Category Archives: Catholicism

Following the Example of the Apostles and Evangelists

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A few weeks ago, I posted an open question on the failure of catechesis to attract and hold our children and young adults. It received some wonderful comments, and I thank those who commented here on the blog, on Facebook, Google+, and other social networks.

As I have reflected more on this question and on the responses received, I think we missed the mark. The major focus of the comments was “get the parents involved.” Yes, if the parents are involved, the kids are involved, but I think the problem goes far deeper. As I look at our culture here in the United States (I can’t speak for other countries as I’ve never spent any significant time there), we’ve obviously moved into a post-Christian society. The United States was founded on Christian principles and had a strong Christian identity, but much of that is sloughing off. The Christian virtues are no longer being held up as ideals, except where they agree with the relativist and individualist “virtues” being promoted today.

This leads to a major problem for catechesis: we’re making assumptions that aren’t there. We’re assuming the parents are Catholic just because they were baptized Catholic, raised Catholic, possibly even married in the Catholic Church. We’re assuming that the kids are being brought up in a Catholic home where the faith is at least present in a rudimentary form. We’re assuming that the culture we live in is steeped in Christian virtue, even if it seems to have gone astray, and will provide some form of Christian foundation for the children. In short, we’re assuming that the children and their parents have been evangelized.

(Sidebar: I’m not going to get into the canonical status of Catholics, whether or not they’re members of the Church. This is more about if Christ is a part of their lives. For many Catholics who received the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, the answer is a resounding “no”.)

As I’ve been reflecting on the religious education issue, I keep coming back to this conclusion. The children are not learning the Catholic faith and the parents aren’t involved because they do not view the faith as something relevant to them. They do not understand the importance of the salvific work of Christ, and do not realize that the teachings of the Church are literally a matter of life and death eternally. They may have heard the saving Good News preached by Christ and passed down through 2000 years of Church teaching, but it’s no more important to them than hearing about the plot line of Harry Potter novels.

The problem, as I see it, is that we are teaching what the Church teaches, but we are not showing them those teachings alive in our lives. We are not expressing through words and actions the beauty of Our Lord’s message of love. We are not using catechesis to draw the children into a relationship with Jesus, but rather talking about Him. We’re missing the mark and talking over their heads instead of reaching into their hearts.

Now, I want to be clear: this is not an either/or situation. We need to be evangelizing and teaching, both at the same time. We need to teach about Jesus as we’re developing a relationship with Him. I’ve seen RCIA programs that get this wrong as well. They focus solely on the spiritual aspect – prayer, devotions, communal gatherings, etc. – without developing the intellectual appreciation for the Gospel. We need to reach both the head and the heart. The problem with catechesis, as I’ve seen it in many places, is that it stays in the head without also moving the heart.

So, how do we do this? Perhaps on this feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, we would be well served to reflect on how the early Church evangelized at a time when the name Jesus was completely unknown. On an individual basis, they began with prayer and fasting. The Eucharist was the center of their lives. Then, after being fortified by prayer and fasting, they went out and proclaimed the salvation promised by Christ. As an example, look at St. Paul preaching to the Athenians in front of the altar “To an Unknown God” (Acts 17:16-34 – Written by St. Luke, of course!).

In many ways, our culture today is similar to the Greek culture of St. Paul’s time. We have many gods and many altars, though not as obvious as the Greek pantheon of gods. Our gods are TV, money, power, possessions, sports, work, and far more. The God of all creation, our Heavenly Father, and His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ are as unknown as They were to the Athenians. Just as St. Paul and all the Apostles went around proclaiming the Good News of salvation, we are also called to bring others to Christ, even those who may attend Mass and religious education.

To sum this post up: what’s wrong with religious education? We are if we’re not actively evangelizing our children and their parents!

