The Clerical Curmudgeon - divers thoughts on the Church, the world, etc.

 6th Sunday of Easter

22 May 2022

 

Dear and gentle reader, pardon please, my absence.  I've been living in a whirlwind.  I was informed last month that I would be transferred to a new assignment, to be pastor of two parishes.  So, I've been busy lining things up for the move, learning about my new parishes, and preparing my two current parishes for my successor.

I will admit, I loathe packing, moving, and unpacking.  Consider this from a priest's perspective.  You're used to a routine, community, area, and then, up you go, off to another.  It can be disconcerting, stressful, exciting, and bitter-sweet, all at the same time.  I have been in my current assignment now for five years.  I've gotten comfortable here, know my people, and have gotten used to the challenges of living in a remote, rural setting.  Come next month, that will all go.  My two new parishes are rural, but not remote.  A large urban area is just a few miles up the road, so once more, I will adapt to civilisation.  One of my parishes is more or less a combination of farming and bed-room community for the urban area, the other, just 12 miles distant is totally farming.  Fortunately for me, both were founded by good Irishmen, and some of their descendants still are members of the parishes, along with newer families.

Hopefully none of the folks there expect me to be a "cure-all" for any problems they might have.  I'm not a handyman, nor a financier. I'm not a professional missionary, nor evangeliser.  I'm not a CEO, nor am I a CFO.  I'm just a parish priest, who, God willing, will settle in with ease in my new assignment, and do my best to love and serve the folks, and bring them closer to our good Lord.  So, gentle reader, whisper a prayer or two for me in these coming weeks, as I pack, move, unpack, and adjust.  Oh, and remember to offer a prayer for my three cats.  That species does not deal well with moves in the least.

In other news, the sad war in Ukraine continues to rage, inflicting death and destruction, and untold suffering so many innocent civilians.  Despite the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we have yet to see her Immaculate Heart triumph - but, in the end, it will.  God willing, it will be soon, for the sake of the millions who suffer due to this immoral war.

Here in the States, the weaponisation of Holy Communion is ramping up, in light of the leaked draft from the Supreme Court, which describes the likely overturning of federal protection of legal abortions. The Archbishop of San Francisco has barred Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives from receiving Holy Communion due to her pro-abortion stance.  Of course, that only has force within his own archdiocese, and nowhere else.  A tempest in a tea-pot, you might be tempted to say, but methinks not.  If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, the issue will devolve to individual state legislatures, and thus the "wafer wars" come home to roost in the laps of individual bishops within those states.  

While I am against abortion, since it is murder of an innocent human being, and while I am for the worthy reception of Holy Communion - or any sacrament of the living, for that matter - it is disturbing to see Holy Communion, or even the issue of it, being used as a weapon.  Sadly, I think some American bishops will wield it as such, and more than happy to do so.  I am no "culture warrior", nor will I ever be.  Something deep within me recoils from using my faith and my pastoral practice as a "weapon" at the disposal of the state.  I do not trust any political party in this nation, even one of the major ones - which I will not name - which claims to be "pro-life", in that it is against abortion, and yet in favour of other issues which are decidedly anti-life.  A pox on Caesar and his house!  

Another thing that makes me feel uneasy is that some of the "culture warrior" clergy and laity envision themselves to be a modern day St. Ambrose rebuking the emperor and refusing him entry into the church.  It's very much akin to how they fancy themselves as victims of an infringement of religious liberty - as if any one of them has ever been jailed, tortured or killed for the practice of their faith!  The Cordileone/Pelosi fracas seems to me to be two quite stubborn and proud warriors of two differing cultures butting heads.  May they both suffer terrible headaches for the trouble they cause the rest of us!  Salvatore, cool it, temper that Italian temper.  Nancy, get yourself to confession.  Both of those apply to us all, as well.

And the icing on the noxious cake of 2022 heaves into view - and it's monkeypox!  Ye gods!  What next?  As the Lord said to us in today's gospel, "My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives, do I give it."  We are to take heart in that.  Our Lord is with us, never abandoning us, wishing only that we allow our Triune God to dwell within us.  That, gentle reader, is true peace in the midst of packing & moving, warfare, "wafer wars", and monkeypox.

Wishing you well, and all blessings of our Good God, and begging your prayers, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Father P.