MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES

Fr. B and I are on the same schedule as far as being assigned. This past Tuesday he opined, “You know, we are beginning the “last” of everything at our parishes. This will be our last summer; we have one last Christmas, Easter, and one last Holy Week at our current assignments. This time next year things are going to be interesting.”

And not just interesting because we may be moving. We stand in a period of time in the Church when change is coming to a head. It is as if we are crossing from one boat to another. For fifty years we have been straddling two boats and are preparing to finely stand on the boat to which we have been crossing. Although the Church in some fashion or another is always in a state of change, there is something significant coming to maturity now that will make the next ten years or so very interesting.

Ah! And there is the ancient Chinese curse. "May you live in interesting times."

Most interesting is that those beginning to influence the Church now (clergy, lay, parents, religious, single) are the children of children who were largely un-catechized. (Painting with a broad paint brush) these are the generations that were brought up with "Jesus loves you" and banner making classes. But something interesting is happening. Like parents who grew up poor and lavish their children with things to make up for what they didn't have, those who are still embracing their faith are making sure that their kids are exposed to a much more substantial faith. It is as if they are saying, “Let’s get back to basics and do it right.” It will be interesting to see what we do in the next ten years if we do not lose nerve.

The worst of the Church scandal seems to be behind us. The Plain Dealer reports yesterday that there is a general feeling across the nation that the Church has gotten its act together and collections are on the increase. I for one hope that there is an outraged group out there that keeps us on the up and up. As we see little snippets about the atrocities that are occurring in other schools and organizations, and even other denominations that are not held as accountable as the Catholic Church it is possible that we will once again be that beacon of light and safety for future generations.

Also in that P.D. report was the sad news that most of our Catholic schools are running in the red and parish accounts are being drained trying to keep up with increasing cost of educating our children. This is a critical moment. Will Catholic schools be reinvented? Or will it be that this generation will reinterpret our mission in this field and come up with something better/different?

Then there is the future of religious. The “backbones of the diocese” are still active, at least here in Cleveland, but the gray hair factor is extremely high. It was discussed not to long ago in a circle of priests that in the next ten to fifteen years they will hit a wall, that is that there will simply be almost no active nuns (comparatively) of these groups to handle any significant portion of jobs in the diocese. Conversely there are other orders that appear to be taking on life and growing at alarming rates although not at a rate that will replace the old big orders completely. And it is sad that here in Cleveland so many of our young ladies who have an eye on religious life leave the state to find that for which they are looking. That future will be interesting on many levels.

Then there is the changing demography of Catholics. We are no longer a faith primarily found in the city. A large portion of us have made a definite move to the suburbs. That will mean the closing of many parishes. In the diocese of Cleveland that number is over 40. But it will also mean the expansion or building of more parishes out of city centers as well as a redistribution of priests. (This will also have an effect on how our influence effects the state in which we live.) This is just one more situation that is coming to a head.

The number of seminarians is on the rise. It is not at levels that would make us comfortable. Will lay people become more involved in the running of the parish? Will the upward swing in vocations continue? Ten years from now will be very telling.

The mindset of “Church” following Vatican II is also completing a final stage. Those just beginning to come into influence now have no longer been changed by VII, but have been formed by it. It is not something new to figure out but a part of the greater teaching of the Church of the ages, a part of history. Though in some cases it may be true, too often this generation is mislabeled as “throwbacks,” trying to bring back a Church of the past. I do not believe that to be the case. They may appear as throwbacks because they are able to embrace more of their heritage of which Vatican II is an essential part, but not an over-bright star in the sights of a telescope that blocks out other (valid) stars.

Oh, there’s more to consider but this is already long winded enough. The future is still blurry and interesting, but it is not bleak. There is great hope, great opportunity, great faith, there are outstanding men and women ready to charge ahead, and of course the promise of Christ in the form of the action of the Holy Spirit. Yes, these are interesting times. And I for one can’t wait to see how this picture will develop.

OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH

THEY ARE THE CHURCH – The Rev J. Glenn Murray SJ

You who have been with Adam’s Ale for awhile know that the parish in which I grew up tended to be about ten to twenty years behind the rest of the Church. At times this served us well and inadvertently made us cutting edge and sometimes just made us out of step.

Up until my high school years we were mercifully behind the times in the way CCD was taught. While most of the rest of the country had declared the Baltimore Catechism one step away from heretical and got on with the important business of making felt banners, we were still forced to learn why God made us. (To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.)

Father Ozimek would brag from the pulpit that we had the best attendance in the diocese (would you want to explain to Fr. O why you weren’t there) and the whole kit and caboodle was run pretty strictly. We had examinations and report cards and the support (or perhaps threat) of the community.

Then in high school, with all the good intensions in the world, some well meaning people came into save and modernize our CCD program. The name changed to Confraternity of Catholic Dogma (CCD) to Parish School of Religion (PSR) and we gradually slipped out of a school environment into something between therapy and art class. We began to split up into discussion groups and talk our feelings about Jesus and His teaching and then gather around tables and make banners, which mercifully never made it into our little English Gothic Church. I understand the effort. I understand the well-meaning intentions. But we as students knew full well that we had stopped learning anything except that Jesus loved us and how each of us happened to feel about it.

This was not unusual in U.S. Catholicism. It just happened earlier in most places. The worst part of this great American experiment in religion education is that two generations (maybe three) of parents came of age not knowing their faith. Whereas at least before there was a snowball’s chance in July of parents being able for fill in gaps in religious savvy, now many times the parents are equally as uniformed about their faith as their children.

There is a perspective out there that many people believe that says youth gatherings of any type must be entertaining in order to draw people in and that they need to be social and accepting so that all feel welcome. These are nice ideas but not as primary objectives especially if that means sacrificing substance so that we end up with pizza parties and dances instead of kids knowing what the Eucharistic elements are or knowing how to answer the bishop (and our bishops in this diocese are becoming much more serious about this) when he quizzes them at confirmation. Pizza parties and dances are the job of the local recreation center. We can do such things but they must be clearly subject to the completion of our primary mission: the catechizing of our children. If we fail at that, we fail at our reason for being. Period. We might as well close our doors and send everyone to the pool.

We can’t suck kids in to Church by doing bad catechesis and entertaining them into sticking around until they are adults and hope that they will learn their faith by osmosis and be persuaded to put a few bucks in the collection basket. There are plenty of Churches that do that. We cannot be one of them. Our message is too important. Eternity depends on it. Everybody is willing to serve children candy. It is our business to give them meat.

Then, after they are fed, have the dance. But you won’t be failing your mission statement if you do not have one.