Catholic Sensibility

Unapologetic Catholic notes St Blog's priests in over their heads on liberals and evolution. Anybody want to throw them a line? Anybody want to wait and see if or when the next clerical foot heads to the mouth instead of to the Mandatum basin? Perhaps our expectations are off-kilter. I can assure you that sensible people do not look to celebrities for advice on child-rearing, politics, or how we should fill in our March Madness brackets. I couldn't give two hoots as to what Ms Spears or Ms Coulter think (even about hair coloring); pop culture isn't personally appealing to me. Likewise, with the way pop culture conducts itself in St Blog's. Some Catholics fawn over priests. Their option, I guess. I've worked for and with about two dozen clergy in the past sixteen years, and I have a high opinion of most of them. I would feel at home with about 2/3rds being my confessor. A slightly larger portion have dined at my home. Most of them are/were more than competent as parish priests and almost all of them are well-liked by their peers and parishioners. But I'm not going to consult them on my car insurance, my daughter's higher education, or on our upcoming kitchen renovation. Some Catholics would gush, "Oh yes, Father, a water and ice dispenser option on a fridge is great! Oh, those ACLU people are godless barbarians! Oh, evolution is such a silly idea! Oh, no way Washington has the legs to make the Final Four!" And it reminds me of the way people allow their politics, child-rearing, and medical preferences to be determined by Tim Robbins, Demi Moore, and Jose Canseco ... not necessarily in that order. Do your parish priest a favor. Celebrate the sacraments with him. Invite him over for dinner or take him out for a beer or for a Starbucks coffee. Maintain non-glazed eye-contact with him during the homily. Pay attention when he seems to be telling the parish something it doesn't want to hear. But don't make him out to be an expert in something he's not. Most priests are good, sensible guys trying to live out their vocation of service and sacraments. And if one of them gets a little out of line on something like the evolution-intelligent design tiff, just say, "Thanks, Father, for being a good parish priest for us, but your notions on (fill in the blank) are wacko. Just thought you'd like to know."