This passage from the latest Rhode Island Catholic column from the consistently insightful Fr. John A. Kiley is worth sharing:

Somewhere towards the end of the last century, Fear of God yielded to fear of alienation. Not a few prelates, priests and parents have been profoundly afraid to speak up lest they lose their audiences. Well, their audiences are already lost. And a broadminded church is not offering them any inducement to return. The fictional Cure de Torcy is correct. The church’s main task is doctrine and discipline rather than self-esteem and self-affirmation. “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,” insists Jesus in Sunday’s Gospel. It is a dogmatic faith in Jesus that will lead to effective works toward one’s neighbor.