Hard to Break Old Habits
I read and embraced your article in the July-August 2002 issue that makes reference to Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga’s argument against changing the discipline of celibacy among the clergy (“The Church Is Not Ready for Vatican II” in “The Apologist’s Eye”). Cardinal Rodriguez is on target, because the lifting of the celibacy vows will not harvest any tangible results.
I’ve seen Cardinal Rodriguez at work, and what most impressed me was his initiative in the recent past to have each parish in his archdiocese raise a group of volunteers and evangelize door to door, delivering the good news again to the dormant and cafeteria Catholics. Hundreds of energetic faithful signed up and took to the streets with the message of the Cardinal.
On a different note, I find it amusing that here in Honduras, which was evangelized 500 years ago, some folks, under the spell of “northern friends” like the Mormons, jettison the Catholic faith of their forbears yet still show up in droves for services at Ash Wednesday and at gravesites on All Souls day in November. Seems like followers of Joseph Smith need to try harder.
Maico Garcia
Via the Internet
Not That You Should Anoint Karl’s Feet. . .
While reading Karl Keating’s article “Calming the Waters” (July-August 2002), the incident concerning the anointing of Jesus at Bethany (Matt. 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9) occurred to me. After the woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, the disciples exclaimed, “‘Why this waste? . . . This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me'” (Matt. 26:8-11).
Taking this scriptural snippet out of context, one might assert that Jesus approved of ignoring the suffering of the poor-if the reason for ignoring the poor is the direct honoring of him! It does not mean that, of course. Jesus was teaching that honoring him is not limited to works of great charity but also must include acts of devotion, which may comprise study and public displays of committed affection.
There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy in the disciples’ condemnation of this “waste” of expensive oil. Perhaps Jesus was advising us not to be so hasty to judge the actions of those who may use expensive means to honor him.
Gerald L. Geisel
Cincinnati, Ohio
Jamaican Clarification
I wish to commend Victor Claveau on his missionary work in Jamaica (“Evangelizing Jamaica,” July-August 2002). However, I wish to point out that some of the statements in his article are misleading.
It is misleading to say “the diocese of Jamaica has twenty-four priests from many parts of the world; only one is a Jamaican native.” First of all, the term “diocese of Jamaica” refers to the Anglican church in Jamaica. The “archdiocese of Kingston” and the “dioceses of Montego Bay and Mandeville” refer to the Catholic Church.
Second, to refer to the diocese of Montego Bay as the “diocese of Jamaica” is misleading, because those readers not familiar with Jamaica will believe that you were referring to all of Jamaica.
Third, you described correctly the island as “146 miles east to west and 46 miles north to south at its widest.” Yet you did not point out that the diocese of Montego Bay encompasses the western section of the island and is therefore only a fraction of this area. Anyone not familiar with Jamaica again would think that the statistics you listed on the number of priests were representative of all of Jamaica.
Of the 24 priests in the diocese of Montego Bay, only one may be Jamaican. (Twenty-four priests for an area that size is not a low number.) Because of these irregularities, I could not be sure whether the 17,000 Catholics comprised all the Catholics in Jamaica or only the Catholics in the western part of the island in the diocese of Montego Bay.
I assure you that the archdiocese of Kingston has many more priests, several of whom are Jamaican. We have priests from several parts of the world, many of whom consider Jamaica home. They definitely stay longer than three years. I know that many will be shocked to know that some religious in the diocese of Montego Bay think working in Jamaica is like working in prison.
I hope you will return to Jamaica to continue your evangelical work, but I also hope that you will verify your information before committing it to publication.
Hyacinth Findlay
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama
Money Is Only a Tool
Donna Doornick’s article (“Live Simply? Live Shrewdly,” April 2002) was right in line with the teaching of the Church. Her message was clear: Personal wealth is okay as long as one isn’t attached to it and puts it in the service of God. Unfortunately, too many people are under the impression that when the Church promotes social justice it is really speaking of socialism. These people seem to believe that one gains wealth only by taking it from others. Although this does happen, it doesn’t make one wealthy in the long run (unless you are a dictator, and then you’ve got other moral problems).
Envy is really what is at work here. Covetousness is a sin. Yet it is promoted constantly by the rhetoric of class envy, class hatred, and class warfare, constant themes in politics. Hitler used these to foment hatred of the Jewish people, as have other tyrants throughout history, including Osama bin Laden.
I have witnessed the selflessness of those whom many would consider well off. Often they can serve in ways that would not be possible if not for their financial independence. I know a surgeon who often spends six months out of the year in a third-world country. He and others have organizational skills that come from their entrepreneurial mentality and experience. Giving in this way is just as important as the money they give also.
I have been taught in Catholic schools and churches that “money is the root of all evil.” However, what our Lord said was that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money itself is only a tool.
We have all heard how it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Taken literally this means that it is impossible for a rich man to enter heaven. It was only recently that I learned that this “eye of [the] needle” referred to a smaller door in the main city gate of ancient cities. The door was small enough so that a rider had to dismount to pass through it, making it impossible for pillagers to storm through. When it became dark, the main gate was shut. If a caravan arrived late at the city, its members had to use the smaller door. The camels had to be unloaded of their wares and led through the gate on their knees.
The problem for the wealthy young man our Lord was speaking to in this Gospel passage was that he was too attached to worldly possessions. Not all the early Christians sold all they had. Some held onto their possessions until the need arose to sell them.
Felix Gorney
Fishers, Indiana
Make Problem Priests Prison Chaplains
I am a first degree knight of the Militia Immaculata, having consecrated my heart to Mary and Jesus on May 13, the 101st anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. I am also a 27-year-old man who returned to the faith while serving prison time for a sex offense. It upsets me in a special way to hear about all the problems in the U.S. Catholic Church concerning sexual molestations. I’ve had people make fun of me because I’m a sex offender and a Catholic. One man even threatened to kill me.
The truth is, we all are sinners-even the Pope. It is a horrible thing that these priests (and I) have done. But aren’t we Christians? Don’t we believe in forgiveness? True, the victims of this world should be comforted. But we should never turn our backs on our priests, no matter how they’ve sinned. As Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
I believe that priests who have committed sexual crimes should receive mental health treatment, as I am in the process of doing. Also, it would be a good idea to make these priests prison chaplains. There is a great shortage of priests to minister to inmates. If the bishops take “problem” priests and place them in therapy and have them help at prisons, the benefits will be threefold: The priests will be kept away from children, they will find healing in working with prisoners, and their lives will be witness to inmates that one can come back to Christ even from horrific sin.
Criminals need more love, not less. We should not forget that the first saint was a thief who died beside Jesus on the cross. Our responsibility as Catholics is to lead all souls to Christ. Our fallen priests are not exceptions.
I have found the beauty of chastity. For me it’s the only acceptable response to my past sexual crimes. I pray that our fallen priests will find chastity as well. Please pray with me for our priests. Please pray with me for all sexual victims, that they may turn to Christ and be comforted. Please pray with me that all sex offenders find Christ. St. Dismas, the “good thief,” pray for us!
Christopher Roy Einer
Bonneville Community
Correctional Center,
1141 South 2475 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
Editor’s reply: Considering that most of the problem priests are homosexuals and likely dissent from Church teachings, they are the last people who should be ministering to inmates.