When my youngest child, Michael, was baptized, the ceremony was conducted by a Catholic priest and a deacon. This is a beautiful moment in a parent's life. You feel very close to your family and you truly hope that God starts watching over your baby from that moment on and never stops.
During the baptism, both the priest and the deacon got to hold my baby in their arms to perform the sacrament. The priest was a nice, warm human being, but his demeanor was that of someone that was performing a work related function. To his defense, Michael was just one of several babies baptized that day.
In contrast, the deacon was an older gentleman that was having the greatest time assisting in the ceremony. He oozed real happiness and joy. He held Michael and looked at him lovingly, like a grandparent would. This impressed me. I made it a point to have a quick conversation with him after the mass ended. This deacon had recently become a grandfather himself and he told me that Michael reminded him of his grandson. This man, I realized, had a ponytail tucked into the back of his shirt, and the Harley Davidson parked in front of the Church was his. He spoke Spanish at a good level, since he had spent months travelling through Latin America during his youth. This man was a character, a treasure trove of interesting life experiences. A man's man, if you would.
I personally made more of a connection with this deacon than with any Catholic priest I have ever met. He understood what it is to be a husband and a parent. It makes you wonder how the views of the catholic church would evolve if deacons were in charge of the church? What if priests were allowed to marry? How would that affect their views on contraception, homosexuality, gender equality, etc.
It is easier to be dogmatic when your experience is limited to reading about how things should be. Life is a little more nuanced than any recipe book I have ever read. Real life experiences make intelligent people more pragmatic and flexible. Shared experiences are the foundation of connecting with people, knowing that someone understands where you are in life, first hand.
During the last twenty years I have seen Catholic priests get much older on average. No new interest, it seems, for the profession. More heavy accents, as some of the replacements are imports. The shortage of priests in the US is so dire, that the Church seems to look the other way when improper sexual behavior is discovered and does not take appropriate action unless the situation becomes a crisis.
When the cardinals elect a new Pope, it seems they look at the incredible mess the Church is in and they expect that a strong administrator type is the answer. Someone that can solve budget problems, lawsuits, political intrigues within and all the drama of a very large multinational operation. This approach completely misses the point.
Stop looking for an administrator type, find a Steve Jobs. Someone that can lead the Catholic Church and make the right type of changes. A Church that aims to truly connect with the people it tries to serve. We need a Pope that recognizes that we live in a different world and there is no coming back. We need someone that even in the smallest degree, displays the radical acceptance of humanity with all its shortcomings that Jesus embodied.
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