Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   LOCAL FEATURES Wednesday, September 25, 2002 Imagination is key to resolving crisis, priests told By Lou Jacquet HURON, Ohio — The struggles of an aging priesthood and an embattled Church cannot be solved by problem-solving. The hope for rejuvenation lies in opening the imagination to what a “God of humor and surprises” can do, then being unafraid to follow wherever one might be led. Franciscan Father Canice Connors brought that message to the sixth Priests’ Convocation of priests from the Diocese of Youngstown gathered at Sawmill Creek Lodge last month for rest and recreation outside this northwest Ohio town. Father Connors, who has directed retreats for clergy throughout the country, is past president of St. Luke Institute in Maryland and a consultant on renewal for religious communities. Theme for the event was “Remaining Youthful in Spirit, Dreams and Identity.” “The purpose of the workshop,” said Father Connors, commenting afterward to the Exponent, “was to invite priests to reflect on their own experience of God in their life, so that the experience might become a basis of strength as they face the challenges – as we all do – in an aging group. That strength has to come from the Spirit, and that can only come if we open ourselves up to those considerations with courage, with the expectation that we really can find a God who saves us, rather than abandons us.” The priest began the morning session by retelling the story of Sarah and Abraham. She’s 91, laughing hysterically at having been told by an angel that she will give birth, “laughing at the idea of a baby being born in the geriatric ward with Medicare picking up the tab.” “God is above all a God of humor,” Father Connors reflected. “He loves to allow us, in our problem state, to realize there is no solution that is yielded by logic. We don’t think ourselves out of problems; we discover something that is brand-new and heaven-revealed.” As preachers, he said, it is important for priests to “keep that excitement; we don’t bring to the pulpit the frowning face of a problem solver.” Whatever the problems in a given era, the priest offered, “God will bring forth something brand new and He’ll make us laugh.” Speaking about the challenges of an aging priesthood in an era of negative publicity about priesthood, Father Canice said that older priests realize “the treasure is in relationships” and praised Bishop Benedict Franzetta, in attendance, “for a kind of wisdom that can’t be gained in any other way but by listening to the story that God is a lover.” The aging process is critical to becoming more fully human, he said, and the only way to discover our significance. All genuine spirituality must be built on the “fundamental truth of Christianity that God loves me,” the priest said. If a person fails to grasp that, believing instead that they will have to merit the love of God and others, they will spend a lifetime trying to make people like them. Too often, he said, priests approach their spirituality in the latter way. As a person ages and begins to realize that their powers are declining, he added, it is more important than ever to get close to God and to address anxiety with trust. “I know God as my father, as the One I trust,” the priest said. “That doesn’t come by thinking about it. It comes by reflecting on our experience of God as the one who does in fact save us.” What is needed most in priestly ministry today, he told those present, is “a spirituality which addresses the issue of violence, because all violence is rooted in an inappropriate grasp of the sacred.” He pointed to the temptation among priests to segregate out those who have caused the priestly fraternity embarrassment by sexual abuse problems. As priests age, Father Connors said, it is important that they do not turn inward but remain convinced that they have been loved and have love to give to others. “If I were to sum up my years of ministering to priests,” the priest reflected, “I would say that our basic issue is that so many of us don’t believe we are loved. Our single biggest issue is self-hatred, manifested in so many ways.” In the current climate for priests in this country, he said, “the old certitudes are less certain” and “the old privileges are under challenge.” There is, furthermore, “a bewilderment about mission” and a sense that, if being human cannot be defined by productivity as one ages, how can it be defined? Fueling that anxiety is a worry about where the next generation of priests will come from, he said. He cited a recent Atlantic Monthly article which pointed out that “the vast majority of Catholicism will be African, Asian and South American” soon. He said: “There is a whole new world coming about, and we are anxious about it. What will it mean to the establishment?” In such a “time of dislocation,” Father Connors said, one must turn to the prophets to learn that ordinary language is not enough. “You have to go deep enough in the crisis in order to avoid denial,” he suggested. “If there is anything today that the Church is facing in terms of accusation against its spirituality, it is that we are overwhelmed by our denial….you don’t deny something that you are empowered to address…Denial is an outcome of a lack of trust in the power of God.” Father Connors said the solution to the problems faced by priests and the Church itself lies in imagination. Prophets do not come with solutions, he mused, but with “a language that opens up again what is frozen in crisis – the human imagination.” A Church without imagination believes that there is no other place to be but where we are. “The spirituality of priesthood has to address the question, as we age, ‘What do we do with the memories of the times we were hurt?” he said. Some priests cannot get past a memory of when they were hurt 25 years before. “As far as I am concerned for celibates,” Father Connors said, “aging has only one evidence that it worked: … At 85, are you still smiling? Do people enjoy being around you? Do you speak with gentleness? Do you care about tomorrow? If you get up in the pulpit and all people see is a frowning face…you could have lived a life of St. Theresa’s purity, but it’s been a complete waste of time. That’s not where celibacy is supposed to end up.” Father Patrick Manning, pastor of Alliance Regina Coeli Parish, called the topics discussed at