This is one of the best brief “tell it like it is” videos I’ve seen in a long time.
Watch it. Watch it again. And send it to at least five people.
Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ
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Just looking at the contents of his bookshelf, I’d have been able to tell the good Father would have his head screwed on correctly. Notice that besides the copy of Wheelock’s ‘Latin’ (just above Father’s right shoulder) there are books with titles like ‘Chess’ (upper left corner of the frame), and ‘303 Tricky Chess Tactics’ just above his left shoulder. I would not be surprised if Father had all the Patrick O’Brian novels just off-screen. Of course his video is brilliant.
Trusting you as I do, your suggestion to tune into Father McTeigue I can only term providential. I admit to having a revulsion when my eyes spot “SJ” and I advert my interest to something that is inevitably more productive. Because of that prejudice — well nourished by more than a legion of “SJ’s” — I’ve always ignored opportunities to read or listen to Father McTeigue.
What an impoverishment I served myself.
He is a deeply gifted man, a real authentic faithful priest. I’ve now watched more than a few of his videos. What a treasure. He stands apart.
Thank you.
Father McTeigue makes a point that I have also noticed. When I was in formation with the Capuchins it was the women religious who were always held up as the gurus of religious life, but only sisters from communities that didn’t have vocations. We used to ask ourselves, if they know so much about religious life, why are their congregations disappearing?
FYI, Fr. McTeigue has a daily hour-long podcast known for its zest and doctrinal clarity. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Two resonating points Fr McTeigue made or implied: 2) the declining orders would rather die than change their theology/philosophy and modus operandi, and 2) insofar as preferred pronouns are concerned, you can filter out the ‘songs’ in the liturgical music issue simply on the use of ‘we’ and ‘us’ and the absence of ‘He’ and ‘Him.’ We also hear short versions of a particular Pauline epistle so as not to offend modern insensibilities. Paul: the greatest theologian of them all.
A notable cardinal remarked, when seeing a demo of Bugnini’s so-called Mass of Paul VI, that it won’t be long until all you see are just women and children at Sunday Mass. We have no boy altar servers anymore – except for one family who provides three of them. What’s the attraction? In one Holy Thursday fifteen years ago, except for the priest, it was girls’ night out. I have not been back these fifteen years. A thousand girl servers does not make for one potential priestly vocation.
We don’t talk about this. There is no Shirley Jackson ‘The Lottery’ analogical and existential selection of someone to be priest. Until the deficit is discussed it will continue to grow – masked somewhat by the Nigerians.
Blah. Blah. Blah. I made it through about half of this. I can’t listen to it! I just can’t do it. For too long they’ve (the Jesuits and others) been wandering around the world claiming to be Catholics when they were really revolutionaries leveraging poor people into electing their own dictators, and that wasn’t the worst of it. There was so much that was hidden that has now come to light. Men took vows, and they enjoyed the priveleges that WE LAY PEOPLE gave them because we thought they were men of honor. NO MORE!!! No more. Don’t criticize families; don’t criticize us. You want someone to blame? Try the mirror.
MB: Wow. You perhaps saw a different video. Either that or it may be that you were deeply distracted by multitasking or… something.
I’ll stand by what I saw. I understood it.
I cheered when father mentioned that vocations most often come from Christian families that create many of the conditions necessary for children to hear the call; and that priests and religious and the Church in general neglecting families is such a part of the vocations crisis! Finding *reasonable* candidates is harder and harder these days (made even more difficult by the waning numbers of Catholics), but hardly anyone seems to care about this problem. At best a parish may offer a –mostly idle– “Young Adult Group” (often pretty counterproductive), and that’s all.
I am watching this after attending a Corpus Christi Mass at an ICKSP oratory. Obviously a traditional Parish. No, not only traditional, full blown , pre 1955 , liturgy and sacramental life. Last year I attended the Vigil of Pentecost. That reform is a disaster. To recruiting men, there are no altar girls. The way the Liturgy unfolds, it feels more masculine. Each altar server has a job. They take pride in it. You can see it in their faces. The liturgy itself feels as if it has purpose and direction. It is masculine yet reverent. It has purpose. We , all involved, are at something serious not pious entertainment or a weekly group session. This seriousness I would imagine impresses young men and leads to vocations.
@MB you missed the best part. Go back and watch the second half, or at least from the 10 minute mark on. Forget about what you know about Jesuits in general, and just listen to what he is saying.
