Please Call Sin a Sin

In between my attempts to earn an undergraduate degree, I worked full-time for a New England supermarket chain. There was a manager there whom I admired for his hard-work and, more importantly, his hard-hitting truth-telling. I would fume over his words and comments about my work ethic and attitude. But then, after getting over my self-centered and pouting self, I would understand what he was saying and began to think it made sense. I would hate him one moment and then love him the next.

My favorite teachers, colleagues, and relatives are those that humble me and make me think. My Uncle Marcel was two of these: a relative and Associate Professor. But that's another post for later.

I find myself starving for this hard-hitting and humbling experience at Mass. But I really struggle. I hear the same spiritual cliches repackaged over and over again during most homilies. It takes some serious concentration for me during Mass to find the nugget where God is speaking to me. I am a sinner and often tune out or get distracted. Perhaps this is the point where God is trying to reach me.

But there are very few hand-clapping, foot-stomping, standing ovations for most homilies I hear (of which by the way, these reactions, if I had reason to do them, would be irreverent at Mass - yet another post). I get it: to call contraception, pre-marital sex, cohabitation, homosexuality, and same-sex marriage sins would collectively strike the hearts of nearly every Catholic in one or more ways. It would hurt and anger all of us. I would guess that many would walk out of Mass right then and there; many others would never return. But it is the truth and we must hear it. Instead, we hear safe and non-controversial messages, while in and of themselves are true, are not creating life-long Catholics that are confessing their sins nor adoring Our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration.

Matthew Kelly puts it very well when he talks about the Seven Levels Of Intimacy. We are stuck in cliches and facts. We are fearful of expressing opinions, of being judged, and of not being accepted. We are afraid if people really knew us, they wouldn't love us. We are also afraid of submitting ourselves to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and accepting its authority about how is the best way to live.

It's not easy for us though, on many levels. We face progressive and modernist priest and deacons that won't call or acknowledge a sin as a sin; parishes with protestant-like hand gestures at the words "And with your spirit" or hand-holding during the Lord's Prayer; parishes with ecumenical work camps and ecumenical vacation bible schools; and parishes with youth ministry programs that still use barbecues, ice cream socials, and mountain hikes as a means of raising life-long Catholics. None of these things work - the Pew Research Studies that show that adults who self-identify as Catholic are declining, and those who identify as "nones" are increasing, Declining Mass attendance, use of the Sacraments, and empty pews prove it.

Let's stop staying safe with the small talk. Let's learn and be eager to be engaged with the hard-hitting, intellectual high ground. Let's ask more of ourselves, our family, and our parish. And most of all, let's step up and call a sin a sin, seek God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, and accept the authority of the Catholic Church.