Catholic and Loving it!

Stumbled across this on Catholic Dads...

I was at my local big-chain bookstore one Sunday and decided to check out their books on male spirituality. Having trouble locating that section, I asked the young, multiply pierced woman at the information counter, "Can you direct me to your books on men's spirituality?"

She snorted. "Books on men's spirituality? I've never heard of any. I know we don't have a section on that topic. Maybe you can look under war books. That's quite sizable."

"But you have quite a large section on women's spirituality," I said. Half joking I added, "Is there some sort of discrimination going on here?"

She bristled. "Hey, you're talking to the wrong person about discrimination. I'm a feminist."

[...]

Meanwhile, the church seems less and less hospitable to men. In most parishes, 80 percent of the staff are female. Church attendance is lower for men than for women. A lot of the energy in spirituality recently has emerged from the women's movement. Men are on the outs.

[...]

...Men need a place where their fear is welcome. Where all of who they are is welcome."

That may be where some of the difficulty for the church lies. The church is fine as long as all the externals look good. It doesn't usually welcome mess. One danger of the church's involvement in a men's spirituality movement is that it will devolve into an attempt to "tame" men, to mute our passion or simply channel it into pre-approved efforts.

My suspicion is that the real fear of the men's movement is what will show up when men explore their shadows. Men's anger needs to be welcome. Men's pain need to be welcome. Men's sexuality needs to be welcome. But what men often hear is, "Don't bring this or that to the table because it's not welcome here."

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Let's say that again...

Men's anger needs to be welcome. Men's pain need to be welcome. Men's sexuality needs to be welcome. But what men often hear is, "Don't bring this or that to the table because it's not welcome here."