A few thoughts on catechesis in the United States

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There are three things that have bothered me about how catechesis of Catholic children is done in much of the United States. First, we treat it like another class at school. Second, there is little to no effort to show the faith as something practical to their lives. Third, there is little to no parental involvement in the programs.

When I consider these three issues, they seem to be connected in my eyes. Instead of seeing catechesis as molding and forming their lives on earth in preparation for eternal life, it seems to be viewed as another class that has material that needs to be crammed into the kids heads. Just as math class gives the kids the concepts of mathematics, religious education gives them the concepts of Church teaching.

With this focus on the material, there seems to be a lack of making the faith practical and desirable for the kids. Now, I’m not talking about merely having them do “social justice” days, which usually ends up being a community involvement track. That’s a good start, but what about seeing the importance of the Mass and devotional life? Some of the traditional prayers, such as the Our Father and Hail Mary, may be presented to the kids, but there is no concept of developing a prayer life. How about encouraging them to live the Church’s moral theology? The moral theology of the Church is where the theological rubber meets the road, but there seems to be no movement to encourage the kids to explore and live what the Church teaches morally. Same problems with communal involvement, sacramental life, and most other areas of Church teaching and life.

Of course, at this point, I’m sure some are saying, “Father, that’s your job to fix it if you see it’s a problem!” Yes, that’s true, it is my job, but there’s far more going on here than just Father falling down on the job. As the Catechism teaches:

The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. “The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.” The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God’s law. Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery – the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the “material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.” Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them (CCC 2221-2223 – Emphasis mine)

Herein lies one problem I see with many kids at religious education: they’re being dropped off for their once-a-week-Christianity-fix, and never setting foot in the Church otherwise. They, along with their parents, almost never attend weekly Mass, and are there only if the kid is “performing” in the children’s choir. Religious education is being seen as free babysitting for an hour on Wednesday while “checking off” teaching the Catholic faith to their children.

The problem with our current model is that there is no reinforcement from the parents about the importance of the Catholic faith. Catholic parents are falling down on their “first responsibility,” as the Catechism phrases it. After all, it’s not important to the parents, so why should the kid take it seriously? Because the kids don’t take it seriously, and there’s no encouragement from the parents to take it seriously, anything the catechists present just go right over the kids’ heads. Unfortunately, this is what I see here in too many cases. School academics are taken seriously, sports are taken really seriously (to the detriment of everything else), but religious education is blown off.

How do we fix this? I don’t know. Is it possible to reach the parents and convince them to take their faith seriously? Maybe, but most of them have gone through a program very similar to what we have today, with similar results. They probably can’t tell you how many sacraments the Church has, nor more importantly how those sacraments influence their daily lives. Too many Catholics don’t know what it means to be Catholic.

This needs to be changed immediately. We can’t allow another generation to fall away from the Church. I’m open to suggestions on how to reach the kids and help them to know, live, and love the Church’s teachings.

Website warning

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I just became aware of Seal of Confession (lack of link intentional), which purports to be an online confessional in which the sins you confess are forwarded to priests for absolution. First, the Sacrament of Confession must be done in person, whether face-to-face or behind the screen, so Internet confessions are completely invalid: “There are no sacraments over the Internet” (#9).

The more serious danger comes from where the site comes from in the first place. Examining the source of the webpage, found the following two commented-out links (click on the images to see them full-sized):

Doing a little Google snooping, I was able to find DavidPaul Doyle at The Voice for Love, a new-age program which includes A Course in Miracles. For more information on A Course in Miracles and other new-age dangers, check out Sharon Lee Gigante’s website New Age Deception.

Because of the invalidity of Internet-based confessions and the dangers in the new-age movement, stay away from both Seal of Confession and The Voice for Love. Instead, confess the old-fashioned way: by entering the Confessional at your local parish.

