Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Are all issues of equal weight in Catholic Social Teaching?
Are abortions and tax discussions of equal weight in Catholic Social Teaching?
Monday, October 29, 2012
"It is Our Duty and Our Salvation"
The audio of my talk to the Indiana Men's Conference. How come if something is our salvation the Church also has to tell us it is our duty?
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Report: "Church Should Focus More on Social Justice" (sigh!)
The Catholic Review reports that Catholics across the country noted in a recent survey that they want the Church to focus more on "social justice." They note:
In interviews during September, a majority of Catholics told pollsters that they would prefer it if the church would focus its public policy statements "more on social justice and the obligation to help the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like abortion and the right to life." Sixty percent of Catholics concurred with that statement.
It is hard to put into words how frustrating it is to read such a statement. I've been putting together a series of presentations on the Church's Social Teaching (social justice) trying to correct such misconceptions, and so to read these results from a national survey is just another reminder of how far we have to go. I guess the Titanic, when going in the wrong direction, takes a long time to turn around.
This survey further illustrates that for most Catholics "social justice" is JUST care for the sick and the poor. The Church's ACTUAL teaching on the subject is that "issues like abortion and the right to life" ARE social justice too!! Care for the poor, care for the vulnerable and elderly and homeless is inextricably and intrinsically tied to the right to life, abortion, contraception, religious freedom, etc. Not only are they linked,but the Church's teaching on "social justice" is CRYSTAL CLEAR on the idea that "abortion and the right to life" is MORE important than any other issue, INCLUDING care for the poor. Is the Church saying care for the poor is not important? NO!!! What the Church is saying is that when the right to life is not respected, it is WRONG to place more emphasis on some other issue. Listening to Catholics say "we need less preaching on abortion and right to life stuff, and more preaching on (fill in the blank)" is like watching people standing in the middle of a room that is on fire talking about how they need to vacuum the room more.
No one, looking back on it, would say "I wish the German bishops during the Third Reich would have preached more about the poor and less about the dignity of the person." There is a hierarchy to the values that we ought to have as Catholics and we must shout this from the mountaintop because it doesn't seem to be sinking in!
I think what people mean when they say they want the Church to "focus more on social justice" is that they want a neutered, non-political, toothless hippy Church of Jesus Christ that ONLY cares for the poor and doesn't speak up about any injustice besides economic injustice. Well, folks, that wasn't who Jesus was, that isn't who authentic Catholics were in the past, and that is not what authentic Catholics will EVER be. A person who actually has read the Church's social teaching will know that a Catholic fights against ALL injustice - economic injustice, religious persecution, the stripping of religious freedom, the ripping apart of embryos, abortion, infanticide, etc.
The other revolting part of that statement is that people would decide for themselves what they ought to be hearing from the pulpit. That sounds a lot like a lot of the people in the Old Testament who, when a prophet showed up, had already determined for themselves what the prophet OUGHT to be saying before he arrived. That's a completely backward understanding of what a prophet is. What kind of prophet would a bishop be if he said, "let's take a survey of the people and find out what they would like me to teach and preach about"?
Given most people's understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, in order to help Catholics realize what the Church ACTUALLY says on social teaching, we have "miles to go before we sleep."
In interviews during September, a majority of Catholics told pollsters that they would prefer it if the church would focus its public policy statements "more on social justice and the obligation to help the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like abortion and the right to life." Sixty percent of Catholics concurred with that statement.
It is hard to put into words how frustrating it is to read such a statement. I've been putting together a series of presentations on the Church's Social Teaching (social justice) trying to correct such misconceptions, and so to read these results from a national survey is just another reminder of how far we have to go. I guess the Titanic, when going in the wrong direction, takes a long time to turn around.
