What should we as Catholics do if we hear something in a Homily or from a priest that doesn't sound right? I don't mean opinion, I mean, when he says something that makes our insides twist all up because although we are no St. Thomas Aquinas, we know that what he just said, "can't be right."
Do we approach the priest after Mass and ask for clarification? Do we send him a letter or e-mail asking him to explain what he meant, because we didn't get it? What do we do to support our position that it was an incorrect teaching?
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Terry, at Abbey Roads points to a related situation, where a Bishop has rebuked a priest for speaking out strongly against abortion and homosexual marriage. Terry argues that the danger isn't in what the priest said versus what the Bishop said, but how the Bishop construed what the priest was doing.
So the bishop is telling the faithful this priest is teaching his personal opinion? What can be more divisive or confusing than that? Something is off here.So then are we to assume that priests are simply giving us their opinion of the Catholic Church's teaching on issues of the faith? I don't think so. I wouldn't take what this Bishop said as to be the way we should view what a priest says. In fact, I would say the opposite is true, and this isn't my opinion it is that of Cardinal Marc Ouellet:
“We need intellectuals for that, theologians, philosophers, Christians who really believe in the Gospel and share the doctrine of the Church on moral questions,” he said. “We have suffered from this mentality of dissent” that is “still dominating the intelligentsia.” (Link s/t: Terry)So if there is dissent, and the Cardinal sees it, shouldn't we? He is the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops. He is essentially the Guardian of the Guardians. What he says is rather telling.
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So then back to our question... what do we do? Do we write our Bishop if we continually hear obtuse teaching? Do we talk about it with our friends at the parish? We don't want rumors and scandal? This is a hard question, and it is hard because the situation should exist. We should have priests that adhere to the teachings of the faith and don't interject ideas that are clearly contrary, or worse yet, confusing.
Now I am not talking about a minor thing here, or a slip of the tongue there. I am talking big things. For instance we heard in a homily yesterday that we as the faithful, should not have heaven as our goal. Our goal is to live in the Kingdom of God. (In an earthly sense.)
Oh, really? In that case, I am gonna skip out on Mass, go watch some baseball, and buy me a GPS to find this Kingdom of Heaven. I hope they have a good burger place there.
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Our best line of defense is our own faith. WE MUST KNOW THE FAITH. A friend who reads my blog explained how in these situations even the simplest of Catholic minds can sense that such teachings are false. But I worry that he is wrong. I worry that the confusion that priests can inflict with dissident and heterodoxy can usurp the logic that defines most peoples thinking. Not because they are weak in an intellectual sense, but because weak formation creates fertile soil for further false teaching.
After a while heterodoxy grows like a weed. It takes all the good that once existed and creates something that is life sucking and useless. So such teachings will grow into something, and it can be falsely defined as Catholic teaching, but it won't be the truth.
That is why we must learn our faith. We must know it. We must guard our hearts and minds from false teachings. Some are intentional yes, I truly believe that. But most are mistakes. Most come from good and honest men, who for a multitude of reasons profess something that is inconsistent with Catholic teaching. We must be ready for such things, the devil wants to sink his teeth into us in whatever way he can... sometimes he comes in sheep's clothing.
We must defend ourselves, our families, our friends... and Our Church. We must know our faith, so that we can defend our faith.