Tag, you’re it – 5 reasons why I love Jesus

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Owen Swain – one of my Plurk buddies from the Great White North – has tagged me with this meme: “Those tagged will share 5 things they “love” about Jesus / Or why they love Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers. Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.” OK, so here we go:

  1. He died for our sins – no matter how badly I screw up, I know he’s there willing to forgive. I only have to come to Him in the Sacrament of Confession
  2. He wants to flood us with His grace and love – We have so many opportunities to receive His infinite grace and love, we only need to open ourselves up to it.
  3. He called me to be one of His priests – The priesthood is an incredible treasure of which I can truly say, “Lord, I am not worthy…” It is a great gift to have the opportunity to give myself in service to Him and His people.
  4. He gave us the Church to guide and protect us – We’re not perfect, even those in authority within the Church make bad decisions and stupid errors, but He continues to guide and lead the Church in His plan of salvation.
  5. He wants all of us to enter into eternal life – He died and rose again so that we might die and rise to everlasting life in Heaven. What more need be said?

Now, who to tag? I’ll start with my fellow Diocese of Great Falls-Billings priest Fr. Leo McDowell. Another Plurk-friend and blogger who I’ll tag is AdoroTeDevote. I should pick on one of my seminary classmates, so Fr. Jacob Maurer of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Out of sheer laziness, I’m going to punt on the other two and say “Tag, you’re it!” to those who want to pick this meme up and haven’t been tagged yet.

Lenten Practice: Prayer Before the Crucifix

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During Lent, Christians are encouraged to increase the spiritual practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In fact, Lent is an excellent time to receive several Plenary Indulgences. One such Indulgence is attached to the practice of praying the Prayer Before the Crucifix on Lenten Fridays following receiving Communion. Remember that the standard conditions apply:

  • Complete detachment from all sin, even venial sins
  • Receive the Sacrament of Confession and confess all sins
  • Receive the Holy Eucharist
  • Pray for the intentions of the Pope

The Confession must be received within a reasonable amount of time (I generally recommend 7 days before or after), and one Confession can cover multiple Indulgences. You must receive Communion for each individual Indulgence, and can only receive 1 Plenary Indulgence per day.

Jesus of Nazareth volume 2 about to be released

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Pope Benedict’s second volume on the life of Our Lord is about to be released. Order it here. Just do it. Don’t even think about it, just click that link and order it. If you don’t have volume 1, order it here and read it first.

The first volume is a beautiful reflection on Our Lord’s life, and reviews that are coming out, such as this one from Fr. Z from his What Does the Prayer Really Say blog, give me the impression that the second volume will just as powerful and moving. Forget the DuhVinci Code “Real Jesus” books. Read Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth.

Open note to journalists

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Dear journalists, especially those of the major news agencies:
Before you slop out another poorly researched, ignorant story about anything, please spend some time actually understanding the context of what you’re reporting on and don’t just look for sound bites. Case in point: The Pope did not endorse the use of condoms. For years, the mainstream media has made a fool of itself as a whole, and each reporter as an individual, by completely misunderstanding and distorting nearly everything published by the Church, especially the Holy Father. With the poor reporting on the Catholic Church, I really wonder why I should believe anything else you report on. Media outlets have questioned the credibility of the bishops. Maybe we should start questioning your credibility due to sloppy, hack job articles.

Update: Billings Gazette opinion writer proves my point with ridicule.

A reflection on “ad orientem” celebration of the Liturgy by Rev. Know-it-all

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I think this post on celebrating the Mass ad orientem (facing the East, where priest and people face the same direction during the Consecration – not “the priest has his back to the people”) by Reverend Know-it-all doesn’t need my embellishment.

I post it only with these comments: 1) At no time did the Second Vatican Council ask, hint, demand, or expect Mass to be celebrated facing the people; 2) Neither has the Holy See (AKA “Rome”, “the Vatican”, etc.) demanded celebration facing the people; and 3) There are a lot of things that have been tacked on to the liturgy in the United States and much of Europe that came out of the opinions of liturgists and were initially done out of dissent to the legitimate authority of the Holy See, such as celebrating Mass versus populum (facing the people).