This survey further illustrates that for most Catholics "social justice" is JUST care for the sick and the poor. The Church's ACTUAL teaching on the subject is that "issues like abortion and the right to life" ARE social justice too!! Care for the poor, care for the vulnerable and elderly and homeless is inextricably and intrinsically tied to the right to life, abortion, contraception, religious freedom, etc. Not only are they linked,but the Church's teaching on "social justice" is CRYSTAL CLEAR on the idea that "abortion and the right to life" is MORE important than any other issue, INCLUDING care for the poor. Is the Church saying care for the poor is not important? NO!!! What the Church is saying is that when the right to life is not respected, it is WRONG to place more emphasis on some other issue. Listening to Catholics say "we need less preaching on abortion and right to life stuff, and more preaching on (fill in the blank)" is like watching people standing in the middle of a room that is on fire talking about how they need to vacuum the room more.
No one, looking back on it, would say "I wish the German bishops during the Third Reich would have preached more about the poor and less about the dignity of the person." There is a hierarchy to the values that we ought to have as Catholics and we must shout this from the mountaintop because it doesn't seem to be sinking in!
I think what people mean when they say they want the Church to "focus more on social justice" is that they want a neutered, non-political, toothless hippy Church of Jesus Christ that ONLY cares for the poor and doesn't speak up about any injustice besides economic injustice. Well, folks, that wasn't who Jesus was, that isn't who authentic Catholics were in the past, and that is not what authentic Catholics will EVER be. A person who actually has read the Church's social teaching will know that a Catholic fights against ALL injustice - economic injustice, religious persecution, the stripping of religious freedom, the ripping apart of embryos, abortion, infanticide, etc.
The other revolting part of that statement is that people would decide for themselves what they ought to be hearing from the pulpit. That sounds a lot like a lot of the people in the Old Testament who, when a prophet showed up, had already determined for themselves what the prophet OUGHT to be saying before he arrived. That's a completely backward understanding of what a prophet is. What kind of prophet would a bishop be if he said, "let's take a survey of the people and find out what they would like me to teach and preach about"?
Given most people's understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, in order to help Catholics realize what the Church ACTUALLY says on social teaching, we have "miles to go before we sleep."
Catholic Voting 101 - Religious Freedom
Will people really vote for a person who is working to take away their religious freedom? What does the Church teach on religious freedom?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
+Chaput: Democrats Getting Worse and Worse on Abortion Because Catholics Don't Leave the Party
"I think in the earliest days of the abortion debate in the United
States, if people had to guess which party would’ve embraced abortion
and which one wouldn’t have, people would’ve thought the Republicans
would’ve easily embraced that and the Democrats never would."
"Many of the Democrats have [taken] Democrat Catholic votes for granted because they’ll go with them no matter what the Party position might be on abortion. That’s why the position of the Democrat Party has gotten worse, and worse, and worse as time goes on because Catholics haven’t abandoned them as they’ve moved in that direction. So we just have to be insistent on that Catholic identity takes precedence over everything.”
"Many of the Democrats have [taken] Democrat Catholic votes for granted because they’ll go with them no matter what the Party position might be on abortion. That’s why the position of the Democrat Party has gotten worse, and worse, and worse as time goes on because Catholics haven’t abandoned them as they’ve moved in that direction. So we just have to be insistent on that Catholic identity takes precedence over everything.”
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Bishop Tobin Press Conference
This morning I was able to attend Bishop Tobin's press conference.
You can do all the research online that you want, but, despite technology, there will never be a replacement for shaking another person's hand and looking in their eyes.
I came away EXTREMELY impressed with Bishop Tobin - not that Pope Benedict was waiting for me to weigh in before stamping it or anything.
I wanted to share some reflections on the day
1) A few days ago I was doing some internet "stalking" just to read up on Archbishop Tobin and I cam across an article that described him as a whirlwind who blows into the room and is a big person, a big personality, etc. He is a big guy, but he struck me as a very prayerful man, a very reflective man, and so, in that way, he reminded a lot of Archbishop Buechlein. Being a prayerful person seems to me to be one of the few things you can't fake.
2) He began by saying what we needed to know about him is that he was baptized in May of 52 (I think). He spoke about the gift his Faith has been, and how God is a God who continues to surprise us!
3) Bishop Tobin talked about Catholic education and how he was a product of Catholic school. He praised the Archdiocese for its Catholic school system and praised Indiana for its voucher system.