the convocation “incredibly timely and very practical. “I especially was impressed that [Father Connors] reminded us an accumulation of things is not going to keep us from having to deal with the fact that one day we are all going to die.” Father Manning said one of the most important benefits priests derive from such a convocation is getting away for a change of scenery, “because most of us live where we work, and that’s a pressure of always being on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can’t give to people what you don’t have. If we don’t get out of the kitchen, we are never going to see what the rest of the house looks like.” Asked for his assessment of the event, Bishop Thomas Tobin told the Exponent that he thought Father Connors “did a great job in identifying some of the key issues that priests in this diocese and priests everywhere are facing – the whole sense of growing older, and what does that mean in terms of the challenges and also the gifts that [aging] brings? He articulated the challenge very clearly.” Bishop Tobin said the convocation is a chance for priests to get away and be refreshed and renewed for their ministries. It also builds up fraternal bonds among the men, he said. “The way ministry is in the Church today, many of these priests don’t see each other that often, and sometimes they don’t even know one another. The sense of fraternal bonding that takes place here is very important.” Next issue: Part II   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2002   Christmas letter from El Salvador missions thanks diocesan Catholics   Bishop shares views, discussion with Central students   ETC slates Christmas specials throughout the season   My Favorite Christmas Memories   Guidelines on religious ed homeschooling are issued   Local Catholic radio station targets Feb. 1 date   HMs end 98-years of service to Salem St. Paul Parish   Learn ‘language’ of young, youth meet speaker urges   Bishop Tobin: Meeting in D.C. on norms was ‘anxious, tense, difficult’   Priests must ask one another the tough questions, speaker says   Catholic death and funeral rites   Deacons mark 25th with Mass, dinner, memories   Diocesan Ministry Convocation Speaker: Global solidarity, not globalization, should be aim   Jusseaume inaugurated as sixth Walsh president   Diaconate marks 25th anniversary with Oct. 27 fete   New norms sent to priests, deacons on Communion under both kinds   Ashtabula parishes are ‘one Catholic community’   Jusseaume to become Walsh’s sixth president   Charismatic speaker: ‘Church being tested in faithfulness’   Lutheran/Catholic covenant event draws 140 to Walsh   Canton St. Joseph Parish observes centennial celebration   HMHP CEO Michael Rowan   Stewardship speaker: It’s about gratitude and thanking God first   Imagination is key to resolving crisis, priests told   War with Iraq? Expo readers opposed by 81-19%   Newspaper columns didn’t give complete story, official says   Diocesan Ministry Convocation set Oct. 26 at YSU’s Kilcawley   New year brings new faculty, changes at diocesan high schools   Mont St. Michel, Avignon’s papal palace are treasures   Preparing for the priesthood   Entering well-earned retirement, Sr. Marcella’s not slowing down   Warren St. Mary observes 100th year for church building   Lay Ministry Formation program attracting new audience   The cathedrals of France: Monuments of faith in stone   Executive summary of the ad hoc commission on athletics in diocesan high schools   ‘No widespread abuse’ found   Milburn leaving pro-life post to pursue grad studies   Return to France yields history, memories, surprises   Two new members appointed for Diocesan Finance Council   Former SS. C&M school razed, but memories remain   Pastor, 80, keeps busy with ‘lots of interests’   Ravenna IC boasts 5 high school valedictorians for ‘02   Humility Sister Sandy Pedone to profess perpetual vows July 21   NRLC convention filled with good news   ‘Capture the Romance’ is theme for NFP Week   Question of moral evil discussed at Walsh symposium   Notre Dame Sisters will celebrate jubilees July 14   ‘A great lady’ retires   Statement of Bishop Tobin on the meeting of the U. S. Conference   Haladej, Celuch ordained to priesthood, diaconate in Slovakia   Bishop plans implementation of norms on sexual abuse   Kevin McCaffrey, Robert Miller are newest priests   Theologian: ‘Behave toward others as though God were there’   Fr. Bonnot: Use good judgment for TV, movie viewing   MOMS: ‘A place to claim yourself’   Storm ‘changed lives forever’ for Jackson Twp. family   Bishop will ordain Miller, McCaffrey at May 25 ceremony   Update on child abuse   Vicar general addresses issue of not giving priest names to media   New Middletown St. Paul youth — called to be ‘witnesses’ for Christ   New Ursuline Sisters leadership team elected to 6-year term   Two receive first pastorates; two pastors change parishes   Abuse coverage   Walsh University dedicates new ‘David’ campus center   Sisters’ HIV/AIDS ministry critical, heartbreaking   Bishop visits St. Peter’s as rebuilding process begins   Chrism Mass theme: Priests can’t afford discouragement   Bishop’s Appeal stresses meeting needs, funding ministries   Diocese OKs closing Conneaut St. Frances Cabrini K-8; preschool stays   St. Stan’s marks 100th year   Canton St. Joseph choir enjoys ‘incredible trip’   New schools superintendent   Four journeys of faith among hundreds marked here   DPC considers direction, importance of youth ministry   Richard Jusseaume named as Walsh University’s sixth president   Pro-life dinner heralds new beginning in Stark County   Kids at church   Religious day studies resurrection amid culture of violence   Richard Jusseaume named as Walsh University’s sixth president   Keynoter: Eucharist should change us   Speaker: ‘Truth’ key concept in Gospel of John   Parishes offer Lenten missions for spiritual enrichment   Parishes offer Lenten missions, speakers series   Working in Medjugorje   TV anchorman finds faith not incompatible with journalism   Action alert on cloning set in diocese for Feb. 2-3   Austintown parishioner finds fulfillment in El Salvador   ‘Where Faith and Knowledge Meet’   Resisting TEMPTATION: It’s worth the effort, teens say   4th annual Diocesan Pro-life Mass set Jan. 26   Catholic/Lutheran dialogue, death of Walsh president top news   Diocese helping Afghanistan relief   Past Articles From 2001