Complaint Department

I just read a statement by a Paulist seminarian that questioned, "Why would anyone want to join a church or group that is always complaining?"  We old liberal priests decry the direction of the church and the choice of bishops and so on.  They younger guys, who are  supposed to be taking our place find this disconcerting.  They find that the direction of the church fits them.  Think about it.  If someone is complaining about their car repair shop or their doctor, would you be interested in going there?  No.  So why should someone want to be part of a church or group in the church that is always complaining?  I think that the seminarian is a bit harsh when he says that the reason young people are not interested in the church is because their parents were always complaining about the church.  But it did not help either.

For myself, I am supposed to want to bring people to Christ through the Catholic way of faith and worship.  I am rather positive about the church in convert classes.  But I get a bit sloppy in other settings.  Maybe I just need a little liberal club of people who fell in love with the 60s and 70s.  In our "club" we can say anything we want.  We can all enjoy the National Catholic Reporter newspaper.  On the other hand, I do need something like Commonweal and America magazine to keep a balance and yet stay in reality.  The Complaint Department cannot travel with me like a dark cloud that hangs overhead.  If the Holy Spirit is at work, then there is a plan in all this return to an older way that disguises itself as Vatican II renewal.  Oops!  Complaint Department again.