear me out:
Members of the Pastoral Council: We have been reading about the “vocations crisis” for years, and now it has arrived. Soon we may be a priest-less parish, or a parish with one very overworked, frazzled, and unhealthy priest.
Now then, what are we going to do about it?
Here you may well ask, “What can we do about it?”
Actually, there is plenty we can do.
But we need, first, to adopt a realistic attitude toward the entire situation, an attitude of Biblical realism. It seems to me there are two kinds of realism. The one is based on facts, figures, statistics, studies, and trends: the old realism.
The other is based on the power and the love of God: the new realism. “Can God do all things?” asked the Baltimore Catechism.
And in every Catholic grade school class where Sister asked that question in the fifties, back came dozens of children’s voices in sing-song, “Yes, God can do all things, for nothing is hard or impossible for Him.”
It is still true.
A Bible under the inspiration of the old realism would read something like this: “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration.
At a certain point the wine ran out, and Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no wine.”
And Jesus said, “Don’t be naïve.”
But this kind of “realism” is offensive to us Catholics, is it not? It is dreadful, deadly, hostile to our faith, cold, unloving and false.
And one could go through the entire Scripture in this fashion, preventing every miracle with scepticism.
In that Bible, Noah would have been realistic and not built the ark, Moses would have been realistic and not gone to Pharaoh, Jesus would have been realistic and stayed in the tomb- and we would still be in our sins.
In fact, His trusting Mother turned to the servants and told them, “Do whatever he tells you.”
“Fill those jars with water,” Jesus ordered.
When the head waiter tasted the water made wine, he said to the groom, “You have saved the choice wine until now.”
So let us put statistics and trends to one side for the moment, and re-orient ourselves in the new realism.
“Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 18:19).
“Therefore I say unto you, all things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive: and they shall come unto you” (Mr 11:24).
“Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
Do we believe this stuff or don’t we?
Of course, many of us have a long list of unanswered prayers that makes us very inclined toward the old realism.
“I asked to marry Betty Lou, but Betty Lou married someone else.”
“I asked the Lord to heal my dad of cancer, but he died anyway,” etc.
Moreover the old realism delivers consistent answers. “Will the surface of this lake support my weight?” No, every time. The old realism asks no faith of us, only that we allow nature to take its course. Plot the statistics, find the trend, make a decision.
The trend is toward fewer priests. Realistically, is it then the function of the parish council to wind the parish down in an orderly way, ultimately requesting the last priest leaving the rectory to please turn off the lights? That is a very realistic scenario in its way. Is that our “realism?” Our Catholic leadership?
Unnoticed in this survey is the fact that Jesus assumes that we will be as enthused about spreading His kingdom as He is and that our most fervent prayers will be for that purpose.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into the harvest.”
He has already told us that if we pray with faith, He will answer our prayers.
Here He takes it a step further and indicates what He would like us to pray for.
This is a prayer He is eager to answer.
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Sotto Voce