This long weekend, in Orlando, Florida, there is a large
convocation of Bishops, and other leaders in the Church in America, who are discussing
the state of Catholic life today, with a focus on renewing efforts at
conversion and evangelization. This is a good thing. However,
as we shall see shortly, in my mind, it comes with a big “but”.
The raw number of self-identified Catholics in the United
States, for now at least, remains stable, according to general secular polls. However, in reality, the number of practicing
Catholics has dropped significantly. We
see what parish life is like; fewer people are coming to Mass weekly. Fewer people are being baptized. Fewer people are getting married. Parishes are closing. For every new person coming in the Church,
either through infant Baptism or through the Sacraments of Initiation at the
Easter Vigil, two or more either die and/ or leave the Church of his or her
own free will. Right now, 34 million
people, 12% of the overall population of
the United States, describes themselves as “former Catholics”. Wow.
In addition to these Catholic figures, we have discussed already
in previous posts the problem of a decline in the overall population, and the
spiritual, moral, social, and economic problems that come with that. Even that aforementioned raw number of Catholics
will likely begin to severely drop off in the very near future, unless something
changes, due to these factors (the specifically Catholic ones and the ones
related to the overall population).
So that is what this meeting is about, to reverse this trend
of a shrinking Church. Its focus is on
evangelization, rediscovering the joy of the Gospel, reaching out to those on
the margins (people on the peripheries).
I pray for its success, and that it bears fruit.
I fear, however, that
there a few things it does not appear to be focusing on that it should in order
for a true reversal of course to take place.
There are five topics specifically that I will list here that are not
in the agenda that I think needed to be.
If these topics can be addressed,
then I think a turnaround of this trend can slowly begin to occur. If they are not, then I fear this negative
trend will continue. (As a note, I could
probably do a blog post on each of them alone, and may do so in the future, but
this summary will suffice for now.)
Here is a link to the agenda http://event.registerat.com/site/USCCB/img/Convocation-Flow-Document-v19.pdf
1)
Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy The Mass in many places has become just like
another meeting place, or gathering of people. It is
no different than any other church, or gathering of any type. Why would people
go to Mass if there is nothing distinct about it? There needs to be a renewal of silence and
reverence at Mass. We need to dress
better. We need homilies with more
content in it. We need to show that this
is not just some other meeting or assembly.
This is the Body of Christ gathering together to participate in the One
Sacrifice of Christ for the salvation of mankind, to enter into the heavenly
liturgy which we will be doing for all eternity, and to receive the real Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ, which we cannot anywhere else. There is nothing special or sacred about the
Mass, or at least we are not showing that there is. This is a problem. This is one reason so many are not coming
anymore.
2)
Renewal of Catechesis We do not know our Faith anymore. What distinguishes Catholicism from other
Christian denominations? Why do we say
we are the One True Church? Why do we
say what we do about the Pope, Mary, and the Sacraments? Again, if there is nothing unique or special
about Catholicism, why would people want to come to Mass? Our Lord, right before he ascended into
heaven, said “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. “ (Matthew 28:19-20). Teaching must come first! To love the Lord, we must first come to know him. We have to learn what he taught. Many
today are trying to go right to the heart, through love, without first going
through the intellect. The joy of the
Lord comes first through the intellect (I know many may disagree with this, but
I find it true in my own life.) Think
about how the Catechism is organized; the first of the four sections is on the content of the Faith. Living a Catholic life, and prayer are
discussed later, after the initial foundation in the truth of the faith is laid
out. The beauty and majesty of the
Faith, when presented clearly, will lay a foundation that will not ever
shake. It will not be subject to the
whim of sentimentalism and emotionalism.
So much of what we present today in the Church is something other than authentic catechesis, and one can see why we have the issues of so many people
leaving, or not wanting to enter in the first place.
3) Renewal
of talk on the necessity of the Church for salvation The brochure does not mention this. In
order for people to get to heaven, the Catholic Church is necessary. Do people know that? Do we even believe that? I think the answer to both questions is no,
because if we did, more people would be at Mass each Sunday. Jesus Christ founded one Church for the
salvation of all mankind, to dispense the graces he won for us in the Paschal
Mystery. We certainly are not acting like we truly
believe that. Do we believe we are
mandated to convert everyone to Catholicism because of this reality? We are surely not acting like it.
4) Renewal
of talk on the four last things; death, judgment, heaven and hell Jesus
talked about these things often during his ministry on Earth, more so than any
other topics. Do we hear these topics
discussed much, especially hell? So much
of our discussion in the Church today focuses on temporal, social issues. We
have lost sight of the eternal ones. We
need to remind people there is a hell, and we risk going there if we do not follow
Our Lord where he leads us, which is through the Church, to heaven. The Church exists to get people out of hell,
and into heaven. We forget that. Sure, she helps people along the way with
temporal things, but its ultimate mission is to make us saints so we can get to
heaven, and avoid hell.
5) Renewal
of the talk on the “hard sayings and teachings”, including sexual morality Do we know why the Church teaches what she
does about contraception, abortion, and homosexuality? Do we know why she says marriage is forever,
and only between one man and one woman?
Do we know why she says all sexual activity outside marriage is
forbidden? (One could say all these
questions could be part of the second thing I mentioned on this list [a renewal
of catechesis], but that was referring more to the content of the Faith [what
we believe, namely the Creed we say each Sunday], rather than Catholic moral
life [how we live]. ) If these hard
saying are explained clearly and charitably, and with a little more frequency
than they are now, more people would understand them, and less likely to leave
the Church because of that.
If these five points are addressed in this meeting, and then
executed in parishes across the country, the distinctiveness of Catholicism
would shine like the noonday sun at all times, the Church would become radiant
and attractive again, and people would come in larger numbers than
they are now, and the Church could grow again.
If these points are not addressed, and they are not executed in parishes
across the country, and the Church becomes more and more just another church in
the yellow book list of churches, not distinct from any other church, or other
organized group of people, if this happens, then the Church in America will
continue to lose people, and may, for all intents and purposes, in the material
and temporal order at least, cease to exist in the next 10-20 years. Let us pray that does not happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment