Pillars

On Christmas Eve Father Healey made available to all parishioners copies of a donated CD entitled: “The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality” by Matthew Kelly.   At first I thought the CD was of a book I had read, but on checking, I was mistaken.  Mine was “Seven Revolutions: How Christianity Changes the World and Can Change It Again.”  

The Seven Pillars spoke of confession, daily prayer, Mass, scripture, spiritual reading, fasting, and the rosary as ways to regain and strengthen Catholicism.  Kelly believes these seven create the pillars on which Catholicism stands.

Although I don’t discount the importance of these seven, I suggest there are seven other pillars, perhaps even stronger for effective evangelization.  They would be: knowing and following Jesus; ministering to the poor and needy (charity); an emphasis on forgiveness; the sacraments; our culture of life; an emphasis on family and its holiness; and faith/hope/love.   I’ll add an eighth – understanding/respect for other faiths (ecumenism).   

If Kelly’s pillars were the only ones, then I suspect we wouldn’t need Hercules to hurl them down and topple the structure.   More pillars are needed for support, and the seven I’ve suggested complement and strengthen the others.

Turning Catholics back to most of his seven is laudable, but likely to meet with mixed success especially among the young and not-so-young.    Of course it’s worth a try, but I’d rather have 14 arrows in my quiver, not just his seven.

If you haven’t listened to the Kelly CD, you really should.   Furthermore, we all should reference Pope Francis’ “seven pillars of priesthood.”  They are: (1) the strength of a priest depends on his relationship with Christ; (2) the priest must be close to the people he serves; (3) a priest’s authority must be linked to service, especially to the care and protection of the poorest, weakest, the least important and most easily forgotten; (4) the priest must be a minister of mercy; (5) the priest is called to a simplicity of life; (6) the priest must be a model of integrity; and (7) the priest is to be a source of blessing for his people. 

Regarding #7, according to Pope Francis, the priest is “anointed with the oil of gladness so as to anoint others with the oil of gladness.  In his preaching, in his prayer, through being truly present to his flock in the realities of their everyday lives, the priest is to help them feel that the fragrance of the Anointed One, Christ, has come to them through the priest.”  A lot rides/rests on priests' shoulders, and they know it.

With all the above said, perhaps it's best to conclude we all are pillars of Catholic spirituality by virtue of what we say and do on behalf of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Now that's real strength in numbers.

Deacon David Pierce