A Better Parish

I was asked recently by a non-catholic whether all Catholic Churches were the same. In answering, I realized that I did not want to come across with that superior tone of: "no, they are not all the same, but we are the best". Now, let me make something clear: most Catholics would not willingly go to a Mass that they believed was bad for their spiritual health. Yes, I know some compromise this because they really do not believe that there is anything better out there (I have met a few of them; some even right after they discover that St. George parish really is different).

Yet, keeping that balance between acknowledging the importance of humility on one hand, and speaking the truth about what is best for our spiritual well being on the other hand, is not easy. Yet, we each need to seek to achieve it. If you attend St. George in Republic, Missouri, you likely do so because you see something spiritually beneficial in it. The point is, we often are worried that if we say something is "better" it sounds like we are insulting everything that we consider "not better".

This is only a problem in a society where the majority of people are easily offended. When we are always worried that people are going to fly off the handle at everything they dislike, we tend to react overcautiously. In a more mature society, where people know that some things genuinely are better, and other things genuinely are worse, we can say "I believe this is better" and not worry that someone is going to call the personal offense police.

This is all to say, if you attend St. George (or any other parish that is concerned with reverence and obeying all the rules for the Mass), you do so because you know that it is better for your soul. This means that, yes, there are parishes where things are done in a way that is harming your soul. The problem, of course, is that there are people who have gotten so used to spiritual harm (like the drug addict who knows that the drugs are killing him, but he keeps taking them because he likes the feeling) that they do nothing about fixing the damage being done to them. They are so committed to avoiding change, that they are willing to stay in something that they know is inferior.

So, am I being prideful about my parish? Yes! Of course, that pride is not in myself: I know I could never have accomplished these things myself; it is all the grace of God. If I were to attribute the reverence, beauty, and faithfulness of St. George parish to myself, then that would be sinful pride (and quite stupid as well). Not everyone gets this, but that does not make it incorrect. Pride in what God has done is not sinful pride.

So, when someone asks, "are all Catholic parishes the same?" it is important for us to be humble, but there is nothing wrong with us being accurate. "No, all Catholic parishes are not the same, and we at St. George believe that we have been given the grace to experience what is most pleasing to God". Blessed be the name of the Lord; now and forever.