4) He's the oldest of 13 and he made a couple of great points about that. He first of all mentioned how being from a big family you learn pretty quickly that you aren't the center of the universe (can I get an AMEN!). He said you also have to learn how to share when you have 8 people using a bathroom! The other point that he made about his family, though, was that his father died when his youngest sibling was only 5 and so he also learned what it is like to be in a struggling, single-parent family.
5) When I and a couple of other priests had an opportunity to just briefly greet Archbishop Tobin a half hour or so after the press conference, he somehow brought up the idea that he would never have imagined any of this, never imagined getting sent to Rome, never imagined working for the Vatican, and never imagined getting sent to be an Archbishop, but he said that he has always said "yes" to what he's been asked, and he just seemed very genuine and humble and kind when talking about all of it and seemed very interested in where we were all serving.
Again, those were my main impressions, and for what it is worth, I'm very excited for the future!
You can do all the research online that you want, but, despite technology, there will never be a replacement for shaking another person's hand and looking in their eyes.
I came away EXTREMELY impressed with Bishop Tobin - not that Pope Benedict was waiting for me to weigh in before stamping it or anything.
I wanted to share some reflections on the day
1) A few days ago I was doing some internet "stalking" just to read up on Archbishop Tobin and I cam across an article that described him as a whirlwind who blows into the room and is a big person, a big personality, etc. He is a big guy, but he struck me as a very prayerful man, a very reflective man, and so, in that way, he reminded a lot of Archbishop Buechlein. Being a prayerful person seems to me to be one of the few things you can't fake.
2) He began by saying what we needed to know about him is that he was baptized in May of 52 (I think). He spoke about the gift his Faith has been, and how God is a God who continues to surprise us!
3) Bishop Tobin talked about Catholic education and how he was a product of Catholic school. He praised the Archdiocese for its Catholic school system and praised Indiana for its voucher system.
4) He's the oldest of 13 and he made a couple of great points about that. He first of all mentioned how being from a big family you learn pretty quickly that you aren't the center of the universe (can I get an AMEN!). He said you also have to learn how to share when you have 8 people using a bathroom! The other point that he made about his family, though, was that his father died when his youngest sibling was only 5 and so he also learned what it is like to be in a struggling, single-parent family.
5) When I and a couple of other priests had an opportunity to just briefly greet Archbishop Tobin a half hour or so after the press conference, he somehow brought up the idea that he would never have imagined any of this, never imagined getting sent to Rome, never imagined working for the Vatican, and never imagined getting sent to be an Archbishop, but he said that he has always said "yes" to what he's been asked, and he just seemed very genuine and humble and kind when talking about all of it and seemed very interested in where we were all serving.
Again, those were my main impressions, and for what it is worth, I'm very excited for the future!
Catholic Voting 101 Series - Part 1: Human Rights
A video series looking at Catholic Social Teaching and Voting
Monday, October 15, 2012
Bishops Call Biden a Liar
Okay, so they said Biden said things that weren't factual, which is what a liar does.
VP Biden repeated the same song and dance that the Obama administration has continued to put out since getting hammered on religious liberty. In his debate with VP Candidate Paul Ryan, Biden reiterated that "no Catholic institution "has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."
Within hours of the debate, the USCCB responded by posting a clarifying statement on the lie. Click here to read the USCCB's concise and matter-of-fact statement.
We need more of this from the Bishops of the U.S., and I hope we see more things like this in the future!
VP Biden repeated the same song and dance that the Obama administration has continued to put out since getting hammered on religious liberty. In his debate with VP Candidate Paul Ryan, Biden reiterated that "no Catholic institution "has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."
Within hours of the debate, the USCCB responded by posting a clarifying statement on the lie. Click here to read the USCCB's concise and matter-of-fact statement.
We need more of this from the Bishops of the U.S., and I hope we see more things like this in the future!
AWESOME Subsidiarity Video
To Chant, to Sing, or to Do Nothing at All
These are some awesome excerpts from Jeffrey Tucker's essay on chanting versus singing. He writes about it from the priests perspective, but his comments apply to the whole community being asked to chant.
