Spiritual Malaise

Ever wonder why some people's faith is so strong that it never waivers no matter what? I wish that I could have that same kind of faith. Sometimes it is just so hard not to lose hope that things within the American Catholic church will change. How can we as lay people continue to be so powerless in the face of such blatant disregard by the hierarchy of the American Catholic church to the needs of its people. The recent sex abuse scandal is only the tip of the iceberg in my opinion. I believe that the cardinals and bishops continue to play the good "ole" boys game but in new and more clandestine ways. Somehow American Catholics have to unite and take back our Church. No more can the hierarchy rest their laurels on the pray, pay and obey nomenclature of the past. We need to upend this unholy hierarchy by hurting them where it matters most - in their pocketbooks. It seems to me, especially in my Diocese, that the Bishop is more concerned about saving money then saving souls. All his decisions regarding parochial school closings and merges, Church closings and merges, laying off of teachers, and mandated retirements of priests, are based on financial advice of a company he hired to help him accumulate more money. What about accumulating more souls? I want so desperately to find those good Catholic priests and bishops that I know are out there and join with them and restore our Church back to being what Jesus called it to be. I wonder if we can even muster up enough interest in the people anymore. So many are just apathetic to how affairs of the Church are conducted. So many have become savvy consumers of Catholicism - shopping for the Church that temporarily meets their family and work schedules. Their Church has become a place where they can drive by and pick up a sacramental rite now and then thus allowing them to keep up the appearances of remaining within the Catholic subculture. There is also the consumer savvy hierarchy (Bishops and Cardinals) who take full advantage of this apathy - hence their power and control over all the finances (money that continues to come from the people they so carelessly shepherd). The state of the American Catholic Church is in a bad way. What does one do when no solace can be found in one's home parish? My parish has been recently reduced to a foul display of Machiavelli tactics by parishioners trying to vie for key positions with the newly appointed pastor who seems more interested in refurbishing the rectory than attending to the spiritual needs of the parish. Friends tell me to just abandon ship and go seek out another parish that is spiritually healthy. Somehow that just seems too easy. What about the home parish I leave behind?