| The Inferiority Complex (I) |
 |
 |
| Monday, 14 December 2009 17:11 |
|
Whether we would like to admit it or not, it is a fact that the few Catholics who still attend Sunday Mass are bored by the homilies they listen to. Although, it would be more precise to say that they are bored by the homilies they hear, since listening assumes a minimum amount of attention on the part of the audience. And, in most cases, this audience feels completely uninterested about what is being said. As for the reasons behind this phenomenon, a careful study would reveal that the many factors involved would not absolve the audience from all responsibility: the crisis of Faith, the dominant paganism, the de-Christianization of society, the post-Conciliar liturgical reforms, etc., etc…all of which point in the same direction. But, I do not believe that a superficial investigation as to the solution (or at least an elucidation) of the problem will lead to any practical results other than drawing up an analysis useful for experts and for preparing statistics which, in general, tend to be fixed.
A search for the profound roots of the problem seems to be more interesting. But we must admit that this search will have no consequence other than to offer a better understanding of the facts. People do not listen because almost everything that is said is insignificant and does not usually interest anyone. The exhortations of preachers frequently reach heights that stray far from reality (popularly known as having your head in the clouds), while the Faithful remain on earth[1]. It would be interesting to study those different planes (parallel lines that never meet) in which lie, on one hand, the apparent concerns of Pastors and, on the other, those of the People of God. It cannot be denied that Preaching has deteriorated to the same measure as Christianity-put-into-practice has. The guilty party is the entire body of the People of God and it would not be fair to put all the blame on the Head. But unlike the Regulations of Charles III for the army in The first thing that calls our attention here is an important and apparent contradiction. According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more incisively than any two-edged sword: it can seek out the place where soul is divided from spirit, or joints from marrow; it can pass judgment on the thoughts and intentions of the heart[2]. And although the Epistle to the Hebrews is the inspired Word of God, Jesus Christ is even more direct and forceful when He says: The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe[3]. And here the question can be raised: what is the final verdict…? Is the Word of God alive or, rather, is it boring? The answer does not seem difficult to find, and everything points to the following: what is preached has very little or nothing to do with the Word of God. On reaching this point, we must strive to the best of our ability to omit the individual cases in order to honor Charity and also to avoid scandalizing the weak. How did we reach this situation? And precisely at a time when both the post-Christian West and the rest of the almost totally pagan world need, more urgently than ever before, the Word of God? To facilitate an answer and to center the problem on what interests us most, we will keep to Catholicism. In this regard the first consideration that comes to mind is the indisputable fact of the extraordinary and strange inferiority complex that present Pastors (or at least a great number of them) of the Church suffer from. This assertion, while being true, is still far from solving the problem entirely. And so, in an attempt to understand this problem, we will examine it on three different levels, hoping to gradually close in on the root of the situation. In the first place, we must point to the phenomenon of the inferiority complex itself; a reality whose existence cannot be doubted or denied. It manifests itself in numerous and various ways, although they all coincide in something as simple as concealing the Word of God. The protocol is to avoid confronting problems by speaking exclusively of banalities and by making no allusion at all to realities that could put those who dare to denounce them into a compromising position before the factual Powers. The Apostle Saint Paul proclaimed that he did not feel any shame in proclaiming the Gospel (Rom 1:16), while Saint Peter also insisted that nobody should be ashamed of being a Christian (1 Pet 4:16). However, after so many centuries, in these times in which we live, the Catholic pastoral practice has learned the art of sidestepping problems by using, as we have said, the strategy of talking about banalities, about indifferent things, or about various topics that are more or less interesting but which never remotely contemplate the possibility of disturbing someone. In this way, the preaching of the Gospel is avoided and the themes touched on in the discourses (as they are usually called today) are limited to merely talking about insipid things. But the problem is too important and delicate so as to deserve the more ample consideration we mentioned above. It will be necessary, therefore, to continue. |