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Mat 16:18 Dear Heavenly Father! I am in no way knowledgeable and theologically sound to tackle this situation of the Church, both as an institution and as the Body of Christ. But being an active, participating cradle Catholic for three-quarters of a century has somewhat imbued me with perceptions which are troubling. To the best of my knowledge, I stand in full acceptance of our Catholic Church as Jesus and the Holy Spirit taught and intended. Holy Spirit, You will be with the Church until the end of time and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Although the world, the flesh and the devil are formidable powers that work in and against the human elements of His Church, our God is the victor in the end. An overall question might be stated in this way: Since we know that Jesus will return at the end of the age, and that the world will have come to a point of depravity and sinfulness, what is the role and place of the Catholic Christian in his or her chosen vocation? Although this presentation will put forth a number of negative perceptions, there is the supreme joy of certitude regarding the final curtain. One other point to keep in mind is that I, as the writer, am not privy to the whole world and, as such, am pointing to my own backyard. Lastly, the ‘facts’ are not officially corroborated, but their magnitude and import, where the truth, whatever the percentage, is noteworthy. “Fact” #1 - The second largest ‘religious denomination’ in the world is the fallen away Catholics. These can be divided in several categories: Those who were born to a Catholic parent(s) who were not practicing Catholics; some who did not have an apparent role model and did not advance very far in their faith journey; others who were parties to ‘mixed marriages’ who did not, could not maintain a Catholic identity. Then, divorced parties who remarried outside the Church; the number who have disengaged themselves from the Church in disputes or disappointments with Church rules, rulings or clergy conflicts; and finally, those who were ‘evangelized into other denominations’. “Fact” #2 - Sunday Mass attendance is reported at about thirty-five percent of the registered members of the individual parishes. The validity of this percentage is somewhat skewed. The evaluation of the number of ‘registered members’ depends upon the criteria used. Unfortunately, this ‘number’ is too often arrived at by a ‘default process’. First, if the person(s) haven’t declared that they are no longer a members of the parish, there is usually not a procedure in place to identify those people unless and until the weekly contribution envelopes are returned or stopped. Secondly, with the decline and/or cessation of the annual parish visitation by the clergy, personal contact is lost. Finally, the shortage of priests and the workload restricts the time for personal contact with parishioners who are not Church activity oriented. “Fact” #3 - ‘Catechesis’, the instruction and building of the Faith is an active word and principle, but a passive reality. The terms ‘nuclear age’ and ‘nuclear family’, when understood as the force and fashioning by the modern space-age world, are the opposite of the spiritual virtues. There is not enough time to compete with and in the world and still maintain the time and religious energy to pursue growth in spirituality and Godliness. Sports and computers have become the gods of the young. The focus of the parents is maintaining an ‘acceptable’ lifestyle. “Fact” #4 - The number of active participating practicing Catholics is diminishing constantly. A visual observation of the attendance of Sunday Mass shows an preponderance of seniors, some middle-age, and few high school and grade school students. Many Parishes have 20 to 40 deaths per year. There is an obvious ‘defection’ to Evangelical denominations. The number of those who just quit participating is easily seen by the number of city Parishes which have been consolidated for practical and financial reasons. Baptisms of new born children are minimal. RCIA conversions don’t average six per year per Parish. An observation:
Acknowledging that the individual parishes are the major point of strength or weakness, an overall description of parishes can be helpful. The human qualities of the Pastor and various department and committee heads will give a parish its own character and direction. Generally, there are groups within the Parish that will tend to gravitate to and participate in activities that interest them. The departmental concept of a Parish Council was designed to facilitate all aspects of the Church related lives of the Faithful: Temporalities, education, worship and apostolate. Although participation in parish life under these individual headings did provide some specific focus for individual parishioners, it was for the good of the whole.
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