Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus
| Parents miss Mass, kids get ax |
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The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance. He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April. Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait. The suspensions, legal under church doctrine, were a shock to many parents with kids enrolled in the 1,400-child program, which caters to kids who don't attend Catholic schools. "It's hurtful," said Joseph LoPizzo, 38, whose 6-year-old son was booted. "I've been a parishioner at that church for 23 years - longer than he's been the reverend." LoPizzo said he paid the $150 for his son's Thursday afternoon classes last year, but his father-in-law's illness hampered the family's church attendance. "I've just never heard of a church kicking you out," complained Lisa Nicol, 36, who got a letter saying her 7-year-old twin daughters had been barred from classes. "They should be more welcoming and sensitive." The pastor said he suspended kids from the 2005-2006 after-school program because Mass is an "essential" component of the Catholic faith. The affected families were attending church less than once a month, he said. Cichon insisted that the move has nothing to do with the lack of a donation. "There are many families who put absolutely nothing inside the envelopes they submit," he said. |
All parishes subsidize the schools to some extent from the offering basket. (My parish subsidizes over 50% of the tuition cost.) If parents refuse their obligation to contribute within their means to the needs of the Church, and this is an obligation as binding on pain of mortal sin as the obligation to attend Mass weekly, their children do not deserve the privilege of a Catholic education. Why should the rest of the parish shoulder the burden for slackers? "Do not give the dogs what is holy, nor cast your pearls before swine." (St. Matthew 7.6)
This may be true for a parish school. However this is not a parish school. Schools here are regional schools and are financed completely through tuition. No support from the parish or the archdiocese. In this case the parishioners were not contributing enough (per parish priest) and he did not feel that they should spend money on a Catholic education if they were not giving a large amount to the parish. I am only familiar with one family who received a letter. They had 2 young children who wanted to attend the school. They had contributed approx. $800 each year to the parish and volunteered both time and talent as needed. They attended mass faithfully. They were not wealthy and were hoping for some financial aid. The priest refused to sign the parish verification form.
In our school, the non-Catholic and non-regularly attending (Mass) families pay extra tuition every month. (a substantial amount, imo)
Expelling the kids is going too far, I think.
Huh??? You've got it 360 degrees reversed (to use a dummocrat phrase)...The classes are for Catholic children who do NOT go to Catholic day schools. These are probably similar to "Hebrew School," where kids go for religious education a few nights a week, and on Sundays, for kids who don't go to a Jewish day school.
Mark
And, coincidentally, this fits right in with this past Sunday's readings! (esp. Mt 10:37-42)
And, coincidentally, this fits right in with this past Sunday's readings! (esp. Mt 10:37-42)
"their children do not deserve the privilege of a Catholic education."
As I understand your thinking here, you believe that only those who are "deserving" are worthy to recieve the message of Jesus. I disagree. I believe the message of Christ is meant for everyone. If we were deprived of Christ's message based upon not only our sins but the sins of our parents, I fear the church would no longer exist. The Catholic Church is not a country club with an "exclusive membership". The church is for everyone.
As I was taught, only God has the right to judge what is within someone's heart.
Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 06-26-05
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine."
Why should those with no respect for the faith be put on an equal fotting with the faithful?
What's the point? If their parents don't show for mass, then the kids get the idea that religious classes are just baby-sitting time.
Meaning, do not keep them from coming to me...as this priest has done...
No He didn't. Jesus said "Let the LITTLE children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me, for os such is the kingdom of heaven." The word used here refers to infants, not youths.
Anyway, the parents are the ones refusing to allow their children to experience salvation in Christ, since they refuse to take them to Mass. The Priest is not barring the door to them, but asking them to actually attend the Divine Worship.
No exceptions!
The Lord Jesus spoke this of "LITTLE children" - the Greek word "paidia" from "paidion" meaning "INFANTS", not "YOUTHS", since it is the diminutive of "pais" which does mean a young child.
The verse has ZERO applicability to this situation.
This smacks of Pelagianism and Salvation by Works.
If someone does not attend Sunday Mass, they cannot be in a state of grace, nor are they active believers, and therefore their mind will be clouded by sin and unable to receive divine Lights.
Instructing such people is utterly useless, as the habit of faith in them is dead. They possess neither grace nor faith.
The Christian message is one of Revelation, not Pedagogy and Philosophy. You cannot "instruct" people into becoming practicing Christians. They must be practicing the faith prior to their ability to learn the faith.
Without practice, all instruction is utterly worthless.
Practice comes from prayer, and prayer is first and foremost the Holy Mass, as we are taught by the "Our Father". "Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us." - "May we praise your name and thus bring your kingdom among us and do your will here on this earth as the Angels and Saints do in heaven, therefore grant us the grace of receiving You in the Eucharist, you having forgiven our sins as we have reconciled with our brothers before daring to come to you for forgiveness."
Anyone who is not on board with this program Our Lord outlines for us cannot possibly pray sincerely, and if they are not praying, they cannot learn.
If the children are old enough to receive communion, they are also old enough to be responsible to attend Mass weekly, and if they don't attend Mass, this is something they personally need to confess.
If their parents cannot be trusted to get their children to Mass once per week for a single hour, how could they possibly be trusted to get them to school five times per week for the entire day?
Everyone who purposefully does not attend Mass will be lost forever.
Jesus will not give salvation to those who do not know Him or the Father, and Catholics will not discover Him apart from the Mass. He has give us His word on this.
The Catholic Church doesn't care a whit what it says or does not say in the Bible about attending Church. The Catholic Church KNOWS what Jesus and the Apostles left it in the Deposit of Faith, and this includes the obligation to attend Mass every week on Sunday.
Where does it say that in the Bible?
Yes, it is a waste of time of everyone involved, and it detracts from the education that could be given to those who are committed to the faith. I say this as a CCD instructor. Half of class time was spent on the worst 10% of the class, none of whom ever attended Mass.
To limit religious education to only those whose parents are "serious about religion" is a very self rightious practice.
Well, its what the Church did from the time of Christ right up to around 1965 or 1970.
If a man attends to the basic requirements of the Catholic Church, he will be saved. The Church requires you to attend Mass every Sunday plus on Holydays, donate of your time and money, receive the Eucharist at least once per year, confess all your sins prior to reception of the Eucharist, fast and abstain on the days appointed by the Church to do penance, and to follow the marriage laws of the Church. Barring a sudden death after committing a serious sin, a Catholic living this basic plan of life will be saved.
Why not? God did the preposterous act of taking human flesh, being born, allowing Himself to be crucified and die. That is also human sacrifice, in this case of the God-Man.
The Eucharistic doctrines of the Catholic Church are not more preposterous than the Incarnation itself. If you cannot believe in the Real Presence, its difficult to see how you can truly believe God became man.
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