Someone told me here on FR (maybe it was Frank Sheed)that the marks of a vital parish were
1. How long the lines were for the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession.
2. How many people a parish had heading to the priesthood and/or religious life.
Sorry, but I don't remember exactly who it was.
A long time back, an article appeared in one of the Catholic daily email news lists (Catholic Exchange; National Catholic Register?) that was an Op-Ed. It dissected the average parish bulletin and how much "stuff" was in it. The writer especially focused on the financial news about how much was taken in during the previous week's collection and what fund-raisers were taking place that week (we all know them now by heart!). The writer then stated that this was to convince us of the "vitality" of the Parish in doing its Mission. The person then stated what Salvation quotes above: that only two pieces of information (aside from the Mass schedule and how to get a priest in an emergency) are required. The first is how many confessions took place last week; the second was how many vocations (priesthood or religious life) are in progress or took place. The implication was that God would take care of all the rest (money) because the graces He was providing were being used for the purpose of saving souls.
That, to me, was astounding and dead on. I am stunned as I look back on my own life and see that certain Parishes in the Diocese were "vocation factories" that sent literally tens of priests to seminaries over a decade. Others had no priests in their entire history. It also occurred to me that the "priest factories" had a great many standard devotions such as Eucharistic Adoration, Miraculous Medal novenas, weekly Benediction, a Sodality that was large, a Men's Club or very religious K of C Council, many daily communicants and long, LONG confession lines.
This person, Lord knows who they are because this old gray head can't recall, hit on a vital connection and one worthy of meditation. I remember that another comment made was that "if for Confession, the time listed was on Saturday from 3:45 to 4:00 PM, or, worse yet, 'by appointment'", the Parish was already dead!
Thanks for the "ping" Salvation. I hope others will read this too.
F
I'm very blessed to be part of a conservative parish. We have 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration, and on Saturdays, there are long lines for penance.
The church is St. Anthony of Padua in Fresno.