The Need for the New Evangelization

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The readings for today’s Mass demonstrate clearly why we need a new evangelization in the Church today. At the end of the parable of the steward who squandered his master’s property, Our Lord says, “The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” (Lk 16:8) It was true then, and it’s true now. Just look at the programming on television. The secular TV networks all have very attractive programming with high production values and are good at capturing people’s attentions, yet the Christian channels constantly struggle to get viewers outside of their core audience. I love EWTN, and encourage Catholics to watch it as often as possible, but most programs follow one of two formulas: interview style where two people are sitting and the interviewer is asking questions of a guest, or one person standing at a podium or walking around the stage lecturing. While there’s nothing wrong with these formulas for a live program, such as Journey Home or The World Over, it becomes tedious when repeated ad nauseam.

As Catholics, we need to find ways to reach out to the world and make our message heard because our message is the Gospel, which is far more life giving than the message “proclaimed” by secular media. Look at how St. Paul puts the message of the world: ‘Their end is destruction. Their god is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.’ (Phil 3:19) How about our message? “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.” (Phil 3:20-21) We have the message that brings life and hope, the world has the message which brings suffering and death.

As faithful Catholics, we need to be getting the Gospel message out to all corners of the world. That’s what Pope John Paul II meant by his call for the New Evangelization, a call continued and encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout his papacy, Pope Benedict has been challenging and encouraging all Catholics to use find ways to spread the Gospel message through the new media, using technologies like blogs, podcasts and videocasts, and social network sites. This is a call to all Catholics, not only clergy or religious, to use these new media outlets to both broadcast the Gospel message and to reach out to individuals that may not otherwise hear the Gospel of Christ.

Use of the new media is happening, slowly but surely. Fr. Robert Barron, one of the professors at Mundelein Seminary throughout my theology studies, has been doing a great job of using videos and podcasts at his Word on Fire website. Likewise, blogs (like my own) are popping up all over the blogosphere. A couple examples out of the literally thousands to choose from: iPadre, Mark Shea, and National Catholic Register.

Of course, talk of the new evangelization wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Catholic radio. EWTN Radio does a fantastic job in the talk radio format. One of the great programs on EWTN Radio is Catholic Answers Live, a program I’ve regularly listened to pretty much from its beginning. The Catholic Channel on Sirius and XM satellite radio also has some very good programming. A personal favorite is The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits. Anyone who has ever visited the Rosary Army will be immediately familiar with Greg and Jennifer.

The fact is, Catholics, using the new media to the fullest possible extent is a must. We must not only use this media, but exploit the capabilities available to us for the sake of the Gospel. Each and every one of us can do something, from using status updates on Facebook and Twitter to talk about our relationship with Jesus, to writing blog entries and producing podcasts explaining and defending the Gospel, and everything in between. We all can do this, we’re all called to do this, and we all need to do this for the sake of the billions of souls in the world today.

New Translation Resources

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With the new English translation of the Roman Missal being promulgated for usage in little more than a year, resources for learning and using the translation are starting to pop up on the Internet, as well as pamphlets, brochures, and books. The USCCB has had an excellent resource site for some time which includes sample texts for the people’s parts and priest’s parts. If you’ve never taken the time to look at the new translation, I highly encourage spending time looking at the USCCB Roman Missal site.

Another site that I’ve recently become aware of is A New Translation for a New Roman Missal. Video interviews talk about the theology and process behind the translation, as well as the Scriptural basis to the texts of the Mass. Other videos show Msgr. Moroney, Executive Secretary of the Vox Clara Committee, reciting the four primary Eucharistic Prayers. All the videos are available on a DVD for offline viewing as part of parish adult education classes, but can be viewed via YouTube.

If you have any interest in the new translation, especially if you’ve never looked at the new texts, these two sites are worth spending a couple hours perusing.