A TEST EVEN THOUGH SCHOOL IS OUT

Is your vision of who you are the same vision your friends have of you?

 

Are you as happy as you can be?

 

What kind of cabbage are you most like?

 

So, I fall for those tests that used to be in magazines that are now mostly on-line in which you answer a few questions and they tell you what character you are most like from the movie “Princess Bride” or what career choice would be best for you.

 

I fell into taking one from the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management which is a tool to help determine how healthy your parish is.  The answers were not quick and easy however and I think this may be a project I give to Parish Pastoral Council to tackle.

 

There was a presentation by the service director of the Roundtable, Mr. Jim Lundholm-Eades at the last First Friday Club of Akron.  They have past talks on line on their website HERE and this is one I would recommend though I don't think it has made it to the site yet.  Part of the talk was discerning how healthy a parish is.  A healthy parish is like a healthy marriage; when the couple’s relationship is healthy, their love then spills out to others.  When a parish is healthy, instead of being insular its ministry begins to spill out to the community.  It is like the love of God.  One of the explanations of creation is that it is an overflow of the love within the Trinity.

 

There are smart parishes.  These parishes have a vision and a plan for the future.  They understand that they can no longer just simply open their doors and people will walk in.  There must be a presence in the community (which in business they call marketing.)  They are financially solvent and/or have a realistic plan to sustain themselves.  And they are technologically savvy. 

 

There are healthy parishes.  In a healthy parish there are minimal politics (there are always politics, it is a matter of degree), minimum confusion, high moral, high productivity, and low turnover. 

 

How out going, how smart, and how healthy is your parish?  If you are in the mood, maybe take a look at the questionnaires that the Roundtable provides that begins the conversation HERE.

 

JOHN ALLEN'S CATHOLIC STORIES TO WATCH IN 2013

Happy octave of Christmas!  As the clock clicks away toward the beginning of a New Year (and since the latest prediction of the end of the world was yet again so disappointing) we might as well start looking ahead.  The following three topics are “Catholic stories to watch in the 2013” according to John Allen.

 

BEING DIPLOMATIC:  What will be the metal of the person sent to the Vatican as our diplomatic representative by President Obama?  Whoever it is that is picked will be very telling as to how seriously the Obama regime values a relationship with this city-state.  On the one hand it could be handed as a reward to a Catholic that helped get Obama re-elected – someone with little power and no real agenda.  Or it could be a heavy hitter that shows that the United States is serious about working with this small but powerful entity to bring about good in the world.  Only a deeper trek into 2013 will tell where this story will go.

 

FREEDOM:  Religious freedom will be heavy on the minds of Catholics this year.  We might have our feathers in a ruffle because we cannot have manger scenes or where crucifixes but that is not what is raising eyebrows at the Vatican.  Granted, these are sad things but we miss (in our little bubble as we tend to be in the United States) that in many places people are afraid of losing their lives over their faith, not just a paycheck. 

 

According to the International Study on Human Rights, 80% of all violations of religious freedom are against Christians.  (Not something you hear in the news, huh?)  The PEW Foundation reports that 137 nations report religious harassment, and Aid to the Church in the World, a Catholic Charity under the direction of the Holy See, reports that 150,000 people are killed each year for their faith or for carrying out charitable acts in the name of faith.  This will be on the mind of the Vatican this year.

 

GET YOU PROGRAMS HERE:  One of the things that drove me nuts during the papacy of Blessed John Paul II was the decade’s long reports on how frail and near death he was.  We should all be so blessed to have been able to work as hard as he did in our good health as he did in his poor health.  He was like a candle you couldn’t blow out.

 

Well, the same reports are starting to circulate around about our current pontiff.  Names are already surfacing about who might be the next pope. 

 

It was difficult for me to think of having a new pope when JP II died.  After all, he was elected pope when I was in junior high school and continued to be pope well into my priesthood.  It seems like Benedict is just getting started in comparison.  None-the-less, names are already surfacing.  Who will be the next Vicar of Christ – who are the shining stars that are put forth?  Chances are we haven’t the slightest clue who it will be but that doesn’t stop people from having fun giving a go at predicting.

