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Thursday, July 25, 2019

I AM REALLY PUT-OFF BY CELEBRITY PRIESTS LIKE FATHER JAMES MARTIN AND THE FORMER FATHER, JONATHAN MORRIS


The article below just appeared on my Yahoo search engine home page, so I copy it for your reading pleasure.

What is it about narcissistic celebrity priests like Fr. Martin and the former Fr. Morris? Are they wolves in sheep's clothing that the 7th Sunday of Pentecost's Gospel refers?

Jonathan Morris could have easily sailed into the sunset of a new life and career, but he still appears on Fox and Friends, now dressed in a suit and tie, to bloviate about things religious. Has he no shame or common sense about this particular scandal of breaking a life long commitment to the priesthood?

But I digress. Here's a great critque of Fr. James Martin, SJ by Declan Leary speaking truth to a narcissist:


What America Magazine Gets Wrong about the Mass

Declan Leary


James Martin, S.J., infamous celebrity priest and editor-at-large of America magazine, lent his considerable PR weight on Monday to another attempt to rile up ire at the longstanding traditions of the Church to which he and his magazine swear faith. Taking a much-needed break from his incessant obfuscation on sexuality, Martin weighed in on a debate about laywomen preaching during the Mass.
Sharing a piece published in America on the subject, Martin commented, “It is stupefying to me that women cannot preach at Mass. The faithful during Mass, as well as the presiders, are missing out on the wisdom, experience and inspired reflections of half of its members. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.”
It is no surprise that Fr. Martin is stupefied by the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, but it is certainly a disappointment. He is supposed to be a teacher and a shepherd to the faithful. Instead, he substitutes the politics of the moment for the tradition and law of the Church. In so doing, he inevitably leads many of the faithful astray. Given the failure of Father Martin and other should-be leaders of the Church, the ignorance displayed by Jean Molesky-Poz, the author of the piece in question, is at least understandable, if not forgivable.

After relating the story of Mary Magdalene encountering Jesus following the resurrection, Molesky-Poz begins, “In our parish in Northern California, lay women began to preach the good news during the Sunday liturgy in 1996.” Let’s get one thing straight here: It’s the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not just a liturgy. That may seem like a trivial semantic quibble, but it’s important. Describing it simply as a “liturgy” makes it seem like this is just a worship service that can be redesigned at will. Recognizing it as the sacrifice of the Mass forces us to confront the fact that this is something much more, something not easily tampered with.

Molesky-Poz justifies the practice of women preaching in Mass by paraphrasing part of a complementary norm to canon 766 of the Code of Canon Law. The canon does allow bishops to permit supplementary preaching by the laity when necessary or particularly advantageous. The law makes it abundantly clear, however, that this lay preaching cannot take the place of a homily, because the homily “is part of the liturgy itself and is reserved to a priest or deacon.”

Molesky-Poz ignores that distinction, repeatedly referring to the reflections offered by herself and her peers as “homilies.” Any attempt to justify her claims on canonical grounds is immediately undermined by this direct rejection of the letter of the law. Another detail of her language reveals where Molesky-Poz is coming from in her criticism of the Church: She glibly remarks that the reason women cannot be ordained is that they have been “deemed unworthy of holy orders.” This is a mischaracterization of Church teaching on the subject that could only come from someone who disagrees with that teaching and feels the need to publicly oppose it. When Molesky-Poz writes of women giving “homilies,” she’s not being careless with her words — she’s hinting at a change far more substantial than the one she’s able to demand outright.

Throughout the piece Molesky-Poz writes positively of women turning away from the Church in protest of their inability to preach at Mass. She quotes, among others, one woman who alleges, “This church is not a healthy place for my soul.” What she means, of course, is that the Church is not a healthy place for her ego. Any Catholic with half a brain and faith the size of a mustard seed should believe quite firmly that the Church is the only healthy place for her soul.

Catholics have to make a choice about how we approach the Mass. Is it the solemn observation instituted by Christ in which we as a Church constantly live the Passion and experience the real presence of our Lord? Or is it a do-it-yourself liturgy where we play out our fantasies and fulfill our wishes, where we make sure that everyone is included in any way they want, no matter how much attention is shifted away from Christ? One choice serves our egos, the other, our souls.

We can guess pretty well which side Mary Magdalene — who stood weeping at the foot of the cross; who first beheld the glory of the risen Christ; who knew as well as anyone (save His Mother and maybe the first pope) the man and God who gave Himself as the Holy Sacrifice — would fall on.

