Refusing to address major
moral issues at the pulpit, in effect, makes infants of the entire
congregation, who often do not know that contraception and sterilization are
wrong, and do not understand why they are wrong.
Today we have many adults who are seriously immature in the development
of their conscience.
2)
“It’s okay to talk about these
matters in RCIA, marriage preparation classes and to provide pamphlets on
these issues in the vestibule, but not at the pulpit.”
But this approach misses the
point. “Given such a grave
situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in
the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to
convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception.” (Evangelium Vitae
58). Important issues cannot be
censored from the pulpit. If a
message does not happen at the pulpit, it doesn’t happen.
There is great ignorance among Catholics about the morality of
contraception and sterilization. Very
few understand why these choices and acts are immoral.
Many people think that if a topic is not treated at the pulpit, where
it is heard by all, then it is not important and can be ignored.
RCIA classes, marriage prep classes, and the pamphlet rack are good
ways to supplement teaching from the pulpit, but can never replace it.
3)
“These issues are contentious.
They will produce strife and discord.”
But this means that the priest, as a moral guide, cannot provide moral
guidance where it is most needed. If
people already understand an issue, like slavery for example, and do not
dispute it, then there is no need to address it from the pulpit. But if many
people are violating the 5th and 6th Commandments, do
not know it, and can’t understand why these acts are sinful, then we priests
must address the issue. Not to
address them is reprehensible negligence on our part.
We must inform conscience by proposing moral truth.
The approach we use is that of Jesus: we speak the truth in charity,
and with conviction and forthrightness. If
we allow the Gospel to be silenced because we refuse to accept criticism from
those who reject Gospel values, then we fail in our priesthood.
It is not our Gospel. We
are not at liberty to decide what parts of the Gospel are too hard to accept,
and can be ignored. Contraception
and sterilization are serious matters, and they are causing much harm to our
marriages, our families and to our young people.
4)
“Collections will go down.”
The guiding principle must be that we do not surrender the pulpit to the
dollar sign. “May your money
perish with you …” (Acts 8:20). The
collection could go down temporarily. But
beyond that, we members of the clergy must anticipate the criteria our Lord
will use to evaluate our pastoral care of the flock entrusted to our care.
The main criterion will not be “Did you get all the bills paid and
have a smooth running operation?” Rather,
it will be “Did you guide my people into a knowledge of my ways, my Gospel,
and into a love for the splendor of the truth?”
Paying bills is not high on the list of pastoral success.
The qualities of a CEO are not those of being a priest.
Bringing people to the person, heart and mind of the Lord is what is
essential. God does not demand
success from us in terms of our people’s response to good moral teaching.
He does demand that we faithfully propose and teach the values that
comport well with our dignity as bodied persons.
God’s plan for human sexuality, marriage and family are an essential
part of the Gospel of Life in these times.
Priests who have consistently proposed the values of Humanae
Vitae, Familiaris Consortio and Evangelium Vitae will tell you that their
collections have not collapsed. Instead,
the parish has learned the meaning of a spirit of generosity, and that is
reflected in parish contributions as well as volunteer service to various
parish organizations. Couples who
practice NFP are very often the most generous volunteers in the parish.
Couples open to life are also open to giving their children to the
priesthood and religious life. If
they are caught up in the contraceptive culture, then they will likely not be
generous with God by accepting His invitation to their sons and daughters.
5)
“People will go to another church
because they don’t want to hear this.”
Sad to say, not every parish is on the same page when dealing with matters of
sexuality, marriage and the family. Some
parishes simply ignore whatever is politically incorrect.
They allow dissenting elements within the parish to determine what
parts of the Gospel can be proclaimed there.
This, in turn, means that forces within the secular society exert an
influence over some parishioners, who bring that to bear upon the entire
parish. Instead of being
counter-cultural, such a parish becomes a mere reflection of the secular
culture.
But this is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
What is there to prevent a clergyman from proclaiming God’s beautiful
plan for human love, life, marriage and family?
We are not to worry about those who may reject the truth and leave.
Our Lord did not change his teaching about the Eucharist when many in
His audience found this a hard saying and walked away.
He respected their freedom, and let them walk.
But they had to respect His freedom also and His responsibility to
proclaim the message the Father gave Him, which is for the life of the world.
If all the clergy were clearly teaching good moral principles, then our
people would not go shopping for the preacher who suits their ears.
6)
“When the bishop talks about it, I’ll
begin to talk about it.”
One can understand why a priest or deacon would hesitate to take the
initiative in teaching values that have been largely ignored since 1968.
We have a right to expect our spiritual fathers, the bishops, to lead
by their example in addressing these serious matters.
This is their duty as moral guides and spiritual leaders of a diocese.
They are to be the good shepherd for the entire diocese.
But what happens if they do not speak out?
Is the pastor justified in keeping silent?
When we priests die, the Lord will not ask you “What did the bishop
do?” He will ask, “What did
you do? You are the pastor of your
people.”
Our priesthood comes from the Lord, not from another human being.
Our obligations go to the Lord, before they go to any of His human
representatives. God holds us
accountable for what we do, for our choices and actions, and taking
responsibility for ourselves and our people.
True leadership means that we address the real needs of our times,
regardless of what others are not doing. Reprehensible
negligence does not justify other reprehensible negligence.
