Posted on 02/02/2016 8:30:41 AM PST by Salvation
No mention of sharing the amazing Gospel that alone gives hope and eternal life.
A-Pope misses the big picture Christ gave us.
Good comments. We’ve discussed many of these issues in our Stewardship Committee.
What do you think “Catechesis” is, or just like to bloviate?
Catechesis is critical. Most Catholics have little instruction that the entire world is divided up into parishes. Every parish has a pastor and a territory. Since there is only once Church, the Pastor (together with his parish to help) is the shepherd of every human person within those boundaries: Catholic or Protestant, Christian, Muslim, Jew, or atheist. The parish has a responsibility to connect with every man, woman and child in their boundaries and invite them to know Christ, through his Word, Sacraments and his Body the Church.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
The winning comment:
“Avoid merely lamenting the passage of the “good old days.” Scripture says, “For here we have no lasting city” (Heb 13:14). Change is part of life. The parish may once have been Polish, or Italian, or black, or white, but now it is changing. One thing, however, has not changed: there are still human beings who need to hear the Gospel and be saved. No less than in the past, we need to go out and meet our new neighbors, welcome them, and proclaim the primordial call: Come to Jesus.”
It is good that for once, the focus is starting to shift to the need to have relationship with Jesus, even in the Catholic Church.
Yes. It was there all along. :-)
I’m glad you pointed it out.
Jesus Christ is the reason for all worthwhile parish activity.
Amen!
Msgr. Pope points out several ways in which we can get caught up in “institutional maintenance,” just keeping going because we’re going ... until we’re not. I think he’s got valuable advice for anyone in parish leadership.
Msgr. Pope has shared his own experience and of course it has merit.
It would be good to unite and strengthen the parish neighborhood again.
There is a desire for that to happen again, as in the days of old, but the days of old, are gone. The condition of the Church, from Rome to the American parish, is suffering a gravely divided house, from diocese to diocese.
While it is much worse, even insufferable in some dioceses than in others, there is a different Catholic Church out there. The Church in the US is beginning to look more Episcopalian every day, except for some Episcopal “masses” are quite more pious and rich than many, many Catholic celebrations.
I can not imagine dealing with attendance and location, until the pall over the Church identity, the catechesis, it’s strange conversations with foreign influences and the visible loss of the practices, is first attended.
I think each of us has to do the best we can in our own specific circumstances. However, what we all have in common is our call to live in and for Christ.
The problem in my area is that the non-Anglo heirs to the parishes they inherit from them won’t contribute to the upkeep of the buildings (then bitch and moan when the parishes are closed due to deterioration).
I disagree with your personal opinion.
It was stated clearly in the article: “and invite them to know Christ, through his Word, Sacraments and his Body the Church.”
I hope that you can find peace in your heart and realize that the Catholic Church’s mission is to lead all to eternal life with God. To do this it is natural to build a parish so that people can learn from the Word of God and the Sacraments and from other members of the Body of Christ.
” was stated clearly in the article: “and invite them to know Christ, through his Word, Sacraments and his Body the Church.—
None of those three bring eternal life unless you actually teach the Gospel of grace.
Engaging immigrant populations in stewardship is a challenge, but Msgr. Pope (and my committee) would say it’s a challenge we have to undertake. Realistically, one element might be accepting a different attitude toward buildings. If a parish is - probably through no fault of anyone there - enslaved to its physical plant, that can be a major impediment to building a living and evangelical congregation in the present.
“Having gone through “Catechesis”, I know exactly what it is”
Years ago there was a person here who claimed to be a Catholic deacon and made all sorts of wrong-headed, wrong-hearted, and downright offensive claims about Catholicism.
It turned out that he was a complete fraud.
The problems seen with parish facilities is often the same as with the neighborhood infrastructure; as these populations move in, they also don’t seem to have any desire to pay for road improvements, garbage/snow removal, etc.
They want everything made available and maintained for them, but not on their dimes.
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