Really? An Elite Church?

Check these following quotes taken from OSV pertaining to catholic home schooling

A priest by the name of Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas (who is the director of the Catholic Education Foundation)  shared his defense of parish catholic education as opposed to homeschooling catholic education.

“There are several reasons to prefer Catholic schools….catechesis is the job of the whole Church, with the main responsibility resting on the shoulders of the pastor, not the parents.”  He went on to state that homeschooling can lead to anti-clericalism; “That leads to subtle anti-clericalsim…because the children learn that priests cannot be counted on to hand on the faith.  It shows in what he sees as a dearth of vocations from home school families.” 

Wait...it gets better,  “He also believes it is psychologically unhealthy for mothers to spend 24 hours a day with their children as they get older…”

And one more, 

“That sets up an elite, a church within a church, and that is to be avoided.”

REALLY?

I hope OSV published this in order to help this priest flaunt his ignorance.

Point one—What if (and I know this is hard to believe) a pastor is not invested in the school…no wait.  What if a pastor is not invested in the Faith?  What if a pastor may not even believe in anything? 

You mean to tell me that every pastor who has a school under his care is praying and fasting for the propagation of the Roman Catholic Faith?  I wish I had a quarter for every priest who told me of the headaches of his parish school and how he wishes he didn’t have one. Here is the truth Father Stravinskas, not only are some of the pastor’s not invested but the faith that is being taught by some of your parochial schools is often times nothing but watered down generic cultural hallmark card beliefs that Oprah could teach.  The parochial schools sold their souls to non catholic money.  And let’s not even mention the elephant in the room—what drives many parochial schools?----the sports agenda—not the faith agenda. 

Point 2: Let me ask three questions—How many priests living in a rectory together are praying together?  (How many are actually praying??...ouch)  How many catholic home school families are praying together?  What nurtures vocations?—funny I heard it was prayer.

Why can’t that priest accept responsibility for the real reasons why men don’t want to become part of the “club”?

Point 3

Really?? Psychologically unhealthy??  What would the Virgin Mary say to that one?

Point 4—Elite church?  Home schooling?  Come one does he really want to go down that road?  Some of  the elite churches I’ve seen through the years have been the underground repressed sexual one,  the fiscally irresponsible spend the peoples’ money on lavish rectory’s one, the ivory tower administrative one, the mega program buy the latest magic bullet faith formation one—really should I continue?  And he's worried about an elite church from homeschoolers?

Caught in the Storms

Many have experienced the devastation of the recent early middle and late spring storms.  From tornadoes to flooding to earthquakes--the signs could be quickly interpreted as foreboding--especially with the recent coming and passing of the Judgement Day.  This evening, in a matter of seconds, my lovely wife and I were in the pickup truck (Ford F150 for the purists) and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a thunder storm, roads flooded, hail, and a tornado a couple of miles away.

It was upon us so quick and everything stopped for just a moment.  You couldn't see--the rain was so heavy.. You couldn't hear--the hail stones were bouncing and banging off the truck.  
We were stuck in traffic with water gushing down the highway and cars unable to make it through.
My wife pulled out the rosary and prayed us through.

Here is where I would attempt to make some correlation to the spiritual life--but you are beyond that and what is obvious has already been implied--i.e storms and prayer: life and prayer

So, back to that Judgement Day stuff.
St. Benedict (father of western monasticism and an all around neat guy) said (probably in Latin)--"Keep death always before you."
And that is all I have to write on that.

Speaking of Judgement Day, my son has a poll on his recently resurrected blog; Preceptorum Deus asking people what they think about Judgement Day.  Interestingly enough he is running it until the 'new' Judgement Day in October. Stop over and check it out (the proud father said).

While we are on the subject of youth--please pray for a group of teenagers I believe Mary is calling and forming.  They will begin meeting and praying before the Blessed Sacrament next week.
They don't realize it yet but they are rooted in Medugorje.  If you are interested in going on a Praylium Pilgrimage to Medugorje this fall, click the pilgrimage tab at the top of this page.

Here is the "What"

Please, right now,  offer a prayer for all affected by the devastating storms, tornadoes and flooding.

This morning I picked up Time magazine and read the article entitled; Sex. Lies. Arrogance. What Makes Powerful Men Act Like Pigs..
This headline caught my eye simply because I thought someone in the mainstream media had the guts to state the obvious.
But it never came.
It never said the "What" of what makes powerful men act like powerful pigs.

It was a social commentary, on all those public male figures who have fallen and suggested concise behavioral and cognitive correlations.  There were valid points especially when considering entitlement and predator behavior and, don't get me wrong, it is good to heighten the public's attention. 

But it's like a homily that never gets to the next level when all the priest or deacon did was re-tell and re-imagine the Gospel account.   

So, what is the "what" ?

First you don't need to be a powerful man--
Second, Evil is the cause.  More to the point--one's willful cooperation with the demonic.

Pick your poison and then blame someone else for giving it to you or making you that way.
Then allow pride to maintain your position.  

But here is the good news....no matter the poison, no matter the sin--Christ can break in---only when you surrender your will.
"...Thy will be done..."
But the soul needs to do the work--everyday, every moment.
Bring back the ancient practice of making pilgrimages because they outwardly signify the quest, the work, and the sacrifice that the soul needs to undertake.  In the meantime make the Stations of the Cross (they're not just for Lent you know).

I know--i'm preaching--to the choir none-the-less.
(But if you feel like someone needs to hear this--send it to them.)

We are days away from Pentecost--pray for the Holy Spirit to descend.