“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Luke 10: 2
God knows our planet is in peril. Everywhere we turn there is work to be done. Some advocates for a better world believe that divestment –pulling away from companies that have a vested interest in preserving the status quo–is one path to making change happen. The Gospel readings of the 13th and 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time suggest that perhaps that approach is older than we think. Both call for a radical simplicity and a distancing from ties that hold us back, or anachronistic practices that fly in the face of science and reason.
Last week we were told: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” This week we hear Christ tell his apostles as they set out to spread his message: Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals.
Follow the Money What does it say about the kind of institutional church we have today when we see the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops re-state “the need to continue defending our rights in Congress and the courts” with respect to Obamacare the same week that Cardinal Dolan is found to have moved funds to protect them from possible claims by victims of sexual abuse? How does Cardinal Dolan credibly express concern that not enough is being done to prevent the flow of church funds to “objectionable items” in the healthcare law when he is found to have taken steps secretly, with the unusually swift support of the Vatican, to protect Church funds from the legal claims of victims of the objectionable behavior of predatory priests?
These past weeks have also been filled with fresh news of educators and administrators in Catholic schools being ousted from their jobs because they could no longer deny the truth of their sexual identity. Dr. Bill Hudson. Carla Hale. Christa Dias. Because they wished to publicly affirm the dignity of their commitments to their life partners or the families they have nurtured. Because they wanted to affirm who they are even if the Church will not.
How many more people doing good work are we prepared to lose before the Church begins instead to lose the mentality of arbitrary exclusion?
We have seen thoughtful priests like Fr. Helmut Schüller who come bearing new ideas about how to find laborers for the harvest, turned away from speaking on Church property because the establishment cannot tolerate his challenge to the status quo. Others like Bishop Geoffrey Robinson are marginalized because they call for nothing less than a thorough re-examination of Church culture to root out sexual abuse for good.
David Cohen: “observing rather than observant.”
Catholics need more than ever to ask ourselves who we are. A wise friend, David Cohen, widely respected for advancing social justice through his work in building legislative coalitions, strengthening democratic institutions and promoting grassroots advocacy, defines his Jewish identity as not so much “observant” as “observing.” It’s a distinction Catholics should find helpful. Being Catholic is surely more complex than having a club membership. Being Catholic should lead us to be observing and responsive to the needs of the community. It’s what we see Jesus do in story after story in the Gospels. He taught us to really see, to reject the letter of the law and grasp its spirit, to reach out and help lift others out of poverty, hunger, pain. Presented with the stultifying edifice of rules by the Pharisees, he often pointed to flaws in its architecture. Every one of his parables led to the foundational teaching: Love your neighbor as yourself. Catholics are called to do no less. We too must find our way through the Byzantine edifice of the institutional church and discover the beating heart of the Gospel of Christ. Part of the good news is that lay organizations, women religious, faithful pastors and some inspired bishops are leading the way.
Faith should always be a struggle. We do not have all the answers we would like to have about life and our place in the world. But we can be sure that it’s time to question our fidelity to the Gospel if we find ourselves dwelling in certainties that privilege us while denying others God’s love and the rights we claim for ourselves.
Dawn Morais 
What a beautiful, clear and dignified commentary on the state of affairs in the institutional Church today. However, you and millions of others are the true “church” (community) that Jesus envisioned. That living church with the small “c” is what we should all focus upon because it is healthy, compassionate and true. It is the church of our hearts that we must nurture. Thanks for your constant inspiration. The teachings of Jesus continue to live through you and the many who are baffled by the machinations of the all to earthly Church.
Love your “church of our hearts”—thank you for that, Ian. And for reading. We need thoughtful people–Catholic and non-Catholic– to be attentive if we are to have any hope of real reform, starting at the top. Without the lawsuits, without the effort of civil authorities, so much would have remained under wraps.
Again, your blog note leads me to believe that you are like the Michael Moore of American Politics…you are needed more than the Catholic Church realizes! There is a paradox in churches much like in private practice in mental health: if we “make” the patient well, we lose the patient’s money and it becomes a vicious cycle to rectify ethics vs. economics. What if the church’s mission was more akin to something like AA where the goal is not to make money but to spread the word? So the dollar or two in the basket keeps the playing field level….no one is better or worse, you can still have your dog and pony show folks who represent “best speakers” and the mission goes forward to do the next right thing. While my language is not religious, I do find that Jesus would be first in line tossing money tables in the Catholic Church and others who play with money like they play with people’s lives. It is almost like the folks at the top are saying: let’s take off our Catholic hats and put on the secular world hats and get down and dirty. Then we can put our Catholic hats back on. Is this not true of many leaders in all fields of sport and business? The hat of Jesus gets shuffled way too much. I also do not think that Jesus would have advocated for dire poverty in the coffers, either. It would have been a simple “as needed” basis and too many decisions are based on what do “I” need vs. what would God have us do? The right thing to do is always always always the hardest thing to do because it flies in the face of human kind’s baser instincts…the 7 deadly sins and the 10 commandments. So the question is, are we naïve to believe that the heads of state in churches would be able to rise above those human failings and put in a system to prevent the very thing that is happening now?
To call out judgment against a system like Obamacare and then to shuffle monies to hide a whopper sin simply smacks of what makes everyone cynical. It is as though we expect to find out news like this daily and it one more mark on our souls. Is nothing sacred? Like Ian’s comments, the church of our hearts rings true. At least we as people can “come clean” with God in our hearts and minds and then we can go forth and do what Jesus asks of each one of us. When I think of what is goodness to me, I think of individuals who just went out and did what God wanted: Father Damien, Mother Teresa, Ghandi……they spent time agonizing and questioning between doing the right things and that made them real to me.