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.
Post 1960's, how many Catholics actually believe that one must be Catholic for salvation? Compared with....how many Catholics believe that the Catholic Faith is merely "the fullness of the Truth"?
You know, that’s when I had a problem with my priest, too, spouting that kind of stuff, but abortion, euthanasia, and forced killing of vulnerable people got no air time from him. Yes, I left that parish for good, and then wandered around without a parish for a few years. Then I stopped going at all, for a number of years. I wanted to go, but I knew my old parish had glaring eyes. Fortunately, God rescued me, and dealt a long distance move to us. The first thing we did was find a new Catholic parish to call home. It has been a blessing! We have a lovely traditional priest, and Mass is holy and sacred again. God is good!
“Wow, beautiful words — you must have a job. Want to trade places?”
Would you like to trade places with the martyrs? To quote Collin Raye, nobody says that life is fair, and we’ve all got a cross to bear. For the nothing that it’s worth, you have my condolences about your employment troubles; but the fact that you’re having a difficult time doesn’t mean that you should doubt God’s love. People have died in agony without doubting it.
I’ve had to deal with this particular cross a few times in my life. Prayers to St. Joseph are particularly useful.
See my tagline.
I’ve lived through some hard times and wondered where God was too, without exception, when I got through it I have been truly blessed. My miracles rarely come in one fell swoop but one small step at a time and many I’ve not even noticed until I was looking back.
From the Invitatory Psalm:
Come let us sing to the Lord
and shout with Joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach Him with Praise and Thanksgiving
and sign Joyful songs to the Lord.
I know. Singing and singing and singing. Yeah. I get it.
It’s just whatever you’re used to.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s me but when I say my rosary at night, I’m not singing, when I sometimes get down on my knees asking for God to help me understand what life is giving me.... I’m not doing some sing song 4/4 song in the key of C or whatever.
It’s just a choice. You like to sing , awesome. I like to pray , awesome. We can worship without conflict. Awesome.
Been there. It's a rough passage on the road of life. Like you, I felt abandoned but held fast to my faith with the words of St. Paul; "If God is for you, who can be against you?" I struggled for a long time but suddenly, a job opportunity came along. Despite being (in my opinion) the least qualified of the 40 candidates that applied, I was given the position. It proved to be the answer to those prayers. Later, reflecting back on the time of struggle, I realized that our Lord had accompanied me on that journey. Will keep you in my prayers.
About 11 years ago I went through a period of unemployment and under employment. It was only after I accepted my current position that I was able to see God had used those difficulties to prepare me for moving to a new state and accepting this position. I am adding you to my prayer list.
We all have our crosses to bear.
My suggestion is to go help someone in your field. Solve a problem. Be around people that can make connections for you.
Go look for opportunities that you could serve others, you may find a way to make some money and to get noticed.
Consider starting your own company. Start small. Find some customers and provide a service or product. Be competitive in pricing, pricing can always increase as your demand and volume increases. Many business begin by offering a lower price and great service in the beginning.
Visit the Holy Eucharist and ask for God’s help.
Been there too.
And sometimes you don’t want people to list everyone who has or has it worse than you.
You don’t want people to throw a few Scriptures in your direction and then walk away as though they have done you a monumental favor.
You don’t want people sending you job listings that your husband already applied for ad nauseam.
Groceries would have been nice. Just knowing someone cared. But when I became so discouraged as to not pray for our situation anymore... someone saying “ it’s our turn to pray on your behalf” or “let’s pray together” would have been amazing
No judgment or condemnation. And that is what I will do for you FRiend
Lack of catechesis has brought us the lukewarm Catholics.
All pastors need to have an Adult Education program at the top of their priorities.
I understand your suffering about being without work. I understand desperate financial times and then being hit with a potentially terminal diagnosis, one that killed your sister 9 months previous, and a lot more bills we can’t afford.
Then I read yesterday 6 children lost their parents within 48 hours. The mother was 40 and threw a blood clot in her sleep, died at the local hospital. 48 hours later, 38 year old father died in his sleep from a heart attack.
Someone always has it worse than we do. As the saying goes, if we all got together and thew our problems in a pile, and could pick up whatever we choose, most of us would pick our own back up.
>Someone always has it worse than we do<
.
That certainly does not make me feel better.
I know it's hard to be on the receiving end rather than the giving end, but endure and He will not fail to be revieled in some small way.
I'll offer my prayers, such as they are, so that you can once again be on the giving end of the team./
Nah, you're both wrong...Francis is indeed a bit leaning toward socialism but that's where he's from. He will do NOTHING to affect Catholic doctrine based on his upbringing.There are Catholics from every country on Earth and some of them have different opinions than we do.....so be it, the Pope can come from anywhere and is, of course, the product of his environment.....all will be O.K.....pray for it.
Mass is what YOU make it....I know a few people who actually left the church because they didn't like a particular priest....pathetic, like leaving the country because you don't like the president. We all have to put up, temporarily, with things that we might not agree with....so be it. No situation that I might not like could ever make me even doubt the church. Bad situations are created by fallible men and I don't have a lot of time for them.
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