Deacon Greg Kandra has the story.
Remember Father Greg Shaffer?
He’s the priest at George Washington University who is under attack by a couple of homosexual activists. The reason? Father Shaffer told them that homosexual people are called to celebacy.
It turns out that people are attracted to this simple formula of preaching Church teaching. The parish at the Newman Center where Father Shaffer is assigned has grown from 100 parishioners to 400 in the time he’s been there.
Perhaps even more amazing, this small parish now has four young men who are entering seminary.
I’ve been saying for a long time that all the Church has to do is preach Christ and Him crucified.
The Church cannot approach its ministry from a social work/business model. It’s as clear as anything I’ve ever seen that God does not honor that approach. Vocations fall. Parishioners drift.
People do not get out of bed on Sunday morning week after week to hear a watered down version of the Gospels that are shorn of their life-saving power. They go for Christ.
Christ’s followers have been willing to lay down their lives throughout the 2,000-year history of our faith. They are doing it now all over the world. But they will not do this for a vague politically-correct, weak kneed sham Jesus. They will follow and die for the real Jesus; the one who said “no” to the kingdoms of this world, and by so doing set his foot on the pathway that led to the cross.
The jesus that fits in with polite dinner party conversation among the politically correct is a sham and a lie who cannot save anyone and does not attract followers of any sort. You cannot dilute Christ to make Him socially acceptable among those who want to walk down the wide way that leads to destruction. When you try to do that, you are not diluting Christ. You are denying Him.
It takes courage to follow the real Jesus Who was sent to the cross. I would guess that it also takes courage to preach Him. The attacks on Father Shaffer are an example of why it takes courage. But the results he’s seen in his parish are what happens when you do it.
Preach Christ, and Him crucified. Do that, and the vocations and fallen away Catholics problems will take care of themselves.
From the National Catholic Register:
by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND
WASHINGTON — Father Greg Shaffer, the Catholic chaplain at George Washington University, learned early that a good pastor can defy the odds and lead the young to embrace a priestly vocation. Growing up in Bethesda, Md., Father Shaffer was inspired by the example of Msgr. Thomas Wells, a charismatic figure in the archdiocese who possessed a deep and infectious love for the Eucharist. Msgr. Wells brought many young men to the priesthood before he was murdered during a 2000 robbery at his Maryland parish; he was 56 years old. Now, 13 years later, that beloved pastor remains a source of inspiration for Father Shaffer, who has revealed a knack for fostering vocations at a secular university better known for jump-starting careers in government. Since the priest’s arrival four years ago, Sunday Mass attendance at the campus Newman Center has increased from 100 to about 400 people — and, this year, four men will enter the seminary.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/george-washington-chaplain-leads-four-men-to-the-priesthood/#ixzz2SWOzg2VP
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