Memorial of the Holy Name of Mary

Holy Name of Mary

Lectionary: 443

In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good. First of all, I hear that when you meet as a Church there are divisions among you...

The disciples of Jesus became known as the Catholic Church early in our history. The word, as Saint John Henry Newman pointed out, identified the faithful among all the heretical sects. Most of them were named after their peculiar leaders, and were usually small and local. 

The Catholic body of the Church retained its integrity despite vast distances from India to Spain through the courage of its martyr's and bishops. The heretics might be convinced of their opinions but they represented no challenge to any authority, and required no sacrifice of anyone. There was nothing prophetic about their beliefs. The Catholic doctrines of grace (i.e. freedom), Incarnation, and Trinity were, and are still, uncomfortable truths. 

Twenty centuries later the word Catholic remains as an invitation to outsiders and a challenge to insiders. As millions of Roman Catholics arrived in North America during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, they often brought their priests with them, men who spoke their language. These immigrants bought property, built churches, and established parishes that spoke their own language. Often, when their priests died, they sent back to the old country for replacements, and sponsored their passage. 

Eventually these churches would have to deal with the local bishop. He wanted ownership of the church and authority over their pastors. He would decide who shepherds the congregation, and looked askance upon their imported leadership. (Some of them were dedicated priests; but some had other reasons for coming to America.) The story is complicated and political, and not always inspiring. 

Today, we're challenged both by ethnic and political differences. One woman, discovering that her pastor might encourage Hispanics to join the parish, said to me, "Please, Father. We've got too much trouble already." 

Catholic welcomes everyone who believes in the Lord and has a sacrificial love of the Church. It's not easy to be Catholic for it sometimes entails singing in a foreign language. (Latin, Spanish, Vietnamese, etc.) It often means praying with Republicans and Democrats, tree-hugging liberals and gun-toting conservatives. Some dare to vote pro-abortion and receive the Sacrament. Others come with their "partners." Catholic absorbs priests who make the Mass a personal expression; and others who seem distracted and disinterested. It almost always means struggling to hear the homily over screaming babies. 

We are fed at the altar but some people go away feeling unfed and dissatisfied. This is not a church for consumers. If many priests are poor speakers, they remind us that the most important part of the mass should never be the homily.

If you don't love the Lord with all your heart and soul, you cannot be Catholic. If you are not willing to sacrifice time, talent, treasure, and your own precious ideas about what things should be done and what things should be said, you cannot be Catholic. 

The spirit of consumption divides the Church. The Spirit of Jesus sustains us, and still brings us together. 

and BTW: there is no "other Catholic church."