Dear Parishioners,
Happy Easter!….yes, we are into the beginning days of this grand and glorious season….50 days in all…a time for us, as Catholics, to be formed….or perhaps one might say “reformed.” This is the season of the year when the newly baptized (and the “old” baptized) are exposed to the writings of the Acts of the Apostles at Mass. Specifically done in order to instruct the newly baptized on what it means to be a Christian and how one lives as a member of the community of the faithful….
But what about those of us who are not new to this (the old baptized), what does this mean for us? Some years ago in their issue of February 11, 2008, Newsweek magazine carried a column in which the author unwittingly shed a great deal of light on a glaring problem in the Church today. Namely, the ignorance of the Catholic Faith by otherwise educated Catholics. It is a clear case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing, or to bring it back to the words of Jesus, “Beware of the learned and the wise, they will lead you astray.”
Despite dissenters‟ affection for “nuance,” their statements on moral issues are often received (and broadcast in the media) in a most “unnuanced” way, and all too often interpreted by the public (the Catholic public especially) as, “Hey, that means its okay!”
As the movement for dissent against the Catholic faith was getting off the ground (most especially after the promulgation of Humanae Vitae) one argument said, “This is the most educated generation of Catholics in history, we don‟t need the Church telling us what to do!” And with that, the entire catechetical structure of the Church in the West proceeded to fall apart. The author of the Newsweek 02.11.08 column, “Talking to Kids about God,” Kathleen Deveny, is a product of that collapse.
She acknowledged the results of her failed religious education: “It‟s not just the gaps in my education. As a "cafeteria" Catholic,‟ I don‟t accept all the tenets of my religion. I am never going to teach my daughter that evolution is a fraud (the Catholic Church does not teach that but she seems to think that it does), and someday I will encourage her to think critically, not doctrinally, about issues like artificial birth control, stem cell research and abortion.” One wonders if anyone taught her to think critically about the voices opposing the Church. Does she swallow whole the dissident voices on these issues? I wonder if it ever occurred to Mrs. Deveny that there is a connection between her “discomfort” and her “disagreements” with the Church; both are based in ignorance.
There are numerous prominent Catholics who boast of their Catholicism but who clearly “don‟t get it.” The public pronouncements on the faith from the likes of Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity (yes, he has a cafeteria Catholic mentality as well), John Kerry, the late Ted Kennedy, Phil Donahue, and Nancy Pelosi ad nauseam, are an embarrassment. We find similar attitudes in our parish and even in our own families.
Catholics have a responsibility to know the truth; that it is not good enough to dismiss vital Church teachings on the basis of nonsense they heard in bad religious ed. or get as adults through the media….and there is a lot of mistruth out there. They don‟t simply need remedial catechesis; they need evangelization. The Bride (the Church, you as an individual and member of a community of faith) must be introduced to the Bridegroom (Christ). It goes back to the First Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The key to understanding Catholic beauty and truth is ultimately conversion….and we are all in greater need of that!
This period of time we call Easter…..50 days….is a time of deepening conversion….but not only for the newly baptized….it is for those of us long baptized that this period and really, the whole year, must be spent at every opportu-nity in the building up of our personal relationship with the Lord and His Church.
Please take advantage of what is offered by the parish for that deepening conversion and better understanding of what we are all about as Church! There is much offered throughout the year….don‟t have the attitude that you “know it all.” I can assure you, there is much that is misunderstood about our Church….that‟s why so many walk away from her….they do not know her and her Lord…they are inclined toward putting more credence in those who believe the dissident and ignorant voices. These opportunities for formation and your openness in attending will, I am hopeful, change your understanding and your heart….to what is the truth of our Lord and His Church.
Happy Easter,
Fr. Jan
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