"Our culture treats the notion of "singing" as something done by specialists, entertainers, recording artists, pop superstars, and all for the sake of delighting the audience. American Idol. That is what singing is... The priest notes "I'm not a singe. Believe me, you don't want to hear my voice. I can't carry so much as a simple tune. Therefore I will not sing the liturgy. I'm sparing you the pain."
"You know what is awful? This whole mistaken view of what singing is tends to be reinforced by pop music at Mass. Pop music encourages the performance ethos. Music with a beat reminds us of recording stars. Jazzy chords and head-swaying sensibilities push the idea that singing is only for those who want to be loved and admired for their great talents."
"There ought to be a different word for what the priest [and the congregation] is actually asked to do. He is not being asked to become a star or to entertain anyone. He is not seeking a channel on Pandora or looking to sell downloads on iTunes. He is not trying to win a competition. In the church's conception of the singing a priest [and the congregation] does, there is not a very great distance in physics between speaking and singing. His singing really amounts to speaking with a slightly different kind of voice, one with a pitch that takes it off the ground and out of the realm of conversation and puts the words to flight. It is a simple shift that makes a gigantic difference in how the words come across."
"Our culture treats the notion of "singing" as something done by specialists, entertainers, recording artists, pop superstars, and all for the sake of delighting the audience. American Idol. That is what singing is... The priest notes "I'm not a singe. Believe me, you don't want to hear my voice. I can't carry so much as a simple tune. Therefore I will not sing the liturgy. I'm sparing you the pain."
"You know what is awful? This whole mistaken view of what singing is tends to be reinforced by pop music at Mass. Pop music encourages the performance ethos. Music with a beat reminds us of recording stars. Jazzy chords and head-swaying sensibilities push the idea that singing is only for those who want to be loved and admired for their great talents."
"There ought to be a different word for what the priest [and the congregation] is actually asked to do. He is not being asked to become a star or to entertain anyone. He is not seeking a channel on Pandora or looking to sell downloads on iTunes. He is not trying to win a competition. In the church's conception of the singing a priest [and the congregation] does, there is not a very great distance in physics between speaking and singing. His singing really amounts to speaking with a slightly different kind of voice, one with a pitch that takes it off the ground and out of the realm of conversation and puts the words to flight. It is a simple shift that makes a gigantic difference in how the words come across."
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Today's Office of Readings and the Debate
This morning, a priest friend, Fr. Meyer, called me and asked "Have you read the Office of Readings yet?" I told him no, and he told me that when I did, I would be surprised given the debate last night. About an hour later, I got to it, and here is the passage:
"Anyone who teaches anything different, and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion, is simply ignorant and must be full of self-conceit – with a craze for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and wicked mistrust of one another; and unending disputes by people who are neither rational nor informed and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit." 1 Timothy 6: 3-5
"Anyone who teaches anything different, and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion, is simply ignorant and must be full of self-conceit – with a craze for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and wicked mistrust of one another; and unending disputes by people who are neither rational nor informed and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit." 1 Timothy 6: 3-5
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Essay By Bishop Coyne on Christ and the Digital Culture
Jesus Christ and the Digital Culture
Jesus
said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes
in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will ever die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I
have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
who is coming into the world." (John 11:25-27)
More than anything else, I am utterly convinced that the primary purpose of the Year of Faith and the new evangelization is the proclamation of the Good News that Jesus Christ is Lord and that in Him and through Him each and every person is offered the possibility of salvation. Whatever we do in preparation for and carrying out both the Year of Faith and the new evangelization, this truth must be our primary focus. We can talk about the Church, we can talk about the Catechism. We can talk about the Liturgy, and the Sacraments, the Holy Father, the Rosary, the Saints, and all those other truths that are so much a part of our Catholic life, but faith in these must first be predicated on the individual's faith in the person of Jesus Christ.