Re what @docsmith54 said about Nigerians. The former diocese I was in is pretty much being kept afloat by priests imported from India and Africa. I guess this works for now but is not a long term solution. It might be worth asking why people still flock to the priesthood in these places where Christianity is often under attack and where you might be risking your life to be a Catholic priest.
Fr. Charles’s point is well taken and it has been on my mind for a long time. With the recent appointments to the the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life [let alone the previous prefect] it has nagged me even more. Can I hope with Pope Leo’s rich experience in religious life that he will realize that the Dicastery requires more than a serious intervention. It is agonizingly inadequate to the task as exhibited persistently … regard well the saga of scandal unaddressed for years at a notable Abbey in the desert southwest — a case now before the state Attorney General — ignored for years by the Dicastery — while thriving communities are terrorized with visitations, expulsions and suppressions.
Father could not make it any clearer. He is spot on.
His comment that institutions would rather die than admit a mistake is so true and so sad. Parish life is crumbling around us because of that truism.
We all need to pray but people in leadership need to act.
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Good comments here.
Dear Fr. Zuhlsdorf, Thanks for this. Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ, is a busy guy with two podcast series: Herald of the Gospel Sermons and The Catholic Current Station of the Cross. Hits it out of the park is right. Turns out there was a short interview of him five years ago in America Magazine when his book Real Philosophy for Real People: Tools for Truthful Living was published. In it he is asked “If you could say one thing to Pope Francis about philosophy today, what would it be?” Afraid MB would be disappointed with Fr. McTeigue’s measured response to that.
Thank you all for your charity. I did go back and listen to the entire video; that’s fair. However, I still disagree with his diagnosis of the problem. It’s not a conspiracy that the Rockafeller foundation paid Notre Dame to get ABC into mainstream Catholicism, that’s a fact. And it was no better at Xavier or Georgetown. This whole demise of the Catholic family and then in turn the Catholic identity was orchestrated and carried out by Catholic religious orders through their schools and publishing houses. The only way to turn things around is for Catholic clergy who preach and teach heresy to face censure for it. Suppress the Jesuits – that’d be a great start.
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I have the distinct pleasure to know a couple of good Jesuits (yes, they do exist), but they are a rare breed. I count Father McTeigue among that breed. Pray for them, they need it. The Jesuit Order needs either thorough reform, or suppression. I hope for the success of the former.
“Show me the briefcase!” (To paraphrase Jerry Maguire from the movie of the same name). Holy Father: Show me the briefcase! And don’t claim that you don’t know what I mean. But for those who are wondering, “What the heck happened?” I contend that much of the church went off the rails following the changes implemented by Archbishop Bugnini who was “in charge” of the liturgical changes following Vatican II. It was his briefcase that was left behind after a meeting whose contents forced Pope Paul VI to immediately transfer him to Tehran, Iran. You want transparency for the synodal church? Show me The Briefcase.
The truth Fr. McTeigue’s video has triggered this rant.
So many young men have been rejected by those priests and bishops who were too busy being “relevant” that they were only concerned about whether the young men were also “relevant”.
The bishop of my diocese only paid attention to the faithful Catholic college here pumping out vocations to other dioceses and religious orders long enough to shut down the Latin rite aily and Sunday Mass held by the college at the local parish. As a result, a generous benefactor bought the original, tiny, Catholic church and opened it up to those priests who would offer the traditional Latin Mass. This did not please our bishop, but he left that development alone.
The hostility to men in the once every few years deacon program who do not give touchy-feely responses helps many of them to reconsider and drop out. Then there is much head scratching about the lack of vocations.
Meanwhile, our bishop is trying to raise funds to build a bigger chancery while not having enough money to keep up the level of staff for the current chancery. There is also an outreach to build understanding with local tribes, whatever that means. And, of course, there is funding for Catholic Charities and their questionable wotk.
And that is why we do not give one penny that might end up in chancery coffers. We buy vestments or equipment for our parish. We donate homegrown eggs, produce, or meat. We volunteer time and effort at the parish. Anything we can do that will not go to the chancery.
Our parish has struggled and failed to get donations to cover the annual diocesan appeal, pulling the deficit out of savings, so we are not alone in our disgust. We’re OK with that. When there is no money to give, maybe the bishop will finally pay attention to his flock and quit the virtue-signalling that has driven us to so few priests and deacons and loss of parishioners. Maybe we will finally get true spiritual direction from a true shepherd. Maybe.
I was privileged to know Fr. McTeigue (and to share a residence hall with him) during my time at Ave Maria. Most assuredly, one of the “good Jesuits” of which one hears tell!