I guess what I left unspoken is that troubled parishes (or diocese) are where the reinforcements need to be - including paid staff, purchased resources, whatever it takes. Our Church doesn't seem to consider widespread atheism or paganism to be an emergency requiring an emergency response.
When my father was a teenager, during WWII, he an…
I guess what I left unspoken is that troubled parishes (or diocese) are where the reinforcements need to be - including paid staff, purchased resources, whatever it takes. Our Church doesn't seem to consider widespread atheism or paganism to be an emergency requiring an emergency response.
When my father was a teenager, during WWII, he and another altar server would accompany their parish priest to the rail yards of Indianapolis. There, the priest would engage with passing railroad workers, calling to them, encouraging, debating and even arguing with them. Several times, one or more of the more belligerent workers would try to attack the priest (thus the presence of my dad and his friend, as bodyguards more than "assistants"). The point is, that priest contended with the faithless as - and where - they were. Today's priests and bishops have an opportunity to contend in every struggling parish and diocese - it's a wonderful, exciting opportunity for them, not an occasion for retreat. And the fact that so few do that is precisely the real problem of our Church. Metrics like "fewer vocations" or "shrinking numbers attending Mass weekly" are just symptoms of a sickness that begins - and ends - with our priests and bishops.
The laity are key, absolutely central, but whenever possible they must be guided and led, in the spiritual and motivational sense, by our clergy. This effort has to come from the top.
I see so many Protestant churches where the congregants do such a good job of evangelization - or at least, a more extroverted job. I'm talking about little things like Internet advertising. Small flyers with internet links and QR codes to access more info (and "show this flyer to someone at your local parish when you arrive"). A true parish welcoming committee - they should be a non-Catholic visitor's first catechist, someone who's trained to act when a newcomer shows them that flyer or whatever. Public speaking (by trained, designated speakers). Billboards. Whatever works.
It seems there are always laity or consecrated religious who are thrilled to run a soup kitchen for homeless people, but precious few are willing to think through and execute the unglamorous work of delivering the Truth of our Holy Mother Church to someone in their neighborhood. If we don't change that, we'll continue to decline as a faith and a people.
I am always impressed by the groups of evangelical men who get together for breakfast to read Sacred Scripture and share their faith. Catholics, for the most part, seem to be uncomfortable with sharing and talking about our faith. We love demonstrating our faith (food kitchens, schools0 but not so much in sharing it.
I guess what I left unspoken is that troubled parishes (or diocese) are where the reinforcements need to be - including paid staff, purchased resources, whatever it takes. Our Church doesn't seem to consider widespread atheism or paganism to be an emergency requiring an emergency response.
When my father was a teenager, during WWII, he and another altar server would accompany their parish priest to the rail yards of Indianapolis. There, the priest would engage with passing railroad workers, calling to them, encouraging, debating and even arguing with them. Several times, one or more of the more belligerent workers would try to attack the priest (thus the presence of my dad and his friend, as bodyguards more than "assistants"). The point is, that priest contended with the faithless as - and where - they were. Today's priests and bishops have an opportunity to contend in every struggling parish and diocese - it's a wonderful, exciting opportunity for them, not an occasion for retreat. And the fact that so few do that is precisely the real problem of our Church. Metrics like "fewer vocations" or "shrinking numbers attending Mass weekly" are just symptoms of a sickness that begins - and ends - with our priests and bishops.
Pray for them.
Wonderful experience wouldn't it be great though if we could find laity to do what the priest did? We could multiply this by 1000.
The laity are key, absolutely central, but whenever possible they must be guided and led, in the spiritual and motivational sense, by our clergy. This effort has to come from the top.
I see so many Protestant churches where the congregants do such a good job of evangelization - or at least, a more extroverted job. I'm talking about little things like Internet advertising. Small flyers with internet links and QR codes to access more info (and "show this flyer to someone at your local parish when you arrive"). A true parish welcoming committee - they should be a non-Catholic visitor's first catechist, someone who's trained to act when a newcomer shows them that flyer or whatever. Public speaking (by trained, designated speakers). Billboards. Whatever works.
It seems there are always laity or consecrated religious who are thrilled to run a soup kitchen for homeless people, but precious few are willing to think through and execute the unglamorous work of delivering the Truth of our Holy Mother Church to someone in their neighborhood. If we don't change that, we'll continue to decline as a faith and a people.
I am always impressed by the groups of evangelical men who get together for breakfast to read Sacred Scripture and share their faith. Catholics, for the most part, seem to be uncomfortable with sharing and talking about our faith. We love demonstrating our faith (food kitchens, schools0 but not so much in sharing it.
Since they are right there with the homeless perhaps they should focus their evangelization efforts on them first.