Posted on 05/02/2016 11:50:24 AM PDT by NYer
It is all too common to hear stories about fallen away Catholics, and how fewer are attending Mass and following their faith. Many blame theirs or others’ lukewarm faith or lack of catechesis on priests, their schools, bishops, Vatican II, popes, liturgical abuses, scandals, or any number of things. The problem of being lukewarm is mentioned in Revelation 3:16, where it states, rather indelicately but deliberately, “But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.”
We hear regular criticism that the Church is failing Catholics and thus the world, because many ostensibly Catholic people have turned away from Christ and succumbed to more secular interests. But is this alone the fault of the Church? I think there are areas in which the Church could be better, certainly. For example, though the Church is one giant family, cardinals, bishops, and priests, are not always on the same page on how to share or practice the faith. The differences from diocese to diocese, even parish to parish in the same dioceses, can be stark. But I am not sure we have truly identified a more basic cause. Let us consider a few things before measuring others for millstones.
If you ask a baseball fan about his team, he can likely tell you when its last World Series appearance was, the final score, who pitched and during which innings, who played the various bases, which team they beat, and how many games it took. They can probably also tell you the weather, exactly where they watched it, and which commentators called the game. More than likely, they can tell you their team’s current rank in the standings, and perhaps the batting averages of several of their favorite players. They can certainly name all of the team’s historically most famous players, as well as their player numbers. In fact, in a place of prominence in their homes, you will likely find baseball cards, baseballs, pennants, helmets, or other paraphernalia on display.
Likewise, if you were to ask an aficionado about art, they are likely to go on and on for hours about their favorite styles, artists, and why certain paints and painters are so much better than others. They can probably name their top 10 favorite art museums on the various continents, save for Antarctica, and bend your ear on why art should not be in private collections to be squandered away and kept from true enthusiasts. They can tell you from which historical eras the best painters came, and what is wrong with any particular kind of less preferred art. They know their stuff, as the saying goes.
If you ask an average, dispassionate Joe or Jane about art or baseball, they may not be able to answer with much enthusiasm, or accuracy. Those subjects just may not be their thing. Similarly, if you ask the average Catholic what the third Sorrowful Mystery is, often you will get crickets. So too if you ask them who wrote Humanae Vitae – one of the most profound documents in the last 50 years. Or even the more recent, Laudato Si’, which was widely covered in the news, you will likely be hard pressed to find a Catholic who can explain it, and far fewer who have actually read it. Even something more simple, such as how often we are obliged to attend Mass, or how many times per year we should receive the Eucharist (always in a state of grace, of course), they may not know. If you inquire as to when their last Confession might have been, “a while” is a very typical answer. Even asking to explain the difference between a venial and grave sin, many will stumble. Such people could be perfectly wonderful and charitable, but their lack of basic knowledge of essential elements of Catholicism is telling.
In contrast, a devout Catholic can likely answer easily all of what I referred to above. And it is not because they necessarily went to better schools, had better bishops, or avoided abhorrent displays of liturgical dance. All of those things certainly can help. And tradition and reverence are a lure for many. But the real reason devout Catholics can answer such questions, and many more is simple. They have an interest in the subject matter. And, of course, in almost all homes of devout Catholics, one will find Crucifixes, Catholic art, bibles, rosaries, statues, and likely some dried palm branches. The baseball fan and art aficionado, similar to most devout Catholics, likely did not learn their hobbies in grade school, or high school. They may have taken classes at some point to enhance and expand their knowledge, and if so, they did it for that same one reason – interest.
For over forty years I languished in an underdeveloped faith. I was essentially a cultural Catholic, but certainly not devout. Catholicism was part of my identity, but I can not really say I was Catholic by merely going to church any more than one can say going to Poland makes one Polish. My parents were faithful, but like many of their generation, they were not adept at explaining faith to their kids. So while I witnessed it, I did not always know why we did what we did. I had faith, certainly, and have always believed in God and Jesus. But believing in them, I understand now, is essentially meaningless without any substance behind it. After all, Catholics also believe in the devil, which illustrates that merely believing in something or someone is not enough. We are called to follow Christ, and we do so by actively seeking a relationship with Him, engaging in the Church He built, and living His teachings. To do that, we must have an interest. For most of my life, regrettably, I lacked it. So too, I am afraid, do most cultural Catholics.
