It never ceases to amaze me how soft and spineless we are when it comes to our Catholic faith.

Everything else takes precedence. “It’s the annual retreat for your sons and daughters. Your kids have to be there.”

“They’ve got a volleyball game that weekend we’re so busy I don’t feel comfortable asking my child to do something he doesn’t want to do he’s got homework I know we had the dates six months ago but she really needs to go to the mall to get that pair of running shoes they don’t have wi fi at that camp they don’t like to be away from home overnight I worry that the food isn’t very good…”

Then I read about a Catholic school where they dismissed a lesbian when she got pregnant. Presumably she had signed a statement that her lifestyle would conform with Catholic teaching. She broke her contract so she was fired. What’s the big deal? She made her choice. So they start the passive aggressive “We are so wounded” victim thing while at the same time calling the lawyers and the press and starting the petitions. And this from the fellow Catholics. Geesh.

Think about it. You sign your kid up for football or track or tennis or whatever and you accept that the coach is going to yell at your kid. He’s going to demand that the kid be on time for practice and he better work hard or he won’t make the cut. He’s going to demand something called commitment from your kid. If the kid doesn’t deliver he lets down the whole team, lets down himself, lets down the school. You know the drill. The athletes demand something from the kids.

Same if your son or daughter joins the Marines. There’s a person called the drill sergeant who makes that recruit’s life hell for a time. Everybody accepts it. “It puts hair on his chest.” we say approvingly. “It helps them grow up” we nod. “It gives the kids some backbone.” And so it is. We all understand and we all approve.

But let the priest make the slightest demand, let he whisper the smallest expectation of commitment or self sacrifice, discipline or denial and oh my what an outcry! What a display of wounded feelings, guilt trip and hissy fits. Continue Reading