"I pray not only for them, but for
also those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may
all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may
be in us, that the world might believe that you sent me." (John 17:20-21)
I have been blessed in coming to know the Lord Jesus. I have heard
the Good News in so many ways and from so many people. I fully believe
that the paschal mystery—Christ's life, death, and resurrection—is not
meant for a few but for all. I also believe that anyone who has read the
Scriptures, especially the gospels, cannot escape the fact that Jesus
did not come to call us into isolation in a kind of one-to-one
relationship with Him, but that He called us into communion with Him and
with each other and that this communion finds its fullest validation in
the Church which He Himself founded as the means of continuing His
presence in the world.
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded
you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)
"What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)
In order to "speak in the light" and "proclaim on the housetops," I need to go where the proclamation will be heard. Today, the digital culture is one of those places. I desire to both evangelize through and evangelize the new media digital itself. Right now, there is too much "darkness" in the new media and not enough light. By bringing the name and person of Jesus Christ to the new digital media, by proclaiming the Good News, and by being a presence of Christ and His Church in the new media, I hope to bring others to either know Him for the first time or to know Him more deeply in His Church.
Does it take a lot time and energy? Yes. Do I have to be careful about what I say and how I say it? Yes. Do I sometimes make mistakes or take things too far or offend and upset some people? Yes. Does this mean I will stop doing what I do? No, for all of us are called to . . .
. . . proclaim the word; be
persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince,
reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Cardinal Dolan on the State of the Union
I am concerned about a culture that has become increasingly callous about the radical abortion license, and a legal system that affords more protection to endangered species of plants and animals than to unborn babies; that considers pregnancy a disease; that interprets “comprehensive health care” in such a way that it may be used to threaten the life of the baby in the womb (and, it should be noted, to exclude the undocumented immigrant as well). I am concerned as well for the infirm and elderly who are nearing the end of life, that they will not be treated with the respect, dignity and compassion that is their due, but instead be encouraged to seek a hasty death before they can become, according to some, “a burden to society.”
I am worried that we may be reducing religious freedom to a kind of privacy right to recreational activities, reducing the practice of religion to a Sabbath hobby, instead of a force that should guide our public actions, as Michelle Obama recently noted, Monday through Friday.
I am bothered by the prospect of this generation leaving a mountain of unpayable debt to its children and grandchildren, whose economic futures will be blighted by the amounts of the federal budget absorbed by debt service.
I am anxious that calls for a fiscally responsible society are met with claims that those calls come from men and women who don’t care about the poor; that we may be tempted to write off the underprivileged as problems to be solved, or as budget woes, rather than treating them with respect and dignity as people with potential and creativity; that we’re at times more willing to cut programs to help the sick, our elders, the hungry and homeless, than expenditures on Drone missiles.
I am concerned that our elections increasingly resemble reality TV shows rather than exercises in serious democratic conversation.
I am bothered that we are losing sight of voting as an exercise in moral judgment, in which certain priority issues—especially the life issues, with the protection of unborn life being the premier civil rights issue of the day—must weigh heavily on our consciences as we make our political decisions.
I am worried by attempts to redefine marriage, and to label as “bigots” those who uphold the traditional, God-given definition of marriage.
I am anxious that we cannot seem to have a rational debate over immigration policy, and that we cannot find a way to combine America’s splendid tradition of hospitality to the stranger with respect for the rule of law, always treating the immigrant as a child of God, and never purposefully dividing a family.
I am worried about the persecution of people of faith around the world, especially with the hatred of Christians on a perilous incline; and the preference for violent attacks upon innocents instead of dialogue as the path to world peace.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Fr. Chris Kappes, ArchIndy Priest, Missing in Greece, Feared Dead
Prayers for Fr. Kappes and his family!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Who is Bishop Tobin? Possible Next Archbishop?
A highly respected Vatican news site, "The Vatican Insider", today ran a story talking about shake-ups in some key posts in the Vatican. One of the changes mentioned the current head of the Congregation for the Religious, Bishop Joseph Tobin. The story reads:
"The current secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Joseph William Tobin, should - as always, when speaking about decisions of this kind it is essential to use the conditional because neither Benedict XVI nor the Secretary of State appear Napoleonic in this field – return to the U.S. He will probably be sent to an important diocese; possibly Indianapolis.
