We all expect excellence in restaurants, hotels and retail stores. So why do we tolerate mediocrity in our parishes?

Mediocrity is one of those words that seems relatively innocuous but gets people’s attention. I suppose there is something particularly stinging about the prospect of being called mediocre. There are those who say that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Well, perhaps the opposite of excellence is not “badness,” but mediocrity. Whatever the case, mediocrity is at the heart of so many problems in parishes.

Qualitative and Spiritual Mediocrity

There are different kinds of mediocrity which, though they are related, need to be understood. On the one hand, there is what I would call qualitative mediocrity, which pertains to the quality of a given activity, ministry or “product.” It is rooted in the acceptance of low standards of excellence, and it is what most people think about when they hear the word. Then there is spiritual mediocrity, which is present when there is a lack of belief in the supernatural realities of the Church and in disobedience to Her teachings. This is even more dangerous than qualitative mediocrity, but they can often be related.

Just as there are two different kinds of mediocrity, there are two primary ways in which both forms of mediocrity hurt parishes. First, they drive parishioners away, either toward other parishes or, tragically, away from Jesus and His Church. Second, they drive away volunteers and good employees, which leads to the repelling of parishioners.

Okay, now that we’ve laid the groundwork, let’s explore how mediocrity manifests itself in parishes and how we can carry out a righteous, loving war against it. We’ll start with volunteers and employees.

Volunteers and Employees

Continued below.

Chrystal-J said:

We had a visiting priest in church today. He was more of a 'fire and brimstone' type homilist. He said our small congregation was lukewarm because we should be inviting friends, family and neighbors to church. In my case, I have asked numerous people to join me at Mass, but no takers except my grandchildren and they're moving up north soon. I'm not sure how to take this priest. I do realize that we need to evangelize, but it's almost impossible to get anyone interested in attending Mass. I do pray for people to accept Jesus into their hearts, but no change so far. I'm starting to understand the "narrow gate" passage more.

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A lot of cradle Catholics do not seem to be too concerned with it. Seem to have a thing about converts. And a lot of us do just punch the clock. Sounds like he was trying to motivate. To me, it sounds like he was a good priest.