TOP CATHOLIC STORIES OF 2012: SYRIASLY

The last in John Allen’s top four Catholic stories of 2013 is the situation in Syria.  10% of the population there is Christian and the state of affairs for them there is greatly deteriorating.  It is increasingly difficult for them to survive as Christians and those who are able flee.  This whole region of the globe is an area where Christians are systematically being outlawed and rooted out.  The country is in general upheaval but it is the Christian community that are singled out and made the primary victims.

 

Over the past year the Vatican has made this country its top diplomatic concern.  The primary objective is to protect the Christian community there (Catholic and non-Catholic Christian alike) lest this country become “the new Iraq.”  This geopolitical concern will carry forth into the next year.

 

This leads us to the topics for next week:  There will be a post on John Allen’s predictions for the top 3 Catholic stories to keep an eye out for in 2013.

TOP CATHOLIC STORIES OF 2012: VATILEAKS

Continuing our countdown to the New Year using John Allen’s talk at the Akron First Friday Club concerning the top Catholic stories of 2012 we hit #3 of 4: Vatileaks!  This is the story of how the Pope Benedict’s personal secretary removed documentation from the Vatican and sold it to the press.  This was an early Christmas present for the world that loves a good story.  It was full of all the right details: The mysterious Vatican, high ranking officials in the Church, an insider giving the public sneak peeks at the inner workings (and some inglorious ones at that) of this rather unique city-state, and best of all:  THE BUTLER DID IT.

 

Be that as it may there were some interesting and somewhat controversial results of this incident.  The pope opened up the books of the Vatican bank in order to be more transparent to the world – to try to establish trust again in the Vatican.  What is so controversial about this you might ask?  Think of how vulnerable the Vatican is.  Rome has been sacked more times than bread in a grocery store.  We have fought “with blood” to keep this small patch of land sovereign.  Is the Vatican in any way compromised because it allowed “outsiders” to come in and examine its books?  In any event, this is completely unprecedented.  And, as John Allen made mention, when you are talking about a 2,000+ year organization that has gone through what the Catholic Church has gone through, saying that something of this nature is unprecedented is saying something.

CATHOLIC NEWS YEAR IN REVIEW II

The second of four topics in John Allen’s Catholic news year in review is the New Evangelization.  This new effort within the Church will be “the engine that steers the financial train” of the Church making this the most important internal priority in the Church.

 

Statistics are a funny thing.  It is said that 67.2% of all statistics are made up on the spot (that is a joke) and that you can make statistics mean just about anything.  But if we only look at the number of new adherents, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world.  Interesting, but the happy news is not great for the western Catholic world.  Catholicism continues to be the largest single religious group in the United States with Baptists coming in a distant second.  (Protestantism as a whole is larger than the Catholic Church, but they are splintered into thousands of denominations.)  However, larger than even the Baptists are those who consider themselves former Catholics.  Though 68% of those baptized Catholic as infants remain Catholic into adulthood, that leaves 32% that “leave” and we are not doing a good job of retaining or replacing them.

 

Part of the reason is we have become so terribly polite.  “I’m Okay, your Okay, let’s not talk about religion” has become the political fashion.  While it may allay fist fights, it does nothing for evangelization and the furthering of the faith.  Hand in hand with yesterday’s post, we are to stop focusing on issues that are not on the Catholic playing field and get cracking on real matters of faith and truth that enliven peoples’ hearts.  The fire of evangelization has grown cold.  It is time to wake from our slumber, shake of the cloudiness of confusing issues, and carry forth the banner in the clear light of the sun – to banish complacency and apathy – and to relight the missionary fire to warm those around us in our everyday lives.

YEAR IN REVIEW I

The end of 2012 is right around the corner and Mr. John Allan (of All Things Catholic fame) was the speaker at the First Friday Club of Akron giving his annual end of hear news roundup.  The first part of his talk concerned the top Catholic stories of 2012 and the second the stories to watch for in 2013.  Today there will be quick look at one of his top 2012 stories with personal commentary.  (More will follow.)

 

1)       The Crackdown on Controversy:  We’ve all been reading about the Vatican visit to our nuns and to our seminaries.  But that is only the tip of the iceberg.  The Church seems to be asserting her authority to be loyal to herself.  Perfectly understandable in any organization but the Church seems to take it on the chin when attempts to do so.

