Church is wasting its energy in protecting institutions: Priest talk that goes viral
Reporter - November 2020
Rev. Fr. Joseph Edattu VC, Assistant Director, DRC UK reveals the real problem of Catholic Church today. Here is the transcript of the viral talk:
Now what happened to the church, the church has become institutionalized. Now we are busy trying our best to protect our institutions. We are wasting our energy in protecting institutions. We are not wasting our energy in spreading the Word of God. This is the problem today the church is facing. No wonder, the church is being humiliated everywhere because the authorities including me, we all have forgotten the truth. The truth is this, we are only city, we are only passing pilgrims here on earth. Our real world, our real home, our real country is heaven.
We read the Word of God, (Philippians 3:19) " For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears." Even from the time of Jesus Christ, even from the time of disciples many where busy for this world; how to live in this world, how to protect our school, how to protect our retreat centre, how to protect our hospitals, how to protect our congregation, how to protect our image of the church and how to protect all these. For these we are spending our maximum energy.
We have more than 400 000 priests in this world, but majority of us the priests are wasting our energy in studying about world religions, studying about yoga, studying about Hinduism, studying about Islam and studying about many things, studying about social works, studying about how to run a business, how to earn MBA, BBA and all these things.
We all are wasting our energy on wrong things, diversions and this is affecting our church today my dear brothers and sisters. Even me, once I am entrusted with a retreat centre, my main focus was how to protect this retreat centre, how to make a big retreat centre and my time, energy and everything was wasted for that my brothers and sisters. It is not the retreat centre that should be protected, it is the Word of God that should be protected and spread. If the retreat centre is taken away, let it be taken away but the Word of God should be continued.
If the hospitals are taken away let it go, if the schools has gone, let it go why are we holding on to it. How long can we hold on to it, this all will disappear only the Word of God will remain. Therefore we have to refocus, the church has to refocus unless and until we re-focus, there won't be any more growth and sometimes the God may forget us because this is not the church Lord has started. Because in the early church the ancient apostles, we can see their focus. Their focus was such that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for the Word of God, they were ready to stand for the Word of God, they were ready to go to prisons for the Word of God and they were not ready to sacrifice their lives for institutions or any other institutions. My dear brothers and sisters, this is what I have seen in many countries, in front of the government some time back, our leaders had the moral power and integrity to challenge the leaders of the secular world, we were able to look into their faces and say " you are wrong." But today we are afraid to say " you are wrong ," because we are afraid of losing our schools, colleges and hospitals and all the other institutions will be controlled and taken away by the governments.
Therefore even if they do wrongs we keep quiet in the name of safeguarding and all other things. The governments are passing laws against the divine law; abortion and many other things. Still our hands and legs and mouths are shut and bound, because we have so many pockets and all pockets are full now.
My dear brothers and sisters we need to rethink, including me sometimes it is disturbing me too, my own actions are disturbing me, my own positions are disturbing me and sometimes it makes a big question mark in front me. Who am I, where I am, what am I doing here, is it my real vocation, is it what I am called for.
This is challenging me my dear brothers and sisters, I am sharing my own challenges with you. I am not sharing a declaration of any revolution, its just an examination of conscience. Therefore my dear brothers and sisters we need to refocus, the church has to rethink about this focus. Somewhere it has to start from the top or from the bottom and therefore this where the devil works, the devil works about diversions, this is the work of the devil.
We read the Word of God (Psalm 119:37). “ Turn my eyes from looking at vanities: give me life in your ways.”
All these institutions are vanities, all these positions we are holding on are vanities. You know, sometimes it happens, if we have an aim of getting high positions even if the high positions are making mistakes we will keep quiet and support them. This happens in the churches too and everywhere in this secular world, everywhere.
The church has to be the lighthouse in this world, and we need to be the light for the whole world. If we cannot show the morality and the true path in this world what is the use of church in this world, what is the position. Therefore the church is facing an existential crisis today in this world. Some years ago, people used to look at the church and the voice of the church was very strong, everybody used to respect the voice of church and everybody used to respect the leaders of church. Now everyone is making fun of the church and the leaders, somewhere we have lost the integrity.
My dear brothers and sisters, we cannot blame anybody, we have to blame ourselves. Our fundamental values of Christian life is gone, living together there is no marriage now. People are not interested in sacraments, people are interested in shortcut ways, there is no shortcut, there is only one way that is the way of the cross. Jesus said, “No one can go to God, except through me”. The way Jesus has shown to us is not a express way, not shortcut way, not an easy way, not an instant way but the way of the cross.
