A Time to Declutter

What a great week! First my son Paul went crazy cleaning our shore house garage leaving it neat and usable. Then our pastor-landlord got a huge dumpster and we cleaned out all kinds of junk from our attic at Mary's Place: old matresses and box springs, heavy sinks, clothing, broken chairs. What a relief! We have about 50 women residents in our two homes and at least half a dozen are serious horders or clutterers. Big problem: especially when the State inspects and we get cited and they refuse to clean up. If such a woman relents and accepts the assistance or leaves the place then the best feeling in the world is clearing the place out. Ecstasy!

That brings us to today's Gospel, Mark 6:7-13. Jesus gives clear, direct, strong directions to his apostles: in their mission they are to have no money, no second tunic, no food, a pair of sandals. Nothing else! Minimalism to an extreme! The Church as poor, austere, simple, decluttered, trusting, precarious, fluid and free! We have come a long way from that.

Last night we were discussing at dinner the decline of Catholic schools in Bayonne where four of my grandchildren have attended the single remaining parochial grammar school. A few years ago that city had a robust seven parish schools and two full high schools. Our family has always been heavily invested in Catholic schooling so we shared a quiet grief at the trajectory. But today's gospel made me wonder: maybe Christ is decluttering his Church? My mind wandered to the itinerant missionaries of the Neocatechumenal Way. They practice that primitive apostolic style literally, relying, like beggars, upon the generosity of those to whom they offer the Gospel. I think of Ivan Illich's prophetic call over 50 years ago for a poor, deinstitutionalized, powerless Church. I recall Ratzinger's fortelling at that same time, of a small, humble Church. I ponder the McCarrick Event: rise to the highest ecclesiastical level of a sexual predator due to his expertise in politics, administration, fund-raising, and navigating the Church bureaucracy. It is time for the Catholic Church to declutter.

This is not easy! There is a resistance within us to getting rid of stuff. MaryLynn, my wife, and I are members of a pious association, Our Lady's Missionaries of the Eucharist. Most of our practices are simple and straightforward: daily rosary, mass, prayer of the Church, etc. The most challenging and ellusive is: simplicity of life. After quite a few years, our lives remain busy, cluttered, complicated. How are we to simplify? We will need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So will the Church!