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| O'er the ramparts we watched |
Even if you were here that morning, you probably did not notice. A couple of Sundays ago, I stood outside the 7:30 Mass to greet departing worshippers and noticed a chap handing them papers from a folder. I walked over, and not recognizing him, introduced myself asked what he was distributing. He handed me a political tract, clearly home-made, text on white paper. I asked him to stop distributing it, and when he argued with me I identified myself as the (legal) property owner and asked that he leave the property. He asked that he be allowed to wait for his ride, two people who were still in the church, and I relented.
You would think that would have been enough, but no, he kept trying, and his two friends when they emerged kept trying, to push their message. Our exchange grew rather more pointed until they finally left. They assumed that I was preventing their propagandizing because I disagreed with its content, but that is not so.
The people assembled here to worship God in the Holy Mass – you -- are a very attractive opportunity. You are not only disposed to be faithful and virtuous, but you are open to what you see and hear here in a way that you cannot be, if you are prudent, once you depart. You are attuned to the voice of God and His teaching through the Church, calling you to goodness and holiness, and surrounded by people who wish to be called, as you wish to be called, to fulfill your highest and best potential, which is to be like God.
Because of this, you have an enormous target on your back. Do-gooders and fundraisers all want “a piece of you.” Who better to ask for support, personal, financial, or electoral, than you? Your priorities are known and can be mirrored back to you; your earnestness is manifest because of your presence when so many lounge elsewhere. You are filled with the grace of communion and your sense of solidarity with your brothers and sisters is at its peak. You are, in a word, ripe for the picking.
Approaching you with their plea here, moreover, enhances their status, burnishing it with ecclesiastical and even Divine approbation. You are well-disposed to whatever request you receive here, because if it’s at church, it must be okay …right?
In a word, yes: it must be okay, to be here at your church. It must be BETTER than okay, in fact. It’s not enough to seem charitable and worthy; no, any organization that asks for your support here has to meet the full range of ecclesiastical standards for fiscal accountability and reporting. Anyone inviting your participation must be integrated into the Church’s moral and behavioral standards, similarly meeting requirements for safeguards and reporting (not only child protection, but definitely that). Any advocate of any cause or initiative must be in conformity to Catholic doctrine and approved by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority. And there may be no taint of political partisanship regarding candidate or party. But even all that is not enough to gain access to you.
Why? First of all, because that is not why you are here. I know many parishes where there is a speaker every month who is raising funds or advocating involvement. But even with programs in conformity with all of the standards above, is it really what Sunday morning Mass is for?
Weekly I receive mailings offering to provide a priest who can cover Masses (while raising funds for his organization); asking to be allowed to speak at our Masses about the plight of one group or another, or the benefits of one program or another; from people who want to sell you things or ask you for donations. I turn almost all of them away, because I am the shepherd of the flock.
You may not always notice it, but I am careful even in my own preaching and speaking to emphasize the teaching of the Lord Jesus through His Church, and put at least an audible asterisk to distinguish what is merely my own opinion. The teaching of Christ and the saving doctrine of the Church are so beautiful, so necessary, and so true, but have such a narrow window into your world that I am loathe to crowd it with anything else, much less allow your good faith to be abused by hucksters, shysters, or opportunists.
The people who showed up a couple of weeks ago to sway you to their views probably assumed I chased them away because of what they were proposing. It was indeed pernicious and vile, but I chased them away because you are not on offer for anybody’s project or proposal. You are Christ’s holy people, assembled to worship Him, and I will defend you from all abuse, even when you do not notice.