Catholic schools have for years been trying to teach the faith to kids, and many have done a wonderful job. Some have less efficacy at doing so. And while not all pastors and school administrators excel at catechizing at Catholic schools, it is a much harder thing to do when parents have little interest in their own faith. I can attest to meeting many Catholic school parents who either do not know their faith, and/or are not very interested in it. Many are more interested in academics, and unwittingly perhaps, have succumbed to cultural ideals. They are by no means bad people. But pastors and principals in such environments have a tough challenge meeting the needs of devout Catholic families who want strong catechesis, while trying to not repel more nominally Catholic parents who seem to mostly want their kids to go to the best high schools and colleges.
Without interest in one’s faith, Jesus’ life, His mission, Mary, why the Catholic Church remains the one True Church, saints, scripture, the Real Presence, one’s own eternal salvation – or one of thousands of other subjects about which one can study, we will likely learn little. Rarely do we learn anything unless we have at least a basic interest in it. And Catholicism, with such a vast and seemingly infinite deposit of faith through two millennia, cannot be learned just through osmosis. One needs to actively engage in learning.
How do we create an interest in people? Conversation and evangelization are great ways. And both of those are best done through good Catholic witness. When we truly witness our faith, to our spouses, children, and the public in general – including on social media – we create the most interest in our faith. I have experienced this first hand many times in the past few years. People are genuinely interested in people they think are good people of faith. They may not always be interested in initially emulating all that they do, but they will likely observe and listen. Particularly important is the witness to children. We know well that our kids follow our lead as parents. They typically like many of the sports teams, places, foods that their parents do. And even when they do not, they usually respect the good choices of their parents. But a parent who is not living a Catholic life who wants his or her kids to be Catholic is erecting huge hurdles that merely going to Mass is unlikely to overcome, a Catholic school is unlikely to overcome, and perhaps only God may be able to surmount.
Priests can help as well, certainly. A good homilist can help significantly to inspire. But even the best homilies, if listened to each week, only add up to roughly 8.6 hours of instruction per year, or less than the equivalent of one work day. Certainly good leadership by bishops, cardinals, and our Holy Father can inspire, but ultimately the responsibility to learn and know our faith is really ours. We are in charge of learning about our faith and taking our desire to have eternal life in God’s Kingdom seriously. No one can do it for us. No one can be Catholic for us. Through Christ alone can we be saved, but the decision is ours. Thus, it is important to ask ourselves where our true love lies. For as it says in Mathew 6:21, “For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.”
If you are a devout Catholic who perhaps directed the blame to certain things in the past, maybe switch your focus to helping a friend come Home now. If you have been a lukewarm Catholic heretofore, blame whomever or whatever you feel was initially responsible, but then forgive them and consider taking responsibility for your own faithfulness. Start with the initial first step of showing an interest. Then, take on something simple at first. Say a Rosary once a week. Read a papal document that might be of interest. Pop in at Adoration and spend some time with Jesus. Say some extra prayers on the way to work. Talk to a priest. Volunteer somewhere. Talk to a genuinely Catholic friend. Read one of millions of books. Read CatholicStand.com. There are an infinite number of ways to boost one’s spiritual life, and one’s relationship with Christ. I reignited my faith by attending an additional Mass once a week during Lent a few years ago. Now I go to daily Mass, because I can! I realize now that I was the one turning away from Christ all those years, and being lukewarm. He was always there for me. I just was not interested in my faith, or Jesus. I am now, and it has changed my life.
"Today bring to Me SOULS WHO HAVE BECOME LUKEWARM,* and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: 'Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.' For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy."
Consider including this vast group of souls in your daily prayers.
Catholic ping!
I have a dear friend who is a hardcore TRADITIONAL Catholic. His son is a priest.
He is HEARTSICK and tells me he’s convinced that the Vatican has been captured by the Marxists!
As I watch this Pope, I’m convinced he’s right!
For me, I’ve been able to identify with this description, and its corresponding admonition in Scripture (cf Rev 3:16). I often fear I fit into this category much to easily, without much resistance or thought on my part. I can only rely on His Mercy, for the more I examine my conscience daily the more I realize how much I fall short.
My God, have mercy on me a sinner.