Is this a promotion? Possibly, but it seems he was recalled by the U.S. Catholic Church who did not appreciate Tobin’s role in clearing up misunderstandings with the LCWR’S “rebel” nuns. American bishops did not find his conciliatory statements very helpful as they were hard at work trying to resolve a difficult problem. Indeed, they saw his attitude as a break with the position taken by the previous Prefect, Franc Rodé, who was concerned about the “new age” drift of many U.S. nuns." Click here to read the whole story.
I am about as low on the totem pole as a priest can be in a diocese (which is fine by me!) but even I have heard Bishop Tobin mentioned as a serious candidate to be our next Archbishop. I thought it would be helpful to include some facts since it seems his chances of being our next Archbishop are becoming much higher. If he ends up not receiving the official nod, then we'll all know a lot more about one of the Bishops in the U.S.
Bishop Tobin is 60 years old. He is the oldest of 13 children! He was ordained a priest in 1978 for the Redemptorist order. The Redemptorists have as their charism the preaching of the Gospel, especially to the poor. Having an Archbishop who can preach well and articulate the Gospel to all people is a very important and necessary skill in my opinion, and so Bishop Tobin's background as a Redemptorist would be put to good use if he were to be assigned to Indy.
Following his ordination, Bishop Tobin was a parish priest in Detroit, leading Holy Redeemer until 1990. In 1991, Bishop Tobin was elected to serve in a leadership role for his order, and that led to him working with the Vatican's Congregation for Religious. Bishop Tobin was ordained a bishop in 2010 and was then appointed to oversee the Congregation for Religious.
There are articles on Bishop Tobin by the Catholic Herald (click here to read) and two with the National Catholic Reporter (click here and here to read)
More as word breaks.
Monday, October 1, 2012
New to the Endangered Catholic Species List: "The Mass of Convenience"
Several years ago, the deanery that I currently serve as priest in conducted a study to look at weekend Masses and attendance. The study found that there were 44 weekend Masses in the deanery, and, more surprisingly, that the average Mass attendance was LESS THAN HALF of the Church's capacity.
The Church where I currently serve as pastor has been conducting Mass counts the last month and a half (as part of a deanery-wide effort) just to see if the numbers have changed at all. At my parish, the largest TOTAL weekend attendance (the sum of the attendance at our two Masses) has been 190, while the Church's capacity is 260. So, as it stands, if we had only one Mass, then everyone would still fit. (please note: if you are from the area, we are NOT going to one Mass, I'm simply raising this as a discussion piece).
Some would argue, again using my parish as an example, "Well, Father, if you took away one of the Masses, some people would just go elsewhere" and that is precisely what I'm writing about.
In the next 10 years, half of our current priests will be retiring.
I don't think this will lead to lots of Churches being closed, but it will definitely lead to an Archbishop saying to parishes - "We will have as many Masses at your parish as is warranted by the numbers...but we won't have any more than that either."
What's the point of raising this topic??? I believe that whereas twenty and thirty years ago (and beyond) the model was basically this - Father comes to your parish for his entire life, and it is Father's job to attract new people to this parish, and I, as a lay person at my Church, don't have to worry too much about going out and evangelizing and trying to draw people in...I don't have to take my Faith to the public square, I don't have to go "door to door" so to speak - it's up to Father. And if Father's reputation in the community was solid, if his preaching was tolerable, if the music was tolerable, then people came.
The point of my post is that right before our very eyes this model is being replaced with a model that is in many ways the opposite of the old model. Now, it is the priest who will be going from one parish to another administering the sacraments, while the responsibility for going out and taking the faith to the people will fall largely on the people in the parish.
I will have 4 or 5 Masses a weekend for the rest of my life. If I'm at a parish that warrants 5 Masses because each one is full, then I'll be at that parish by itself. If there a bunch of parishes in an area that only warrant one Mass, then I will have 5 Masses at 5 different Churches every weekend.
