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27 Jun 2010 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

PEOPLE START ASKING us the question pretty early: What do you want to be when you grow up? We want so many things in the beginning, as much as wonder permits. We want to be superheroes, artists, rock stars, presidents, NASCAR racers, truck drivers, millionaires. Or as my preschool niece used to explain: "First a baker, then a mommy, then a ballerina, and maybe a schoolteacher. I don't know what else later." When it comes to our early dreams for life, our eyes are the limit. Whatever we see, we imagine ourselves becoming—at least for a while. By high school we absorb the deflating truth that we have to take definite steps to become something. And what we become may well preclude other things or everything else. Maybe that's when we define ourselves down to the traditional goals: a good paying job, someone to love, home, family. We get behind the plow and try to keep the lines reasonably straight. We know nothing about Elisha before the day Elijah snapped him up for great things. All we know is what we hear about that particular day: a young man plowing in the fields, keeping the lines straight, his thoughts on his chores and his duty to his family. And then, suddenly, his world gets dis-mantled. A flying cloak is hurled across his shoulders, and the prophet who flung it hurries down the road. A startled Elisha has to run to catch up with him. He knows the authority one must assume with this cloak. He knows the sword of decision hangs right above his head. He knows the classic domestic life he'd assumed for himself is no longer a given. He has to make a radical choice, and make it now. Elisha belongs to the lucky ones because he understands so much about his predicament. Most of us are more like those hapless folks who run up to Jesus along the journey and make half-baked pledges of allegiance to him. "I'll follow you wherever you go," we say—but give no thought to how radical a journey that might be. Or we make conditional statements: "I'll follow later—but first . . . but only if . . . but on one condition . . . ." Jesus exposes these false declarations of discipleship for what they are and rejects them all. Authentic followers don't look back. They turn forward. We can only head into kingdom territory if we first abandon our allegiance to other, smaller goals. Because Elisha is perceptive, responsive, and decisive, he becomes the greatest of the prophets, greater even than the one whose mantle he accepts. We never learn what those other people become who once were offered a great opportunity—and preferred things just as they are. Related scripture links Giving testimony: Acts 2:1-11; 1 John 1:1-4 Called to Christ: Rom. 1:5-7, 8:28-30, 11:29; 1 Cor. 1:1-2, 26-31 Famous calls in scripture: Gen. 15:1-6; Exod. 3:4-10; 1 Sam. 3:1-18; Ruth 1:16-18; Isa. 6:1-8; Jer.1:4-10; Acts 9:1-6; Gal. 1:11-16 "Unequal yokes": 1 Cor. 10-13, 5:6-8, 6:15-20, 7:12-16; 2 Cor. 6:14-18 Catechism links Facing Jerusalem: CCC 557 Human freedom: CCC 1730-1742; 1749

Authors Alice Camille

identity professions Destiny Leadership Journey discipleship

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Tough year for clergy’s tarnished reputation

29 Dec 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The magi came from the east to the newborn Jesus, the Epiphany Sunday gospel relates, because they “saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” A generation ago Americans paid homage in very high numbers to the honesty and ethics of members of the clergy, Gallup polls dating back to 1977 indicate. The clerical star has fallen in recent years, however, and this year for the first time since Gallup began asking the question, fewer than half of those polled said clergy have “high” or “very high” moral standards. Overall, 47 percent of respondents to the survey gave clergy “high” or “very high” ratings, a sharp drop in confidence from the 67 percent of Americans who viewed them this way in 1985. This year clergy took a back seat to nurses, pharmacists, schoolteachers, medical doctors, members of the military, and police officers. The overall trend for clergy has sloped downward since 2001, with Gallup pollsters attributing the slide to scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors. “The Catholic priest abuse stories from the early 2000s helped lead to a sharp drop in Americans’ ratings of clergy, a decline from which the profession has yet to fully recover,” Gallup Managing Editor Art Swift wrote about the poll. Rev. J. C. Austin of Auburn Theological Seminary, however, suggests another reason that the clergy’s reputation has suffered. Too often, he said, divisive clergy overshadow those working toward the common good, especially when it comes to “hot button” issues like gay marriage and abortion. Nurses are the most trusted profession and have been nearly every year since Gallup added them to the poll in 1999, with 82 percent of people saying they rank highly or very highly on the ethical spectrum. Clergy came in seventh of the 22 professions ranked this year. Homily hint: No one has to tell a preacher that being a member of the clergy is a tough job. Talking with the faith community about what it feels like to be on the other side of the pulpit would make for an engaging sermon and might go a long way toward building a supportive familial bond in the faith community. Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

Trust professions catholic priests gallup poll clergy Honesty ethical standards
Tough year for clergy’s tarnished reputation

05 Jan 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The magi came from the east to the newborn Jesus, the Epiphany Sunday gospel relates, because they “saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” A generation ago Americans paid homage in very high numbers to the honesty and ethics of members of the clergy, Gallup polls dating back to 1977 indicate. The clerical star has fallen in recent years, however, and this year for the first time since Gallup began asking the question, fewer than half of those polled said clergy have “high” or “very high” moral standards.Overall, 47 percent of respondents to the survey gave clergy “high” or “very high” ratings, a sharp drop in confidence from the 67 percent of Americans who viewed them this way in 1985.This year clergy took a back seat to nurses, pharmacists, schoolteachers, medical doctors, members of the military, and police officers. The overall trend for clergy has sloped downward since 2001, with Gallup pollsters attributing the slide to scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors.“The Catholic priest abuse stories from the early 2000s helped lead to a sharp drop in Americans’ ratings of clergy, a decline from which the profession has yet to fully recover,” Gallup Managing Editor Art Swift wrote about the poll.Rev. J. C. Austin of Auburn Theological Seminary, however, suggests another reason that the clergy’s reputation has suffered. Too often, he said, divisive clergy overshadow those working toward the common good, especially when it comes to “hot button” issues like gay marriage and abortion.Nurses are the most trusted profession and have been nearly every year since Gallup added them to the poll in 1999, with 82 percent of people saying they rank highly or very highly on the ethical spectrum. Clergy came in seventh of the 22 professions ranked this year.Homily hint: No one has to tell a preacher that being a member of the clergy is a tough job. Talking with the faith community about what it feels like to be on the other side of the pulpit would make for an engaging sermon and might go a long way toward building a supportive familial bond in the faith community. Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

Trust art swift j c austin professions catholic priests gallup poll priests clergy Honesty ethical standards

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