Rite and Reason: The condition of weakness in which the Church finds itself today is really the best basis on which to preach the gospel, writes Fr Columban Heaney
The raison d'être of the church is to preach the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. It has been said you cannot preach the gospel from the strong to the weak, the gospel can only be preached from the weak to the strong.
The truth of this statement was borne out in the first preachers of the gospel, the apostles. From a worldly point of view they were a bunch of nobodies. They had neither power nor influence to support their preaching. However, the gospel of Christ on the lips of such weak men overcame the world.
St Patrick also exemplifies this truth. When thinking of him it is so easy to let our imaginations run away with us and conjure up a picture of a powerful preacher who swept through the country carrying all and sundry with him into the Christian faith.
We have only to look at the truth of the situation, as revealed in Patrick's own words, to dispel that illusion. In his Confession, Patrick refers to himself as the "most unlearned of men", an "uneducated sinner", an unpolished preacher who had no oratorical gifts, little of no influence at Rome and plenty of enemies even among his fellow bishops.
According to Patrick, they cast up his sins at him in order to discredit his work. He gives a vivid description of himself when he says he was "like a stone lying in deep mud". That is the kind of man whom God chose to bring the light of Christ to the Irish people. He was weakness personified.
But it was out of this weakness that he preached the gospel to the Ireland of the 5th century, and God blessed his work abundantly. It is worth reflecting on this basic truth about Patrick's work and preaching when, today, the Catholic Church in Ireland is under severe attack.
Until a couple of decades ago, the Irish church was seen as a powerful institution here. It had enormous power and influence in society.
Its "special position" as the majority church was recognised in the Constitution. The hierarchy's word was law. Criticism of the church was conspicuous by its absence. The few who dared were written off as irreligious rebels. The bishops' displeasure was enough to ensure that they were ostracised.
Since the foundation of the State until recently, I think it would be true to say that the gospel in Ireland was preached by the strong to the weak.
That situation has now changed drastically. The scandals within the church, the revelations of the human weaknesses of priests and bishops, the witch hunt for more and more scapegoats, the loss of credibility - these and more have all contributed to the stripping away of the power and influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland today.
Naturally many people within the church are deeply upset and distressed. They are confused and cannot understand what is happening.
It all seems so negative and destructive of their security.
But is there anything good or positive that can be said about what is happening in the church today? Yes, I think there is.
The Catholic Church is, in the eyes of many, reduced to a state of weakness. Many of the external groups that supported it have been knocked away, but I believe that is providential. We seem to have forgotten the paradoxical statement of St Paul (2 Cor.12.10): "It is when I am weak that I am strong".
So I think we can take comfort in the fact that the condition of weakness in which the church is today, is really the best condition for preaching the gospel.
Let's remember that the best way to preach the gospel is to live it.
Now in Ireland the gospel can only be preached from the weak to the strong. Now, the gospel message cannot depend on any external influence of the church.
The truth of this message is now free to make itself felt by itself alone, through the grace and power of Christ not through the power structure of the church as an institution.
Just as it was the inherent truth of the gospel which attracted the first Christians at the beginning of the church, in spite of the apostles' lack of power, and just as it was this same truth of the gospel which attracted the Irish into the Christian church in spite of St Patrick's weakness and lack of influence, so it is this truth that is Christ which will win people over today amid the turmoil and confusion in modern Ireland.
It is, and can only be, the truth itself which will draw people to the gospel.
The scandals are there, but they are far from being the whole story of the church. There is still good news in the church and this Church of Jesus Christ is a good place of belong to.
Fr Columban Heaney is a Cistercian priest and lives with a monastic community at Mount Mellary Abbey in Co Waterford