"People *want* to be challenged to be better"

Yesterday I put up a post detailing the sentiments of a priest in Skokie, Illinois put off by the lukewarmness of too many a Catholic.

Today I find this comment, left by an ex-Catholic, on that priest's post that rings ever so true in my less than humble view:

I'm no longer Catholic, Father, but I respect you a great deal for being clear about what it means to BE Catholic and for being willing to teach that to your flock. And I'd bet - contrary to the consensus of sentiment here - that you'll get better results thereby. People *want* to be challenged to be better; they want to be part of something that asks them to live up to standards instead of inventing their own. Apathy is the result of permissiveness, not the cause of it. The Marines meet their recruiting quota while the Army goes begging. The Army tells you about the great things they'll do for you; the Marines look at you skeptically and ask, "What makes you think you're good enough to be one of us?" Following Christ is not easy, nor was it meant to be. God bless you!

Catholicism does challenge me.  It does want to make me better.  It does have high standards that we ought to live up to.  And yes, it's hard to be apathetic and remain Catholic.

The fact that the commenter is no longer Catholic is intriguing and worth pursuing but his wisdom suggests that perhaps, just maybe, he'd be open to returning.

I'd hope so.

I think the man to be insightful.  I think the Church needs more like him.

Comments

[Katherine]

The lukewarmness comes so easy.

I had a conversation with another mother who sends her child to a catholic school about how when I was an Old Testament parent I got children who tried to evade rules, when I was a New Testament parent who demonstrated how to be, I got cooperative children.

She looked at me like I was nuts.

She said, "I show up, that's good enough."