Parishes offer hope

Editor:

I offer this reflection on Msgr. Morgan and Father Gregorio’s Aug. 3 articles (“The parish is a vital cell of the church” and “Hope for a long-term greater good”). In the spirit of the Hebrew Psalms, Msgr. Morgan gives us a modern day psalm in his 21 stanza litany in praise of the parish: 21 ways we meet and get to know Jesus, 21 ways we are served by and serve Jesus, 21 ways to unity and wholeness of life through Jesus in the Eucharist and each other.

I believe this (the parish) is the “hope” Father Gregorio prophetically points to in his article. He makes the case from history that the financial impact of the recent scandal is actually a source of great hope for us as it painfully brings about a stripping away of what is not the church. We are being purified and humbled. This is nothing new in the ways of our God. When God had enough of Israel’s infidelity and injustice, God used Babylonia (a foreign and pagan nation) to bring Israel to its knees — to purify Israel and bring her back to him.

In answer to Father Gregorio’s rhetorical question, “Did not Vatican II 50 years ago teach us that the people (I’ll say the parish), not just the bishops, are the church?” Obviously we did not learn the lesson. So it seems that to set things right we are being forced back to basics, back to the core of our faith, ultimately back to Jesus who we meet first and foremost in our local parishes.

Joe Sosnowsky

Ocean City