So...in an interesting way there is a temporal benefit for the parish that goes out and evangelizes and draws people to the Church - they will have more Masses, and those that do not will move to one Mass a weekend, and they will close if that one Mass isn't even feasible.
The days of saying "Well, I'm going to the 5:30 Mass so I can sleep in tomorrow, and then, when 5:00 rolls around and the Notre Dame game is close, deciding to go to the 9 am Mass, and then, when my mom makes sausage at 8:30, I decide to go to the noon Mass, but then, when it gets close to noon, realizing I want to watch the Colts game, and so I decide I can go to the 5:30 Mass at the neighboring parish"...those days are going to quickly be behind us.
And I would end with noting that this isn't a bad thing. First of all, again, it forces people to go and win converts themselves and to learn more about their faith than if they just went to Church one hour a week. The other advantage, however, is that people would rather go to Masses in Churches that are full! My current parish, before I arrived, had three Masses with about 40 people attending each Mass. I would find that terribly depressing as a parishioner. Even if it is less convenient, I'd rather go to Mass with the whole community than have 5 pews to myself on a Sunday.
The Church where I currently serve as pastor has been conducting Mass counts the last month and a half (as part of a deanery-wide effort) just to see if the numbers have changed at all. At my parish, the largest TOTAL weekend attendance (the sum of the attendance at our two Masses) has been 190, while the Church's capacity is 260. So, as it stands, if we had only one Mass, then everyone would still fit. (please note: if you are from the area, we are NOT going to one Mass, I'm simply raising this as a discussion piece).
Some would argue, again using my parish as an example, "Well, Father, if you took away one of the Masses, some people would just go elsewhere" and that is precisely what I'm writing about.
In the next 10 years, half of our current priests will be retiring.
I don't think this will lead to lots of Churches being closed, but it will definitely lead to an Archbishop saying to parishes - "We will have as many Masses at your parish as is warranted by the numbers...but we won't have any more than that either."
What's the point of raising this topic??? I believe that whereas twenty and thirty years ago (and beyond) the model was basically this - Father comes to your parish for his entire life, and it is Father's job to attract new people to this parish, and I, as a lay person at my Church, don't have to worry too much about going out and evangelizing and trying to draw people in...I don't have to take my Faith to the public square, I don't have to go "door to door" so to speak - it's up to Father. And if Father's reputation in the community was solid, if his preaching was tolerable, if the music was tolerable, then people came.
The point of my post is that right before our very eyes this model is being replaced with a model that is in many ways the opposite of the old model. Now, it is the priest who will be going from one parish to another administering the sacraments, while the responsibility for going out and taking the faith to the people will fall largely on the people in the parish.
I will have 4 or 5 Masses a weekend for the rest of my life. If I'm at a parish that warrants 5 Masses because each one is full, then I'll be at that parish by itself. If there a bunch of parishes in an area that only warrant one Mass, then I will have 5 Masses at 5 different Churches every weekend.
So...in an interesting way there is a temporal benefit for the parish that goes out and evangelizes and draws people to the Church - they will have more Masses, and those that do not will move to one Mass a weekend, and they will close if that one Mass isn't even feasible.
The days of saying "Well, I'm going to the 5:30 Mass so I can sleep in tomorrow, and then, when 5:00 rolls around and the Notre Dame game is close, deciding to go to the 9 am Mass, and then, when my mom makes sausage at 8:30, I decide to go to the noon Mass, but then, when it gets close to noon, realizing I want to watch the Colts game, and so I decide I can go to the 5:30 Mass at the neighboring parish"...those days are going to quickly be behind us.
And I would end with noting that this isn't a bad thing. First of all, again, it forces people to go and win converts themselves and to learn more about their faith than if they just went to Church one hour a week. The other advantage, however, is that people would rather go to Masses in Churches that are full! My current parish, before I arrived, had three Masses with about 40 people attending each Mass. I would find that terribly depressing as a parishioner. Even if it is less convenient, I'd rather go to Mass with the whole community than have 5 pews to myself on a Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)