>”Today bring to Me SOULS WHO HAVE BECOME LUKEWARM<
.
When you are unemployed and you have prayed your heart out for a job, and there is no answer, it’s hard to believe in the abyss God’s mercy.
Try the Latin Mass if you are lucky enough to live near one. I’m convinced that the Latin Mass holds the key to the future of the Catholic Church. In the meantime let us pray for the Pope, that he takes the right road ahead.
True. I have lived that (and am living through something similar).
Hang in there.
Christ Himself prayed in the garden for the chalice to be passed from Him, and He was then excruciatingly tortured and killed -- but His final prayer was "not my will, but thine." Without the Crucifixion, none of us could enter the Kingdom. It was the ultimate act of mercy, but it probably didn't appear that way to the apostles at the time.
Resignation to, working towards acceptance and even to the joyful embrace of God's plan regardless of how painful it is for us in a temporal sense is something we all have to discipline ourselves to move towards.
Wow, beautiful words — you must have a job. Want to trade places?
I can distill it into two words:
POPE FRANCIS!
The theft of the Papacy from Cardinal Siri to the leftist John XXIII was the beginning of the end. Vatican II followed and the steady destruction followed. It continues today with this Marxist imposter in the Seat of St. Peter. It will not however end well for them.
Vatican II opened the windows & so many nuns took flight. I wish we had them all back!
Today I will pray for your employment situation. And if I may ask, let us pray for each other, in our various circumstances or trouble and suffering, in which Jesus joins us even now.
I think for me it really all started in the 2006 timeframe when “we” were told that “Sanctity of Life” should make way for “Social Justice.” And then, during the 2008 election season, we were damn near told to vote for Obama...
My concern began at that moment when our Priest was able to stand in front of the parish, with a straight face and say “it’s more important to support candidates that support Social Justice than Sanctity of Life.” I literally got up from the pew and left, and have only been back a few times. If my Priest felt that social justice was more important than sanctity of life then that is not the church I grew up in.
God and I are doing just fine...I don’t need to sit in a church and polish a pew with my a$$ only to be told that THE most vulnerable are not deserving of defense and are somehow less important, well, than anything.....
My reason for being lukewarm: Francis. It’s ironic that America and the Catholic Church have that in common...just when it needed a great leader, it got a Marxist, divisive, America-hating fool instead.
I’m just tired of having to “sing” all the responses. It’s like an episode of “glee”. Even the Lord’s Prayer is sung. I want to go to church, not glad hand, not hold my hands up and not have to sing. I look at all the men in the church and very few are involved because it’s so odd and I think effeminate.
Yeah, I know that men sing. but I’d just like to go to a mass like I did in my youth and listen, respond and learn.
As far as the politics of the church... it’s communist and homosexual friendly. Anyone who denies that are truly drinking the kool-aid. That’s why I left initially.
But the words of my father brought me home...”the church is the Lord’s home, the Catholic faith is the Lord’s gift. But men are flawed and should not be confused with what you know in your soul to be good and true.”
The communists can destroy the “church” but not my faith. The current pathetic pope and his little cronies make me sick, but I look at all the gifts the church has given the world and realize that they are lost and they will ultimately pay the price, all I have to do is believe, live my life as if the Lord is at my shoulder, ask him to forgive my sinful and despicable acts against him and pray that he has the grace to give my that forgiveness.
It’s all in his hands and he knows how it all will shake out. Without the Lord I am truly lost and pray with all my heart that I have done enough to live forever in peace with my family and that they find happiness and the Lord’s grace as well.
amen brother.
I love the quietness of the Tridentine Mass. So very quiet and contemplative. It reminds me of the silent, non-sermon daily Masses we were forced to attend as children in Catholic school in the 19960s. It’s nice to escape lay people, bad music, loud, malfunctioning mics at the pulpit and, worst of all, altar girls.
I have a home in NJ and would have to travel far to find a Latin Mass. In NYC, one is near me.
My family went through what you went through two years ago. Not only that, we faced social justice warriors who took our story to the New York Times - lies and deceit that caused my husband to go into a major depression that took a long time for him to emerge. But you’d be surprised how things can turn around in unexpected ways. I happen to think God took care of us in the end - a kind of strange way that we didn’t expect! So keep your chin up.
Can I ask you how long you’ve been out of work?
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