Dear Parishioners,

Next week we get to meet and welcome our new bishop, Salvatore Cordileone, on two different occasions.  On Monday morning he will be here for a Diocesan wide meeting of Catholic School principals and pastors, including an 11:30 a.m. mass which he will celebrate with us; then on next Sunday at 12:15, he will be with us for mass and following reception as we bless (and show off!) our newly redone church.  I really look forward to his coming and the church blessing; however at quite another level I feel like we almost need a caution label reading:  Warning!  This week may be harmful to your spiritual health!

The reason I say that is, however delighted we may be with the bishop himself and with our newly redone church, being Church, being Catholic, and our spiritual life is not about hierarchy or bishop, and most certainly not about church buildings.  Whether we celebrate in a tent or parish gym, in parish hall or out on the lawn, with or without any building at all, being Church means being a people (with Pope and bishops included) who encounter Christ, celebrate gospel and Eucharist, and witness through caring and justice.

The question I’ve run into repeatedly this summer from kind and thoughtful Catholics and grumpy, unhappy ones as well is “Why do I stay?”   Some of you may disagree with me but I have never met anyone who stays in the Church because of a bishop (although some have left because of bishops or pastors-but that’s quite a different issue).  And although we all have our favorite and least favorite churches and our different preferences when it comes to design  and architecture, I don’t know anyone who stays or leaves the Church because of a given church building.

This summer I’ve heard two different sets of reasons “why I stay” which I find both interesting and helpful.  The first I’ve already shared with you in two outdoor homilies which I repeat here from James Carroll’s recent best seller, “Practicing Catholics”.

He writes:  “We maintain our loyalty to the Church because we cannot live without it.  The Church gives us a language with which to speak of God, it gives us a meaning that is God. The Church feeds us with the Eucharist, keeps the story of Jesus alive in the preaching of the Word, marks our journey through life with the Sacraments, and underwrites our participation in the community that transcends time and space.”

The second and more intriguing answer comes from Benedictine Sister, author, feminist and renowned spiritual guide, Joan Chittister, who was recently asked in a question and answer forum, “Why don’t you leave the Church?”  Given the setting, she listed her first reason as – the Catholic Church is the greatest treasury of spiritual traditions we have; secondly, the Catholic Church is the only real depository of great women through the ages that exists; thirdly, whatever our disappointments or complaints, the Church always has the capacity for self conversion (delayed though it may be); and finally, “it’s my family”.

You may or may not agree with these two sets of answers, but the real question is more personal than that.  Why do you stay?  And what does your staying demand of you?

Your Pastor,
Brian T. Joyce