Pope Benedict had a great, off-the-cuff answer to a question he received on his trip to England recently. He was asked what the Church could do to make herself a more credible and attractive institution.
Here is his answer:
What an amazing, humble answer - the kind of answer that gives you peace that God has put our Church in good hands. And it is definitely food for thought.
Some will take this answer to mean that it doesn’t matter how well our parishes are run, how organized our ministries are, or how effective our parish leadership is. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Our goals should not be more power and more people, but instead to be at the service of Another - to be servants. But good servants work at it. Good servants are as prepared, educated, efficient and effective as they can possibly be. We can’t claim to be good servants if we don’t invest time in being good at it. It is all tied up together. That means learning from each other, taking risks with new and better ideas, breaking conventions, overcoming fears and doing things that serve others instead of ourselves.
We don’t need to focus on making the Church attractive. We just need to focus on more effectively presenting Jesus Christ to the world. He is the most attractive thing there is.
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I do not believe him.
Karl why not?
The Pope’s answer is wonderfully refreshing to hear. Thank you Jesus for giving us such a great shepherd.
Wow! That is a very powerful answer! But still, the quest to make our parishes better run and more efficient should still be a priority. In my mind, it’s what Jesus Christ deserves. He deserves the very best we can do, humanly, to make the gospel of present and active in the lives of his children. And, once we’ve done that, we leave the rest in his hands.
Amen Papa Benny! I love this man.
Warner, it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that the Pope would support your arbitrary 10 ministry limit in a parish.
Geoff - ok. Cuz that’s what I said.
Dear Matthew,
Thank you very much for the most powerful and important message of “Jesus Christ, Catholic Church, Another,” that our Blessed Holy Father brings to us.
“Our goals should not be more power and more people, but instead to be at the service of Another - to be servants. But good servants work at it. Good servants are as prepared, educated, efficient and effective as they can possibly be. We can’t claim to be good servants if we don’t invest time in being good at it. It is all tied up together. That means learning from each other, taking risks with new and better ideas, breaking conventions, overcoming fears and doing things that serve others instead of ourselves.”
Amen.
Matthew, God Bless your blessed insights that you bring to our hearing hearts.
Truly,
Catherine
Soon after the Pope was elected a reporter questioned him regarding the number of catholics worlwide, he replyed that he was not concerned with the quanity of catholics but rather the quality.
The message is good and true but hard to hear when you live in a diocese that closes your parish if you don’t have enough people filling the pews during the October count. Many are called but few answer. The few that answer can’t keep a parish open.
Quality is always preferrable to mere quantity. Being in a lukewarm parish or a social parish is a turnoff. Half the Sundays, we drive an hour to another parish, not ours, which is only 3 minutes away.
It could also be interpreted that the Church does not need to change the message to attract more people. The Catholic church has the Truth if they would stick to it and not try to modernize it. People will come if you tell them the truth and offer forgiveness.
I think Pope Benedict’s humility will help the Church a great deal. Too bad our political leaders don’t have just a little of it. Compare his greeting to the English Queen with our President’s. Our Pope is not only humble but also a gentleman.
A little off the subject but: Why are so many of our young people going to these warehouse churches, like Elevation and others. They are really crowded with people 18-35. They scare me—I checked Elevation on the computer and it is loud music, the young preacher dresses in jeans, they have a loud band, etc. Living near Charlotte, I think “well at least they are not part of a gang”. It is scary to me. When my “old” children were teenagers they had the folk group at just one Mass and it brought many kids to church. I loved the folk music—the Lord’s Prayer and The 23rd Psalm were beautiful. Sometimes I think the church can get a little too staid in their Service
for the teenagers, who are really into music. Just my thoughts.
As usual, a clear,insightful response. No lukewarmness from this Pontiff. The world is indeed blessed to have Pope Benedict.
Cardinal Bertone’s reaction to the Pope’s words seems rather strange.
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