Yet, I understand that Seminaries are full... Can we turn this around? It seems to me that we need to double down on high school and college, instill a new set of values in the youth (rather than parties and electronic gadgets). I heard a little bit about that at Mass this morning. We have a very successful, exceptional Catholic school system in inner city Milwaukee run by the Capuchins. A school system within a school system, so to speak. They just announced that they were going to start emphasizing education for everyone in the schools (K through 12) rather than just the brightest. I’m not sure quite what Father (a visiting priest) meant, but I’m sure that I will hear more about it as the year goes on.
We are in the suburbs, and we seem to lose many of the young people as they go to college. They relocate to other cities upon graduation and don’t come back to church until their children are ready for the sacraments — if then. They are chasing the almighty dollar, rather than save their souls.
Well, the Church is not a building. It is a body of believers. Why not meet in each other’s houses, like they did when the church was in its infancy? What would be wrong with that?
If we could loosen those laws up, or maybe file a well-argued lawsuit, realtors would help get people into pews. A few more people in each parish would naturally move closer to church or the parish school, even within walking distance. The church and school would be less likely to close, and more likely to thrive.