Yesterday, Blase Cupich was formally installed as archbishop for the archdiocese of Chicago, and gave his first \u201cofficial\u201d homily<\/a>. \u00a0The day before, at a vigil prayer service with a greater number of politicians, he gave another homily<\/a>. \u00a0Taking the two of them as his first official words as archbishop, I\u2019m disappointed. <\/p>\n The vigil homily.<\/b><\/p>\n He begins with customary thank-yous and welcomes (with a bonus pro-Native-American statement that their<\/i> greetings are always \u201cfrom one heart to another\u201d), then moves into addressing \u201chis agenda\u201d \u2014 starting with a humble-brag that, of course<\/i>, \u201d\u00a0I know it is a disaster for me to have my own agenda\u201d but rather \u201cthe agenda has to be God\u2019s, which is beyond our imagining and our abilities.\u201d \u00a0Thanks, Bishop Cupich, for telling us that anything controversial you do or say comes from God, so we\u2019d better just suck it up because you know better. \u00a0(Yeah, I know, it\u2019s mean-spirited, but at the same time, this \u201cmy agenda\/God\u2019s agenda\u201d distinction just didn\u2019t sit well with me.) <\/p>\n Then he speaks about Ezekiel. \u00a0I don\u2019t know if this was due to the day\u2019s scripture reading, or self-selected, or both (that is, if the readings for a service like this may be chosen, and he picked this one), but he references the \u201cdryness\u201d of this passage from Ezekiel, and says this \u201cdryness\u201d exists among us, in the experiences of the elderly and the sick questioning their worth, their sense of purpose and their faith; in the homeless, the underemployed working poor; and in the successful business owner working long hours \u2014 as well as pastors and those who \u201cserve in public life\u201d do to the enormous challenges they face. \u00a0But \u201d\u00a0the Lord of Creation is with us, is walking through this dryness with us, the dryness we face each and every day as leaders.\u201d \u00a0And even among the dry bones, there is still life, and<\/p>\n \u00a0All that is needed is for the prophet, the leader in their midst, to speak in a way that inspires, to speak to the deep yearnings of the people we serve, because it is God who is keeping alive their legitimate aspirations, even when there seems to be no hope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0So far, this is fine.<\/p>\n Then Cupich says that \u201cin moments of deep disagreement\u201d we should not \u201cshy away from stating our position or making our point\u201d \u2014 but he then says we need \u201ccivil discourse,\u201d and makes his pitch that<\/p>\n Recent studies on the involvement of young people in religion and public life bear out a common factor that discourages their participation \u2013 the harsh rhetoric and lack of comity and civility within each group and in the way leaders in both groups treat each other. . . .\u00a0It is not surprising that parishioners, citizens and the public become uneasy and disaffected with community and public life when they see leaders speak in ways that incite fears rather than inspire hope.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0Still all a bit bland (except it does reinforce the stories that he didn\u2019t support pro-life protests, and didn\u2019t want to rock the boat with liberal supporters or public officials).<\/p>\n Next up:<\/p>\n There is a dryness in many people\u2019s lives because they have little experience of being connected in society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0So he thanks all the \u201cgroups,\u201d including labor unions, \u201cgovernment programs\u201d and civic groups. \u00a0And then he lists people of particular concern: \u00a0\u201cthe mother needing prenatal and postnatal care and protection for herself and her child,\u201d ex-cons, addicts, parents seeking quality education for their children. \u00a0And he says \u201cGod\u2019s desire to bring about this sense of belonging is present in the aspirations of every migrant and immigrant . . . . The work of comprehensive immigration reform is not important because it is on my agenda, but because it is on God\u2019s.\u201d \u00a0(Sorry, but these people left communities in which they did \u201cbelong\u201d to improve their economic well-being, so don\u2019t tell me they\u2019re seeking \u201cbelonging.\u201d) \u00a0Only after his paen to the immigrant does he mention gang violence, and here the contrast is clear: \u00a0with respect to immigration, God demands that our legislators open our borders; with respect to gang violence, \u201cthere are no easy answers\u201d but he\u2019s happy to cheer-lead others trying to do something.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s about it: \u00a0he then goes back to generalities and cheerleading about the city of Chicago.<\/p>\n The installation homily.<\/b><\/p>\n This time, he starts right off with a hat tip to immigrants: \u00a0the feast day is the name of his home church, which his immigrant grandparents helped establish, so this day \u201cgives me a chance to recognize all immigrants.