"God is everywhere. Why? Because He likes you."

Almost two decades ago, the Vatican seemed a bit playful, when it employed "Good Vibrations" and "Magical Mystery Tour" in section headings of a document. Yet, the document seriously cautioned:

"John Paul II warns with regard to the `return of ancient gnostic ideas under the guise of the so-called New Age: We cannot delude ourselves that this will lead toward a renewal of religion. It is only a new way of practising gnosticism - that attitude of the spirit that, in the name of a profound knowledge of God, results in distorting His Word and replacing it with purely human words. Gnosticism never completely abandoned the realm of Christianity. Instead, it has always existed side by side with Christianity, sometimes taking the shape of a philosophical movement, but more often assuming the characteristics of a religion or a para-religion in distinct, if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian'....It must unfortunately be admitted that there are too many cases where Catholic centres of spirituality are actively involved in diffusing New Age religiosity in the Church"(Jesus Christ: The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the "New Age", February 2003)

Among other offerings, Francis House's "The Path to Joy: Understanding the Meaning of Suffering" strikes me as particularly bizarre.  When we have Saint Pope John Paul II's rock solid and magnificent On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, why is Francis House incorporating writings from priests with questionable theology like Teillhard de Chardin and Richard Rohr (James Martin SJ's The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything is also snuck in with another offering), as well as the Dalai Lama and Anglican bishop Desmond Tutus' the Book of Joy?   I won't even bother to ask why Francis House is promoting the dopey old enneagram (cf, 9 Paths to Holiness & Wholeness).

 Someone once facetiously summarized what was presented as Catholic theology in the 1970s/1980s: "God is everywhere.  Why?  Because He likes you.  That's kind of a combination of the Disney and Roman Catholic philosophy."  Tragically, too many hierarchy and other clergy appear stuck in that time period and are not looking deeper.  We are victimized by theological immaturity.

To this observer, it appears that MOST bishops and priests have lost track of the notion that a shepherd's love requires far more than being nice - it MUST include protecting the sheep in his flock.