I have to admit, Bishop Solis had me at "a pause for regular mass attendance". Maybe Pillar subscribers will help me. WHY is it 90% of Catholics see sacraments of initiation as the END of mass attendance and formation?
I constantly stumble over the conflicting messages to conform myself to Christ via regular reception of the Eucharist, wh…
I have to admit, Bishop Solis had me at "a pause for regular mass attendance". Maybe Pillar subscribers will help me. WHY is it 90% of Catholics see sacraments of initiation as the END of mass attendance and formation?
I constantly stumble over the conflicting messages to conform myself to Christ via regular reception of the Eucharist, which is an obligation, and God loves me more if I sin and stray, ignore
& disbelieve because God isn't about obligation of formation.
Reception of the Eucharist is only an obligation once a year.
I don't remember anything in Scripture or Tradition that speaks to God loving us more (or less) if we sin. Grace abounds more, but that is rather like a parent continuing to bind up broken bones for a child who is exceedingly good at falling out of trees. There could be more to the relationship than that, if all the time was not spent setting and healing the kid's bones. The disciplinarian father who forbids dancing on roofs may be seen as focused on rules and duty and obligations, but really he's just noticed that the kid can't participate in family life if he's in traction all the time.
The Sacraments of Initiation confer an obligation to live a Christian life, just as the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders confer obligations. Some failures constitute spiritual death. This in turn produces an obligation on the part of the ministers to do due diligence to see that those who receive these Sacraments are aware of and agreeable to those obligations. Formation provides the means to awareness, and Mass attendance is the most readily observable obligation. But a person who doesn't actually care about Mass or catechesis who is told he can't receive Confirmation because he doesn't go to Mass or know what the Creed means, is likely to decide that these are temporary barriers to entry, rather than indicators of his lack of a good disposition.
I have to admit, Bishop Solis had me at "a pause for regular mass attendance". Maybe Pillar subscribers will help me. WHY is it 90% of Catholics see sacraments of initiation as the END of mass attendance and formation?
I constantly stumble over the conflicting messages to conform myself to Christ via regular reception of the Eucharist, which is an obligation, and God loves me more if I sin and stray, ignore
& disbelieve because God isn't about obligation of formation.
I wonder if that's true of people who are baptized at an older age. It'd be harder to get data on it, of couse.
At least according to CARA about 85% of people who went through RCIA continue to practice the faith... https://praytellblog.com/index.php/2016/04/28/rcia-retention-rates-not-just-good-theyre-excellent/
Reception of the Eucharist is only an obligation once a year.
I don't remember anything in Scripture or Tradition that speaks to God loving us more (or less) if we sin. Grace abounds more, but that is rather like a parent continuing to bind up broken bones for a child who is exceedingly good at falling out of trees. There could be more to the relationship than that, if all the time was not spent setting and healing the kid's bones. The disciplinarian father who forbids dancing on roofs may be seen as focused on rules and duty and obligations, but really he's just noticed that the kid can't participate in family life if he's in traction all the time.
The Sacraments of Initiation confer an obligation to live a Christian life, just as the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders confer obligations. Some failures constitute spiritual death. This in turn produces an obligation on the part of the ministers to do due diligence to see that those who receive these Sacraments are aware of and agreeable to those obligations. Formation provides the means to awareness, and Mass attendance is the most readily observable obligation. But a person who doesn't actually care about Mass or catechesis who is told he can't receive Confirmation because he doesn't go to Mass or know what the Creed means, is likely to decide that these are temporary barriers to entry, rather than indicators of his lack of a good disposition.