St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us indeed.






16 comments:

Marc said...

James Martin wears fairie's clothes, not wolves' clothes.

Anonymous said...

I was told that in a seminary in the northeast USA, if a priest left the priesthood for whatever reason, his portrait in the class picture that hung in the seminary would be covered with a black patch. This damnatio memoriae was, it seems to me, rather cruel and childish.

Peter denied the Lord three times. He was headstrong, doubtful, impulsive, and confused. In short, Peter was human. But it was precisely his humanity, in which he experienced the redeeming love of Jesus Christ, that made him the man he was.

Not a watcher of Fox News, I have not seen Mr. Morris. But it seems a little harsh to suggest that he should simply disappear because he departed from the priesthood. (Didn't President Trump make a lifelong commitment to his first and second wives? You know, till death do us part? Are you calling on him to disappear because of the scandal he has caused?)

Cletus Ordo said...

Who even READS America? Seriously, it has about as much credibility as a toilet seat.

John Nolan said...

Lay persons, regardless of sex, may not preach at Mass, so the 'woman' issue is irrelevant. I'm sure I could deliver a cracking homily and would relish having a captive audience, but the fact remains that I am not permitted to do so, and I don't lose any sleep over it.

Tom Makin said...

John Nolan: Amen!!

Anonymous said...

Why did Morris leave the priesthood? Did he want more time on FOX?

I agree with John, womens' issue is irrelevant when it comes to homilies. We don't call on a layperson to preach on church teachings and traditions, and we don't call on a priest when my air conditioning or plumbing has gone haywire!

Carol H. said...

Cletus Ordo,

The toilet seat has a very useful purpose; please don't insult it! ;D

TJM said...

Anonymous K,

Ya, and Bill Clintoon has a made a life-long mockery of his vows to his "wife." You just can't help yourself can you?

TJM said...

John Nolan,

Based on your postings you would do a far better job preaching than Anonymous K because you would be preaching the Catholic Faith, not the Church of What is Happening Now!

Anonymous said...

"Ya, and Bill Clintoon has a made a life-long mockery of his vows to his "wife." You just can't help yourself can you?"

So, Trump's serial adultery is just fine with you. Why am I not surprised...?

TJM said...

Anonymous K,

So Clintoon’s serial adultery, abortion, and gay “marriage” are fine with you? As a priest, you are beyond peradventure!

TJM said...

I am surprised that a priest would vote for Clinton, a serial adulterer, rapist, and a supporter of gay “marriage!” You are unworthy of your office, a total fraud.

Fr Martin Fox said...

John Nolan -

Re a "cracking homily":

I have no wish to minimize your oratorical skills, but let us not omit the role of grace. I distinctly remember proclaiming the Gospel at Mass for the first time as a deacon. I had read at Mass many times prior, as a baptized layperson, and I had read the Gospel many times outside of Mass. I was and am very good at public speaking and reading. Of all the things I was going to be doing as a deacon, reading the Gospel in no way intimidated me, I felt supremely confident I could do it just fine, and I did. Nevertheless, it really felt different. I cannot prove it, but that, I believe, was an experience of grace. I really sensed that it was different because it WAS different: I had received Holy Orders!

Not to accuse anyone of anything, but let us recall the heresy of Donatism and reflect on the Cburch's wise response: the efficacy of sacraments do not depend on the holiness -- and I would add, merits or talents -- of the minister. For me as a priest, this is immensely consoling.

Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh said...

Martin makes a good point.

When, after a weekend of preaching, I reflect and conclude that the homily was not very good, almost invariably someone would come up and say something like, "That really touched me" or "My son hasn't been in church for years and he said that your homily really hit home with him." Those are experiences of grace that continue to support and encourage me in my preaching.

Richard M. Sawicki said...

Fr. Fox:

THANK YOU for mentioning Donatism, which I like to call, "The heresy so many people secretly wish wasn't one".

:-D :-D :-D

I find myself bringing this up in conversations with my fellow Catholics quite a lot, sad to say.

Gaudete in Domino Semper!

Anonymous Kelly said...

I don’t know this Morris fellow because I don’t watch Fox. Father Martin is a “celebrity priest” because he writes & publishes his opinions, which apparently thousands of people want to hear. Father McDonald also writes & publishes his opinion, which several people want to hear, and I have no doubt that if Fox News called, he’d come running. Is Father Mcdonald a “celebrity priest”? Should priests be barred from publishing their opinions & discussing them on TV? Discuss.