 

What is really at stake here, however, is identity.  Who are we anyway?  What do we really stand for in a (western) world that values so called diversity and tolerance?  Here is where the New Evangelization comes shining through – the effort to reinvigorate the truths (yes Virginia, there is such a thing as truth) of the faith among Catholics.   

 

Some cry foul ball as if they are being censured and no longer allowed to speak on such matters.  Anyone can talk about anything they wish; abortion on demand, same sex marriage, etc . . . the Church cannot possibly stop you from talking about this at work, on your blog, or even on television – but you won’t do it on the Church’s dime.  But does this not make sense?  It only makes good sense.  Who wants to belong to an organization that cannot even get its own message out through its own people?  So the Church has established what John Allen has given the name, “No Fly Zones.”  In other words, here is what we believe as Catholics and if you want to engage in these topics as open for discussion; they will not be done on the Catholic Church’s dime.  There is a place and a time – but not during times when authentic Church teaching is supposed to be expressed.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PAUSE BEFORE THE PAWS

Another cross often constructed along the same lines as the Greek cross but not necessarily so is the cross pattee - as it is known in heraldic circles though when connected with Christianity if usually referred to as the Maltese Cross, Crusader’s Cross or Cross of Saint John. In essence this cross simply means that the arms of the cross are thicker at the end than they are at the center and that can be accomplished in many different ways. “Pattee” is from the French meaning “paw,” the paws or ends of the cross splaying outward like a paw.

The cross is often associated with the Crusades usually appearing red on a white background though it was never named as the official cross, any number of crosses being employed by the Crusaders.

If you want to know if a book, such as a book on theology or a Bible, is consistent with Catholic teaching, you might turn to one of the title pages to see if it has been granted in imprimatur (let it be printed). This cross precedes the bishop’s name that has the book reviewed and given permission for it to be printed with the Church’s official approval. This cross is also often employed to mark Christian sites on a map.

Next time: The Maltese Cross.

IS IT NOT TRUE THAT THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES CAN FIT IN THEIR CARS?

In grade school (public) I remember being taught that the world would soon be overpopulated and that the one hope we had for food enough to feed all of us was farming in the sea. A horrible prospect for me since I do not like anything that comes out of the water. Even the cow has fallen into the water before it is eaten it is preferred that we get another cow for fear that it might taste or smell like fish.

On You Tube you can find any number of dire predictions about world over population. Here is an example of one:

Though this may be the popular view of the world it is not the world as seen by the Vatican. In his talk at the First Friday Club in Akron, John Allen, CNN Senior Vatican Analyst, reports how the world population is seen by Pope Benedict.

We are a population in decline. The world now has about 7.6 billion people in it. By mid century we will peak at 9 billion people and then it will fall. This is not theory, it is a deadlock mathematical certainty.

There is not one European country that is reproducing itself. Not one. By the end of the century Europe will lose about one third of its population and event that will reduce Europe’s population percentage wise to an extent worse than the Black Plague. As European countries have far more strict immigration laws than the United States, this number will not be made up through immigration.

Much the same could be said of North America though it will be a slower decline. But even so, our fastest growing demographic is not Hispanics or any other nationality that might be on your radar screen, but the 65+ group. The northern hemisphere will get older and smaller while the southern will stay young.

What does this mean for the future of the Church? It means less and less that the United States will have any great influence on the movement of the Church of which we make up about 6% currently. It means that the far more conservative south will start having a much greater say in the direction of Church affairs. It means that the healthy parish of the future will not be a parish full of 14 year olds but 65+ year olds who will become the new 40. (Nice to know.)

The following comment is not from Mr. Allen but from my own deduction: But within our shrinking demographic who will remain a growing percentage of Catholics? Those who believe in larger families, those who do not abort, those who do not abuse contraception, those who uphold the sanctity of marriage. An interesting outcome no?
This is all not to say that there are not problems that need attention in our world as far as how we treat the environment or how we share resources. This is presented as how this phenomena will effect the future of the Church,.

You can listen to John Allen’s talk and all First Friday presentations here.