The State of Affairs- We Had Better Wake Up

Over the last fifteen years or so in ministry, I have met many families and ministered not only to them but their children as well. These years have brought about many triumphs, successes, and moments where I feel the Holy Spirit has made an impact on their lives. That is good and at the same time encouraging for the Church, because it is those families who will “carry the torch,” so to speak and keep the Church alive and relevant into the next generation. These families work alongside of us who are in ministry and assure that the faith “sticks,” no matter what obstacle or circumstance may come up in their lives. As I look out at the assembly at Sunday Mass, I can see how the parish of which I am a part has truly impacted individuals and families over the years. I can see that we helped this family through a death, this family through the birth of a child, this family through a divorce, this family through the trials of marriage, and so on.
 
But I also look out from my chair and see many people we haven’t touched. These might be people that come through our doors every week or maybe just occasionally. They feel that they have to remain connected to their faith and they struggle, oftentimes alone. Many times they succeed in that struggle, but at the same time could be so much more connected and in love with their faith than they already are. Unfortunately, many more times, they lose the connection they have, either through apathy, through a slight by a member of the parish or clergy, a scandal, or the influence of popular culture.
Those are the people I am concerned most about as a minister. I have heard within ministry circles that “we have to let the Holy Spirit guide us,” or “maybe the Church needs to get smaller at this point in history,” or “eventually they will come back to the faith.” These statements have a tendency to frustrate me as a parish minister because it speaks of the same apathy and lack of action that we bemoan all the time from our people. By saying the “Holy Spirit needs to guide us,” we oftentimes then just sit back and continue business as usual because after all, God has the plan in hand. We say that the Church needs to get “smaller.” Well doesn’t that mean that as the Church gets smaller and smaller, it will eventually become irrelevant in certain parts of the world? And while it might have been the case years ago that “people would eventually come back to the faith,” I just don’t think that is the case today. People leave the Church and never come back because the connection is lost. I see this first hand in the number of Catholics that I see refusing to have the Catholic Funeral Rites and simply having a service at the funeral home. Years ago, my mother always used to say that even though she might not be going to church every week, it was vitally important that she have a Catholic Funeral Mass. When it came to her death, she wanted nothing- not even prayers at the cemetery. I think all of us have people within our own families who are disconnected. Have we ever thought about what we are doing to get them re-connected?
 
I realize that the problems I have presented here can cause us to simply throw up our hands and say we can never change this. It may also cause us to say we need support in our efforts that many times the leadership of the Church doesn’t give us. We can also say that we can only change our little corner of the world by working on what we can control. And while most of these points might be valid, we all have to look within ourselves and ask a very basic, but poignant question. How good of an evangelizer am I? Am I proud to let people know I am Catholic? Do I feel comfortable in social circles defending the Church’s position on the “hotbed” topics? I would suspect that many of us take the attitude that we don’t want to offend others or impose our faith on others. It makes me think of an example from secular culture. Imagine yourself one day in the midst of a crowd that blasts the United States as the worse government on Earth, takes out an American flag and steps all over it, and then decries the military as a bunch of warmongering killers. The vast majority of us would have enough pride in our country to stand up and defend her against this group. Why then, can’t we afford the Church the same passion and zeal in defending her when she is attacked as being insensitive to others, as being an organization full of pedophiles or simply an organization headed by a bunch of old men out of touch with reality.
 
What we all must do is first of all, gain a sense of pride in our Church and in our Faith. We must truly take to heart the things we believe- that the Church is the way to salvation. We must feel offended and defend her when she is attacked in an unfair or inappropriate way. Second, we have to become evangelizers. We can’t be afraid to wear our faith on our sleeve. Third and most importantly, we have to come to know our faith. We have to realize that our faith is not just something that we learn once and for all when we are confirmed. Scripture study, spiritual reading, classes, seminars, and other means of catechesis must continue. We can’t expect to understand the issue of abortion or the issue of same-sex marriage and the Church’s position on these issues without some study and examination. That’s not to say that we all have to have theology degrees, but it does say we need to understand the why before we jump on the secular bandwagon. I would suspect that many people, if they understood the whys would have different opinions about these matters.
 
In summary, we can’t be apathetic, we have to be engaging and fired up about our faith. We have to know it enough to defend it, and we have to continue to bring those who feel disconnected back into the fold. Believe it or not, the future of the Church depends on it.