Spirit Daily
November 17, 2009
http://spiritdaily.com/bishopskudos.htm
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When a bishop consecrates a church, he pours chrism oil on the altar and then proceeds around the building making the Sign of the Cross with that oil at various places on the interior walls, often on columns, if a church has columns; afterward, a Cross is etched or placed designating the spot and often a candle is also set there.
From then on, a church is a holy place -- not just in word, by in a way that is palpable.
That's Catholicism: real power that transcends any human, a power that lasts, despite human error.
When in distress, even non-Catholics, and certainly former ones, are drawn to its churches for comfort.
That's because they feel the anointing. That's because they feel at home. Visit the spot where the first Mass was documented to have been said in St. Augustine, Florida, and you can sense the same strong Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The point: our Church is special. This is not said through pride. It is said as an historical fact. It is not just another "denomination." It is the oldest institution on earth. It formulated the Bible that is even used by Protestants.
No matter what is going on in the Church, its holiness will endure for all time, as Jesus told us.
This is important to recall in the wake of the truly, truly horrid sex-abuse scandal: The Church is founded (literally, since his ossified bones are beneath St. Peter's) on the "rock" of an apostle. And even when a bishop or priest is errant, his anointing, his consecration, his chrism is still in place.
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Sometimes, you can detect his spirituality by the very "feel" of a vicinity. Visit the Church of St. John Lateran! Visit Assisi! Visit the Vatican!
Such is the power of the Church. Such is the power of a bishop.
The other kind of power in the reach of our prelates is of the political kind.
It is a lesser kind of power but was demonstrated recently and with drama when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops vigorously lobbied Congress to take abortion out of health-care coverage in its version of the bill now wending its way through the Senate, and in a stunning victory -- shocking pro-choicers -- Congress did just that.
It was the greatest victory for the bishops by far since the beginning of the priestly scandal -- which left respect for bishops at a frightening nadir.
We're not sure they realized how low opinion had sunken in general communities.
Now, victory! -- perhaps even a turning of the tide? Heroic.
After years of criticism for not acting strongly enough against abortion, the bishops did that with great proficiency.
They did it with wisdom. They did it without harshness. They did it with the strength of their anointing, with prayer, and with love.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley chose to take advantage of the Ted Kennedy funeral to gently confront President Barack Obama about abortion in the health-care plan -- making plain to him how strongly the bishops felt.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, D.C. dialogued with House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and she took his call the day of the vote and to everyone's shock ended up deleting abortion from federal funding in the bill that went on to victory. He did it without shouting into a microphone.
The point: our bishops have won a huge victory, for the time being; they showed wisdom; they spoke softly but carried a big stick (the stick: over sixty million Catholics).
There is much left to do. There is the Senate version. There are many other issues confronting dioceses. There is the true crisis of fallen-away Catholics (many of whom leave because the Church has become so dry and intellectual). Their numbers are staggering. Can we even really say many of them are Catholics any longer -- that there are sixty million?
With all due respect, the bishops must look in a very profound way at fundamental mistakes in modern Catholicism, starting with the lack of holiness in many churches and rectories and the way mysticism has been stripped from the pulpit.
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In our opinion:
They must root out homosexuals from the seminaries.
They must streamline Rite of Christian Initiation for Adult and pre-Cana classes and make them more relevant.
They must clear diocesan offices of a worldliness that often conveys a lack of humility.
They must take a more serious look when a local miracle is claimed.
They must restore the dignity of church interiors (especially as has to do with the Blessed Sacrament).
They must promote Adoration -- with the same vigor as they approached the health-care issue.
They must bring Jesus alive to us -- in exorcism, in healing, as well as through the great power of chrism and the sacraments.
Meanwhile, we the laity must always be in obedience to them.
Heal! Cast devils out! Go forward, dear bishops! We need your personal ministry!
Radical changes are in order -- changes that go far beyond resolutions that can be passed either in Congress or at the annual bishops' conference.
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