Reform Your Heart... Not the Church!

­In the wake of Pope Benedict’s announcement, you may have heard many discussing how “they think the Church needs to reform.” Whenever I hear this I just want to bust out laughing. “Oh please, dear media, celebrities and pop culture enthusiasts… please tell us how you think the Church that Jesus Christ founded needs to reform!?” Are you serious? Where do these people come off thinking that they have this great knowledge of what is right for the Catholic Church?

One of the first things I often hear is that the Church needs to change the Sacrament of Holy Orders to allow women to be priests. According to them, this would help in the Church’s vocation problem and also show that the Church is “with the times” on the equality of women.

Right off the bat, I can’t believe that this argument still continues? It’s about as pointless as people demanding that the government release documentation on alien life! It’s ridiculous! And really a blasphemy to the Sacrament of Holy Orders!

Let’s get some things straight on this issue. Number one, it’s not up for debate in the Church, so making this an issue is only creating excuses aroused by the Devil to have aversion to the Church. If you are someone who thinks that the Church needs to allow women to be Priests, then you clearly have no knowledge of what the Sacrament of Holy Orders is all about, nor its meaning to our salvation. There are many arguments out there that have been said that truly hold no weight what-so-ever on this topic! And if you believe any of them, then you have truly been fooled, so let’s clear some things up.

The most common argument is that Jesus never ordained women because at the time it wouldn’t have been acceptable. This is such an ignorant statement. We know that historically Jesus did many things that were unacceptable at that time in history. So many unacceptable things including for example, even allowing women to be amongst His followers, that it eventually lead Him to His death. If Jesus wanted women priests in His Church to begin with, He would have ordained them, and instructed His Apostles to ordain them and the people of those times would welcome it because Jesus said so. However the mere fact that He didn’t even ordain His own beloved mother who was the best woman that ever lived, clearly points out that this was not a matter of social politics, but actually a matter pertaining to the spirit. Men and women are created equal in many ways, but we are not the same. We are still created wife and mother, husband and father. Roles that are not interchangeable. The role of a man being called to the priesthood is true poetic justice to his fall in the Garden of Eden. Because man failed to protect his wife in the Garden of Eden, it has been put upon men this task to now protect the Church who is the Bride of Christ.

When Christ came into this world, He came as a man. Why? Because the essence of man as created by God, is to be leader, protector and father. Jesus showed men how to truly act like men by showing Himself as the “New Adam.” Since the first Adam failed, Jesus shows us the true way to be, and therefore through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, man is called to act in Persona Christi, (in the person of Christ). To protect, lead and father the Church and the children she bares. This is not a feminine role. Of course Jesus showed us all how to live out our calling in Baptism to be priest, prophet and king. But this is a different kind of priesthood than that which is given to us in baptism. For any man, Christ has given us the example of how to live our lives as true men of God. And the Sacramental Priesthood is a good fulfillment to that nature as a man.

For a woman to want to be a priest, it wouldn’t make any sense. They want to become more manly like Christ? No. A woman should feel the call to be more feminine like Our Blessed Mother, who like I mentioned, was never ordained a priest. Mary was the only perfect woman that ever lived. She is even referred to as the “New Eve”. Who wouldn’t want to model their femininity after hers? Unless for some bizarre reason you think you are better than the Blessed Mother?

Besides the spiritual reasons behind why women can’t be ordained, the Church has made it clear for centuries that this is a dogma of the Church and cannot be changed. Even Blessed Pope John Paul II made it clear in his apostolic letter “Ordinatio sacerdotalis” in 1994 that even if the Church wanted to ordain women, they do not have the power to do so. He even concluded his letter by speaking from the Chair of Peter and declaring infallibly that, “Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.” By the Pope stating “I declare” this is an infallible statement, it therefore should be understood that this issue is… case closed!

But what about how it could help vocations in the Church? This is also a false accusation that is about as equal too Obama’s idea that if we spend more, our national debt will go away. The answer is no, ordaining women would not help the vocations problem. It would only hurt Holy Mother Church and her children. The vocations problem is not caused by not allowing women to be priests, it’s because currently no one is taking their faith seriously. Before Vatican II when the seminaries were overflowing with vocations, the faithful were serious about their faith. Now-a-days when there are such things as “Clown Masses” and homilies that start out with a joke, the seriousness of a vocation is lost. What is needed is a return to the reverence and traditions of the Church, along with a greater understanding of our Catechism. If you look at parts of the Church that are very traditional and have a stronger reverence for the Eucharist, there you will find many vocations growing day by day.

Another thing to mention is that the argument to allow priests to get married is another idea that truly holds no weight in helping the Church. Although even St. Peter himself was married and some priests who are apart of the Eastern Rites of the Church allow their priests to be married, this does not help vocations. It actually makes the vocation a lot tougher! Ask any married priest of one of the Eastern Catholic Rites of the Church and they will tell you that life, as a married Priest is no picnic.

Yet some will also say that allowing priests to get married would also help the abuse scandals in the Church. False. The abuse scandals were not caused because the practice of being celibate.  The abuse scandals came about because of temptations and feeling in these men that were never addressed and eventually a sin was committed. And because of these incidents, the Church is taking action to better council these men and helps them to fight these impure temptations.  Allowing them to marry is not a solution. Remember that even Protestant Ministers have had similar problems in their churches, and many of them are married.

On the issue of allowing even contraception in the Church… that also will never happen. God said from the beginning, “be fruitful and multiply,” do you really think that His Church would condone a practice that would put a stop to life? No. Even Humane Vitae states many of the dangers that contraception can cause. I think people often view contraception as a necessity when having a family and wanting to space each child out. Or people might also think that it is important to give it to your children so that they don’t get pregnant by “mistake”.

Lets all remember that a baby is not a mistake. If two people, whether they are married or not, engage in a sexual embrace, there is likely a chance that they could become pregnant. This is not a new phenomena people! If you don’t want to have children, then don’t put yourself into that scenario! And especially, if you are someone who doesn’t want kids… then marriage really isn’t for you. Marriage by historical definition from the beginning of time was made for a man and a woman to be joined together to bring life into this world and raise that life as mother and father. If you are not ready to be a father or mother, then you are not ready for marriage! And if you are married and are not open to life, then you might need a reform of your marriage because you are missing out on one of the greatest gifts that this sacrament holds. And don’t worry about the number of children God gives you. If a child is conceived, then they have a purpose and mission set by God to live out in this life. We must remember that God watches over all of us, and takes care of us. (Matthew 6:26) Therefore no one should every worry about how they will support their children because as long as you have faith in God, He will never give you more than you can handle. I was even told the story once of a family that was down to their last dime, and the father put that dime into the collection box at Church. His wife was so angry at him for what he did, but he knew God would provide for them. And sure enough when they arrived home, neighbors had left baskets of food on their doorstep. God is good!

You see the Church teaches these things not to be “behind the times”, but rather they are ahead of the times. The Church knows by the guidance of the Holy Ghost what is right and what is wrong for the faithful. Even Jesus preached about how it is wrong to follow the traditions of men (Mark 7:8) instead of the commandments of God. The traditions of the Church are not that of men, but are the teachings of Jesus Christ handed on down through the Apostles and Bishops of the Church. It is the Catholic Church herself that is the only Church that holds steadfast to the truth of God, because the Spirit of God runs her. Who are we, to tell God to reform His Church? It is those of us who find quarrel with the Church who rather need a reform of heart so that the next time we hear one of these fantasy stories about how the Church should be, we will know it is nothing more than a fantasy.