Perhaps what needs to be done in a diocese where the bishop chooses not
to address these issues is to have many of the clergy give him their assurance
that they will support his giving a public teaching.
Perhaps the bishop is concerned that if he takes any initiative in
these matters, then his clergy will publicly refuse to comply, as happened
when Humanae Vitae was first promulgated.
Everyone admires leadership, but where will leadership arise?
We think that the good Lord expects all of us to be spiritual and moral
leaders.
7)
“I’m not prepared to speak about
these issues because I wasn’t trained in the seminary for this.”
We find that many clergy are woefully unprepared to address these
issues. They have not kept up with
their reading and personal ongoing formation in the areas of human sexuality,
chastity and marriage. But this is
not an acceptable excuse. What
other profession would be excused from professional ongoing formation, keeping
abreast with contemporary developments in their profession?
If medical doctors did not keep themselves updated, they would lose
their license to practice medicine. Can
it be any different for the clergy?
There are excellent materials available today to help us understand the beauty
of God’s plan for human love, and especially marital love.
There is Pope John Paul II’s Theology
of the Body; there is Christian Personalism.
There are the writings of reliable moral theologians.
There are the writings, CDs and videotapes of Dr. Janet Smith.
There are the testimonies of thousands of married couples that have
discovered the blessings that these values have brought into their marriages
and families. Two readily
available sources for materials on Natural Family Planning and the harms of
contraception and sterilization are One More Soul (www.omsoul.com)
and the Couple to Couple League International (www.ccli.org).
CCL provides three-day clergy conferences twice a year at
Covington
,
Kentucky
. NFP Outreach (www.nfpoutreach.org)
helps design and conduct clergy conferences for entire dioceses on the topic
of “How to Present the Values of NFP From the Pulpit.”
There are many good Catholic doctors who are willing to bring their
expertise to these conferences. And
there are hundreds of married couples that are willing to give their
testimonies about the values of NFP in their marriages.
Ignorance was never a good excuse for justifying neglect.
And it will not wash today in areas that are so vital to good marriages
and happy families.
8)
“The recent clergy sex scandals make
it impossible for me to talk about sex today.
I have no credibility.”
This is very much the intent of some forces in the secular society, which want
to muzzle the pulpits on matters of sexual morality. They don’t want us to
teach about God’s plan for human sexuality.
But there is no such thing as a moral vacuum.
If good morality is not being taught, then other varieties of sexual
ideology will be taught. We see it
today in the push for acceptance of single sex marriages, in safe sex for our
young people, and in trivializing committed relationships.
The clergy sex scandals call for greater, not less, emphasis upon sexual
morality. If there had been
greater clarity on these matters from the pulpit in the past, then everyone
would know the standards, which apply to everyone, and we would have been
spared much grief. Our young
people would not have been victimized.
Dioceses would not be in danger of bankruptcy.
Respect for the clergy would not be at an all time low.
Bishops would not be faulted for their lack of oversight.
Scandals erupt when there is no clarity of moral teaching coming from
the pulpit. Our times call for
more, not less, moral teaching from the pulpit.
Both the clergy and the laity have to clean up their act.
The abuse of young people by 4% of the clergy in the United States is indeed a scandal.
The abuse of sexuality by 80% of Catholic couples that are using birth
control, or are sterilized, is also a great scandal.
Before one group can throw stones at the other, they must first clean
up their act. God is
chastising his people because of violations against His sexual code.
He chastises the clergy by not providing vocations to religious life
and the priesthood. He chastises
the laity by weak marriages, a 50% divorce rate, lots of unhappiness, and
children who bear the brunt of their parent’s selfishness.
So both the clergy and the laity need to hold the other accountable.
We are not beating up on each other; rather, we are confronting the
truth together.
The responsibility of the clergy and the religious is to hand on the deposit
of the Faith as preached by the Apostles, which includes teaching moral
truths. This includes explaining
why God’s plan is so good for us, and so deserving of our efforts to comply
with it. The responsibility of the
laity is to integrate good moral principles into their lives and actions.
Then they are to take these values out into the broader society, and
help shape the culture with these Gospel values.
This is part of the new evangelization.
9)
In Conclusion
Perhaps it could be said that contraception
also applies to us priests today. We
may be willing to speak about the love-giving dimensions of the Gospel, but
are unwilling to address its life-giving dimensions.
We know, however, that love without life is sterile.
And we know that real love is demonstrated by our willingness to be
totally “for” our people, which may also involve suffering occasional
rejection and criticism. The Gospel is one of life, as well as of love.
Because He loves us, Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, so
that we could have life to the full. Are
not we priests, then, to foster life and greater life among our people, in an
age which is characterized as a culture of death?
We should not be contracepting the Gospel of its life-giving
dimensions.
We priests may think it will be difficult for our people to give up
contraception and adopt pure spousal love.
But will it not also be difficult for us to give up our contraceptive
approach to the Gospel? With God’s
grace, and with an openness to conversion, all of this is possible.
There are no reasons today that would justify a continued silence at the
pulpit about matters of sexual morality, especially in the areas of
contraception and sterilization. Begin
your search for good materials for reading and reflection.
Integrate these values into your own spirituality, and then you will
develop your own way to articulate them in your preaching and moral
counseling.