\u201d \u00a0This really feels forced. <\/p>\n The gospel reading is about Jesus walking on water: \u00a0the disciples are fishing, it\u2019s stormy, he comes to them, walking on the water, Peter is inspired and gets out of the boat, says, \u201cgive me the power to walk on the water, too,\u201d and does so, until he becomes afraid and starts to sink. <\/p>\n What does he do with it? \u00a0He pulls out three key themes. \u00a0\u201cWe are to join Christ in seeking out, inviting, and accompanying, by abiding with those to whom he sends us.\u201d <\/p>\n Seeking out<\/i>: \u00a0Jesus\u2019s walk across the waters is a seeking out of the disciples, or, more metaphorically, of \u201cthe troubled, those who are lost.\u201d What\u2019s his motivation?<\/p>\n Jesus, we are told, has been on the mountain, in the quiet intimacy of prayer with his Father. That experience of sharing life with the Father is what moves him, prompts him to go out and seek others, so that they too may have this life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh, yuck. \u00a0Please tell me that Cupich does actually believe that Jesus is God! \u00a0Because this sounds so fluffy and much more in the realm of \u201cJesus was an inspired prophet\u201d \u2014 as if this prayer experience, rather than the full knowledge, from the beginning, of his ministry, was what motivated him. \u00a0He then compares Jesus\u2019s \u201cdrive and enthusiasm\u201d to a beloved teacher correcting grammar on her deathbed.<\/p>\n Cupich continues:<\/p>\n We face in our day the formidable task of passing on the faith to the next generation, of evangelizing a modern and sometimes skeptical culture, not to mention inspiring young people to serve the Church as priests and religious. It all seems so daunting, as daunting as walking on water. We are at sea, unsteady in our approach faced with these concerns. Catechists and educators are on the front line of this struggle. So, too, parents and grandparents wonder if they are going to be the last Catholics in their family. Likewise bishops and priests find that the Good News is increasingly difficult to proclaim in the midst of great polarization in church and society. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Jesus tells all of us today to go back to where our journey of faith began, to be in touch with the joyful experience of being transformed by the intimacy God offers us, to be willing to share it with the next generation. Young people have always been attracted to authenticity of life, where words match deeds. Let\u2019s not be afraid to let our young people know about our life with God and how it began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, fine, except that I\u2019m not sure what he means by \u201cgreat polarization\u201d that prevents proclaiming the Good News.<\/p>\n He then throws in a mention of outreach to victims of sexual abuse by priests. \u00a0I suppose it had to be done, though it doesn\u2019t really fit.<\/p>\n Inviting<\/i>: \u00a0I\u2019m not really sure what the difference between \u201cseeking out\u201d and \u201cinviting\u201d is but it doesn\u2019t really matter; this section of the homily is actually about responding to the invitation, leaving \u201cour comfort zone\u201d to \u201ctake an entirely new step in our faith journey, both personally and as a community.\u201d \u00a0This is all fairly vague. \u00a0Personally, we are to end \u201cepisodic Sunday Mass attendance\u201d and \u201cchange habitual bad behavior.\u201d \u00a0And the bishops\u2019 conference is inviting \u201d our nation to be what it has always promised to be, to protect the vulnerable, poor and weak, to treat immigrants with justice and dignity, to respect life and to be good stewards of creation.\u201d <\/p>\n Perhaps this is harmless. \u00a0Or perhaps he is signalling that he is planning on Big Changes.<\/p>\n Accompanying<\/i>: \u00a0just as Jesus gets into the boat, so to he comes to be with us. \u00a0(Again, a bit of de-deifying Jesus: \u00a0\u201cI have always thought that it took more courage for Jesus to get into that boat with those disciples than for Peter to get out of it to walk on water. There was fear, doubt, jealousy even anger in that boat \u2013 a lot of unresolved conflicts as a therapist might say.\u201d \u00a0Ewww.) \u00a0This last section of his homily is pretty standard stuff.<\/p>\n So there you have it.<\/p>\n I know there\u2019s the school of thought that says, \u201cyoung people these days leave the Catholic Church because they think it\u2019s too focused on pelvic issues, so if we just shut up about that, and tell them explicitly or by our seeming indifference, that we\u2019ve removed sexual sins from the catechism, happy days are here again.\u201d \u00a0Is that his plan? <\/p>\n Or is it all about the Hispanics, putting political advocacy for open borders at the top of the list because he\u2019s written off everyone else? <\/p>\n Bottom line: \u00a0I\u2019m disappointed.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, Blase Cupich was formally installed as archbishop for the archdiocese of Chicago, and gave his first \u201cofficial\u201d homily. \u00a0The day before, at a vigil prayer service with a greater number of politicians, he gave another homily. \u00a0Taking the two of them as his first official words as archbishop, I\u2019m disappointed. The vigil homily. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-archbishop-cupich"],"yoast_head":"\n