I sometimes am frustrated with the "canned" sermons that so often try to pass for moral or spiritual insight. They usually follow the same pattern. An often abstract message is drawn from that Sunday's gospel. It is probably how seminarians are taught but fails to make the faith relevant.

Almost everyone embraces faith, hope, charity and love in some form but what do they mean as applied to daily lives. How does one live in faith, hope and charity? How do we love the unlovable? Why not use those encyclicals that deal with social issues, they seem to be issued and then forgotten? We need to be challenged but instead are bored. The very reason for our existence is served up as a series of platitudes.

Where is the preparation? Sermons are usually wasted opportunities. The priest has a captive audience and about 15 minutes to make a point. Too often the message is trite and predictable; designed not to be controversial. For most people - at least those who continue to go to church - it is their one opportunity for meaningful religious instruction.

Preaching in the Catholic Church has become a lost art. Few priests can inspire with both content and delivery. Other religions seem to put greater emphasis on communicating with their members. Since we have the Mass and the sacraments we don't have to inspire, seems to be the view of many. That complacence may explain at least in part why there are now so many empty seats on Sunday.

More so now than ever before the message must be clear, honest, persuasive and forceful. While remaining understanding and generous to those who sincerely challenge the tenets of the faith, the Church must be courageous in asserting its moral position.

It also must be transparent; willing to acknowledge and make amends for mistakes and errors. It must honestly and openly examine its institutional conscience and challenge itself to do better. Like most institutions, it sometimes forgets its purpose - the institution is supposed to serve the purpose and not vice versa.

Important topics affecting every day lives need to be addressed from the pulpit such as: If the Church is opposed to divorce, why are annulments so plentiful particularly for the wealthy and influential? Can a catholic politician live the faith and still be pro-choice? On what issues can the Church tolerate, an honest difference of opinion? What about the trash on radio, television and the movies? Has the Church become so politically correct that it is afraid to speak out against not just the lowering but the absence of standards in what now passes for entertainment?

What is the Church's position on affirmative action? What about the widening gap between rich and poor, not just individuals but countries? What role does the church have in a democracy that promotes tolerance, personal freedom and secularism and is wary of the imposition of restraints? Are the restraints, both implicit and explicit, in the teachings of the church in conflict with democratic principles? How does one live the Ten Commandments - each of them specifically - in our daily lives? What is a Catholic, who as a matter of conscience sincerely disagrees with the Church's teachings on birth control, to do?

So afraid of controversy and scandal, the Church tragically covered up the evil within and in so doing severely damaged its moral authority. Tolerance is a virtue but tolerance of evil is not. Freedom is to be prized and protected but it can get out of control. Some argue freedom is the opposite of control and would oppose almost any restraints on personal freedom. Restraints are obviously necessary; laws are restraints but self-control is an even more important restraint. Religion is critical in fostering self-control because left to our own devices we tend to embrace the "self" and spurn the "control."

So at a time when we need guidance there is precious little being delivered from our pulpits. We continue to get peanut butter and jelly when we crave meat and potatoes. We need more parish priests willing to cast-off the intellectual straightjacket that has passed for prudence and caution. They need to be daring enough to prepare and deliver messages that can inform and inspire. They need to talk to us like adults - we can handle it.