I have loved being Roman Catholic. That is maybe not what this post is about.
What it is about is the human factor of the Church.
It seems to me that if the Church is to survive this modern world, it has to grow and change. How it does that while maintaining its Tradition is troubling to many, I think.
This retranslation of the Mass, for example, strikes me as something ridiculous. First, Latin was not the original language of any part of the Bible, not the Old or the New Testament. Second, Latin is marvelously difficult to translate, and my guess is the retranslation is no better than the translation we've been using all along. Third, much of what we actually say in church isn't from the Bible in the first place, so does it really matter is we say "and also with you" or "and with your spirit" and is it necessary to say "enter under my roof" (what does that even mean?).
Good grieviosity of God.
I have encountered some serious close-mindedness among the clergy. I once called the Archdiocese because of the new rules about Virtuus training. They mandated that every person coming in to volunteer needed to attend the Church's training program. It didn't matter that all these people were volunteers with busy schedules and that some of them already had training programs (like teachers and school bus drivers, for example). They all had to attend the Church's training program. I kept asking about it, from one level to the next, until I talked to the Archbishop's right-hand man. Apparently, the Church doesn't care if their policies make sense in people's lives or that they stand to lose good volunteers. A rule is, after all, a rule.
Now I'm struggling with other issues related, I think, to my own personal grief at losing two long-time pastors at our church.
I decided that I am going to focus solely on not being annoyed at church or at Church for the rest of the year.
