....the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of Happiness!"
Ah, the old Ken Dodd song, so sugary sweet and so divorced from reality - but now according to Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel & Brighton Diocese, that's what the Bishops of England and Wales are bringing to the programme aimed at getting lapsed Catholics to return to the faith.
H/T to Fr Z here who has a full report here
The plan is to tour the country with this born again Catholic Roadshow and give the troops a taste of life back in the fold. They will be told how frabjously tickled we are to be Catholic Diddymen; nothing about salvation, nothing about a deep and reverent approach to the worship of Almighty God, nothing about the Son of God, Supreme Sacrifice, suffering and humiliation, death on a cross of the common rapist, murderer and thief, zero about three days in the tomb and the resurrection, and nothing about the inestimable power of God's forgiveness......just a little share of happiness 'cos that's what we Catholics are...happy, happy, happy!
They might be more successful if they hired KD for the job!
In America, they have a different approach and it's one that does not patronise.
Just over a year ago Bishop Tobin of Providence Diocese, USA, made an impassioned plea for 'inactive' Catholics to come home; it struck a chord with me, it showed love and understanding and it was about the faith, here it is:
Just click here to read it in full.
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of Happiness!"
Ah, the old Ken Dodd song, so sugary sweet and so divorced from reality - but now according to Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel & Brighton Diocese, that's what the Bishops of England and Wales are bringing to the programme aimed at getting lapsed Catholics to return to the faith.
H/T to Fr Z here who has a full report here
The plan is to tour the country with this born again Catholic Roadshow and give the troops a taste of life back in the fold. They will be told how frabjously tickled we are to be Catholic Diddymen; nothing about salvation, nothing about a deep and reverent approach to the worship of Almighty God, nothing about the Son of God, Supreme Sacrifice, suffering and humiliation, death on a cross of the common rapist, murderer and thief, zero about three days in the tomb and the resurrection, and nothing about the inestimable power of God's forgiveness......just a little share of happiness 'cos that's what we Catholics are...happy, happy, happy!
They might be more successful if they hired KD for the job!
In America, they have a different approach and it's one that does not patronise.
Just over a year ago Bishop Tobin of Providence Diocese, USA, made an impassioned plea for 'inactive' Catholics to come home; it struck a chord with me, it showed love and understanding and it was about the faith, here it is:
Just click here to read it in full.
If that doesn't bring people back, nothing will, not even Archbishop Nichols with a tickling stick!
I assume this is the CMOC protégé who once opined that Confession was a dead letter and that there was no point in mentioning salvation to the young because they wouldn't understand the concept.
ReplyDeleteOr the same bishop who signed off New Age-type ceremonies at Mass for a National Youth Sunday. Or the one who admitted he wears mufti on train journeys to stop people from bothering him.
Or the bishop who, last Sunday, turned the Parable of the Talents on its head and told every congregation in his diocese which listened to his recorded homily that the hero of the parable was the man who did nothing 'cos he was poor.
That'll bring 'em flocking back.
Christ never really assured us of unmitigated happiness!!! He did promise us that we would suffer in this world for the sake of his name and we better be prepared for it. Only the truth can set you free!
ReplyDeleteThis whole happy-happy story can mislead people down a very slippery spiritual slope. What is they believe that sacrifice, self-denial and suffering belong to the clergy and a few others. All our misery is supposed to END, END, END.
...and then reality bites! Those Catholics will never come back to the Church again.