Dear Ms. Wohlmut,
Please accept this acknowledgement of your letter to me of February 15. Your decision to break your 'ties' with the church saddened me. I apologize for any way in which I have not served you on your journey of faith adequately.
It seems you have found a new place of worship which makes you feel at home. The beliefs and convictions of our Catholic community seem to have been too challenging for you. Be assured they they are challenging for us all of us. The church's evangelizing mission entails preaching the good news and a calling to a conversion. The second part is the hard part.
You said you leave with a 'broken heart'. Hearts break for many reasons, not always due to an external aggressor. Your letter and a few other experiences this spring prodded me to write a column for The Catholic Sentinel of March 7. Perhaps you may be interested in reading it.
As we move closer to Easter, I promise to keep you in my prayers. I pray that God will one day lead you back to your true home, a community of saints and sinners all struggling in thier search for the face of Jesus. God Bless.
Sincerely yours in the Lord,
Most Rev. John G. Vlanzy
I post this today without comment. I need to let it sit for a day or two, but be assured I will have something to say about this response, or lack of... CA
3 comments:
I think it was a nice, and somewhat predictable response.
I have my own feelings about it, but don't wnat to color yours, so....I'll look forward to hearing what you think.
I'm not going to sit for a few days - I'm disgusted now. This response is exactly why the Catholic church has lost so many of us. Apparently I am another of the individuals who find "the beliefs and convictions of our Catholic community" "to have been too challenging". I am apalled for you and all of us. He was not listening just preaching. SIGH
Jottersmith
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