There is a quote by Venerable Fulton Sheen that is both helpful and equally unhelpful for me to recall in these moments. He said, "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be." In my home diocese, there is an enthu…
There is a quote by Venerable Fulton Sheen that is both helpful and equally unhelpful for me to recall in these moments. He said, "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be." In my home diocese, there is an enthusiasm for the Church and the sacraments that is both inspiring & at the same time prevents people from speaking about their negative experiences. People just assume those with bad experiences have a credibility issue or hate the church. Let's focus on the good roots that Jesus left us, helping them grow deeper and stronger. And pruning everything within us that causes us to silence one another.
I recognize the kind of culture you describe, and it really can be toxic. The wounded can end up drowning invisibly in a sea of positivity as things that ought to change go uncorrected. (These things that need to change may be malice but are more often the unnoticed consequences of good intentions, and would therefore stand a good chance to be really made better if the consequences were discussed; think a zealous confessor who, through ignorance, might drive an OCD sufferer to scrupulosity). That within us that causes us to silence one another is not of God.
There is a quote by Venerable Fulton Sheen that is both helpful and equally unhelpful for me to recall in these moments. He said, "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be." In my home diocese, there is an enthusiasm for the Church and the sacraments that is both inspiring & at the same time prevents people from speaking about their negative experiences. People just assume those with bad experiences have a credibility issue or hate the church. Let's focus on the good roots that Jesus left us, helping them grow deeper and stronger. And pruning everything within us that causes us to silence one another.
I recognize the kind of culture you describe, and it really can be toxic. The wounded can end up drowning invisibly in a sea of positivity as things that ought to change go uncorrected. (These things that need to change may be malice but are more often the unnoticed consequences of good intentions, and would therefore stand a good chance to be really made better if the consequences were discussed; think a zealous confessor who, through ignorance, might drive an OCD sufferer to scrupulosity). That within us that causes us to silence one another is not of God.