It’s been a long time

Last updated on: August 5, 2012 at 3:40 pm by Dave Griffey

It’s been a long time 2012-08-05T15:40:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Since I blogged. The reasons are legion, for they are many. Once again, our life is in upheaval. As it has been for going on seven years (that would be about how long it’s been since we entered the Catholic Church). Some of it continues to be the unenviable task of attempting to start a new vocation in an increasingly hostile-toward-traditional-religion society experiencing a sluggish, if not declining, economy. Some also, apparently has to deal with the fact that this is not your father’s Catholic Church welcoming Protestant Clergy. Ah yes, we’ve all heard the stories about how, back in the day, when Protestant clergy came into the Church, they were welcomed with open arms; positions were made, jobs were given, ordinations were handed out, TV shows were established, classes at colleges and seminaries were opened – all on the so cool basis that these were former Protestant clergy converts who were leaving it all to become Catholic! Woo hoo!

Well, that was then. Not saying it doesn’t still happen, but not like it used to. Fact is, the Church has turned a corner and gone down a different path. There’s still those, on the parish level, who may be impressed and glad to see someone come in with an arm load of experience, training, and schooling regarding the faith. But as a ‘Church’, things have changed. The 80s convert explosion was, after all, on the heels of Pope John Paul II’s New Evangelism. Reaching out to our separated brethren was the talk of the day. But that was then. Our Pope now is not nearly as evangelistic, and what efforts he has spent reaching out has been confined almost exclusively to the Anglican Communion, Secular Europe or the Islamic world. This could be one of the reasons.

Another reason might just be that the great Protestant Clergy conversion movement was, in the end, a fad. It was hip at the time. Sort of like Dungeons and Dragons. At first, everyone was playing it. Then, somewhere it became stigmatized, and you couldn’t get most guys to play it from a mile away for fear it would end the social life right there and then. Same here. Somewhere, somehow, things have changed. Not that there is nothing. Of course, by definition of he numbers of those involved, there is still something. There is at least one lay apostolate dedicated to keeping the issue of Protestant Clergy converts in the loop, no matter what the actual numbers might be, and no matter just how much actual help is really given.

Likewise, there will still be the parish here or the odd diocese there that reaches out and attempt to assimilate these folks into the Church. But there were never that many. There has always been a net loss of former Catholic priests leaving the Church, and in all honesty, the numbers of Protestant Clergy converting were usually small. Those that did often were clergy in the looser sense of the word: a professor, a youth minister, a Christian counselor or missionary. Often they were folks who had ‘non-clergy’ vocations, able to more or less step into a Catholic, or secular, version of what they did in their Protestant lives. I came to find out that the storied full time minister who walks away from his pulpit, loses everything and then finds a miraculous path to fulfillment serving within the Church while making it back on his feet is a rare, rare thing indeed.

In fact, some have long gone back to other Christian pastures, seeing the need to continue to eat and feed their families. Some did make it, but again, that was increasingly long ago. Some are still coming in, and I encourage them. Because I still believe the Catholic Faith is the true faith. But be warned: be prepared to give up everything, and get little to nothing in return except a more meaningful walk with God. You may well find none of your years or decades of ministry background utilized, and you may end up watching your family lose it all. It may be that giving everything up for that pearl of great value is worth it in the end, but you won’t be able to eat it.

So that’s where much of our turmoil is right now, meaning that blogging has been light, and once again, will probably continue to be light as we work toward getting ourselves on a permanent path in life.

On another front, my brother-in-law has been diagnosed with cancer. Like so many things in the last half dozen years, this has added to our sorrow and stress at a time when we had too much of both. Prayers for him and his diagnosis would be appreciated very much. Likewise, continued prayers for us as we, even now, continue to find where it is we are supposed to perch in this not-so-new life as Catholics. We are ever hopeful that things will work out, though we understand that many in our country, and indeed around the world, continue to struggle, and sometimes more. Nevertheless, when it is your own hearth and home affected, it weighs on your mind no matter how you attempt to qualify it, and we pray that no less than by the end of 2012, we will finally see the path laid before us how we will see these problems fixed, our vocations established, and the ability to relax and know that the proverbial daily bread will be coming in the future. Especially as we have a young man two years shy of a college we can’t, at this time, hope to aid him in attending.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 18, 2012

The Feast of St. Mary Magdalen

Next Post

August 5, 2012 Not all is gloom and despair

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the father of John the Baptist?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph Zechariah Simeon Nathan