Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus
| Parents miss Mass, kids get ax |
|
|
|
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. |
Oh I call them that to their faces, too (and mind you these are in laws, I'm really getting bold). Seriously, I can't deal with those that don't want to be bothered with the church ever, offer no stewardship, etc But then when a Sacrament comes up, it's suddenly an important ritual. Please.
Amen, sista.
If the parents bear no fruit, neither will the children who will do as the parents teach.
No wonder I can't grow fruit trees!!!
what are you doing this summer?
what are you doing this summer?
I still have 3 days of school left. Then it's about 2 weeks of summer and then back to school again. I will probably spend the time getting stuff ready for next year for the most part (probably even working a decent amount of days--I have a ton of stuff to do), though I really need to work on the yard--the weeds are looking like the Amazon. I will go to Cub Scout Day camp one week too. I'll do some tutoring and some work with a couple of community boards I'm on too. If I can , I may head home for an extended family reunion, but I will probably settle for the immediate one in August (usually my "vacation" for the year).
Amazon--rain forest, not the river:)
When the wife and I hit $26,000 total per year donations, I'll worry.
Sorry,
We did.
Well, what use is it for the kids to make the Sacraments and their family never darken the door of the Church again? I see this in my own Parish. The kids make First Communion, and since, until recently, they weren't required to make First Confession before making First Communion, some don't come back until it's time for Confirmation, then they have to make First Confession then. The only reason some of them even come back then is because their parents are offering a new car as a gift, or because they want to get married in the Church someday, and they know they can't if they aren't Confirmed. They don't pay attention in class; just sit there, and are Confirmed anyway. After that, no one sees them again, except with their family at Christmas and Easter, until Mama wants to have a big Church wedding.
It is not religious, it is cultural, and maybe, just maybe, what this priest is doing will actually get some of them to THINK about whether or not their faith is truly important to them; AFTER they've gotten their knickers untwisted.
Sacramental Catholics are the same as Cultural Catholics to me.
Interesting! I have been harping about my inlaws in this thread and them being "Sacrament Only Catholics" because they are rushing to get a baptism done, yet can't be bothered with the church ever beyond this. The would be godfather is a Jew.
Good for you!
Here is your reward:
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Matthew 6:1-4
I also said that the reasons for the parents sending their children to religious instruction classes were irrelevant, and (probably) nobody's business. This irrelevance applies to half of your post. However questionable the motives of the parents, the children have been put in the hands of the instructor for a reason. I would expect that a person who takes on the responsibility of teaching a class in religion would be focused on the spiritual aspect of the mission and not on analyzing the worthiness of the individual students to hear the message. God only expects us to do our jobs as best we can and that is what we are held accountable for. The motives of others are not our responsibility. I think that cutting these children off from an opportunity to learn about their Catholic religion was extremely short sighted and in both the short and long term, very hurtful to them spiritually.
If their parents are not taking them to Mass, then just what are those kids learning? They may be learning a lot of volcabulary and prayers, which are fine, in and of themselves, but they are not learning about living their faith. They are only with that teacher, at the most, one hour a week. From their parents the rest of the time, they are learning that their faith is just something you do every now and then when you feel like doing it, but apparently doesn't mean a heck of a lot.
Because of the woefully inadequate CCD instruction since Vatican II, and the lax attitudes of Pastors and Directors of Religious Education during that same time, there are two whole generations of Catholics who have that attitude about their faith. That's why when "Catholics" are polled, they say they don't agree with what the Church teaches. For one thing, they have no idea what the Church truly teaches, only what they hear on the tv news or read in the papers. For another, they are just not interested because to be so might upset the comfortable lives they've created for themselves. It never occurs to them that they may feel empty precisely BECAUSE they're living without faith.
And just to let you know, I'm not a Rad-Trad Catholic. The Latin Mass holds no real fascination for me, and I'm an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist who either receives or gives Holy Communion in the hand every Sunday of the year. I'm just fed up with cultural Catholics who think that the entire Church should cater to them and their feelings. If they want to leave, that is on their own souls, and doubly so because they are the ones responsible for the religious education of their children. If they truly want their children prepared for the Sacraments, they'll start getting themselves to Mass. And if the Parish won't do it, they could do it themselves. Somehow, I don't think they'll bother.
Yeah...and the Mass was in the Latin, the catechetical teaching was from the old Baltimore Catechism, there were no "coming out" parties for clergy, seminarians had a curfew, and most priests would have dropped dead if they were caught using church funds at a five-star restaraunt. My, my...how things have changed.
Yeah and the was in the Latin, the catechetical teaching was from the old Baltimore Catechism, there were no "coming out" parties for clergy, seminarians had a curfew, and most priests would have dropped dead if they were caught using church funds at a five-star restaraunt. My, my...how things have changed.
Actually, I didn't do that quote. Someone else did. But I did say that people did make excuses for a lot of things. It slmost looks like that's what you did, though some of what you say rings true.
I, of course, argue that Christ's existence is a matter of historical fact, not belief. What is a matter of belief is whether we believe that Christ is who He claimed to be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.