Seventh Sunday of Easter B
This
week, the Pew Research Center
The
numbers are quite sobering.
There
are almost 8% fewer Christians in this country
than
there were just seven years ago.
For
many years,
the
largest single religious group in the U.S. has been Catholics;
we’ve
now been surpassed…
…by
those who have no religious affiliation at all—
nearly
23% of the population,
and
they’re the fastest growing group.
13%
of all Americans used to be Catholic, but aren’t anymore.
Looking
up some sacramental records a few days ago
brought
the numbers close to home.
50
years ago—in 1965—196 children
received
their First Holy Communion in Malone and Chasm Falls;
this
May, we had just 30.
Since
St. André’s Parish was officially founded on July 1st,
we’ve
had 97 deaths, but only 8 baptisms.
You
can see smaller collection numbers in the bulletins.
You
can see the empty pews.
Now,
I know that locally some folks are saying
that numbers are down because we’ve changed Mass schedules
that numbers are down because we’ve changed Mass schedules
and
realigned or closed churches.
(You
should know that,
among
the changes Bishop LaValley made on Wednesday,
there
will now be one pastor for Chateaugay, Burke,
Constable,
Westville, Bombay, and Fort Covington.)
To
a point, what folks are saying may be true.
Change
is almost always hard to swallow—
and,
as many constantly remind me,
that’s
especially hard for older folks,
who
make up the majority of active Catholics in the North Country.
But
let’s be honest:
while
a few people leave because of such changes,
the
fact of the matter is we simply have to make these changes
because
so many have already left.
By
this point you’re probably thinking,
“Fr.
Joe, aren’t you supposed be preaching the good
news?”
True
enough!
But
this is the reality we must reckon with,
and
pretending things are otherwise won’t make it so.
This
past Wednesday evening
there
was a meeting in Constable for the Catholics of our deanery
concerning
pastoral planning in the Diocese.
Several
who got up spoke about the need
for
the Catholic Church to be more “relevant.”
The Church needs to get with
the times,
we were told,
to adapt and change a bunch
of things.
Church music should sound
more like what kids listen to these days.
We should lower our
expectations of those receiving the sacraments
so nobody feels left out.
Sermons should be based more
on what’s on YouTube,
and less on what’s in the
Bible.
Some
of the things proposed went so far
that
the Church being described
couldn’t
be considered Catholic any more.
The
great yet unspoken paradox is:
people
say that too much change is the problem…
…but
more and radical change is the solution!
Should
the Church become more like the surrounding world?
Do
we like the direction the world is going?
Is
the world today in such good shape
that
we should take it as a model to follow?
Let’s
not forget that this approach has been tried…and failed.
Do
you remember the Folk Masses,
back
when hip cats still thought folk music was groovy?
The
Catholic Church in the U.S.
has made many accommodations to the prevailing culture
has made many accommodations to the prevailing culture
in
the last fifty years;
if
they’d worked as well as some thought they would,
we'd be starting new parishes these days,
not consolidating old ones.
If
we keep trying to play the “relevant” game,
the
Church will always be a few steps behind.
Not
to mention it gives a dangerously mixed message:
yes,
it says, “We’ll do anything to get and keep you”…
…but
it also says, “We’re desperate.”
And
telling the world you’re desperate
doesn’t
exactly communicate that you’ve put your trust in God;
instead,
it says you’ve lost your faith.
Certainly,
the Church needs to speak in our times and to our times
in
a way that our times can understand.
The
Church needs to respond in love
to
the real needs and concerns of people today.
But
while our language and methods can be adapted,
the
message can never be altered.
The
Church didn’t write the Gospel; she received it.
We
don’t, then, get to revise or rework it
to
better suit our contemporary tastes.
Still
at table with his Apostles the very night before he died,
we
hear Jesus fervently, urgently praying for them,
praying for
all of his disciples—praying for you and for me.
“Holy
Father,” he says, “I gave them your word
and
the world hated them,
because
they do not belong to the world
any
more than I belong to the world.
I
do not ask that you take them out of the world,
but
that you keep them from the evil one.”
That
doesn’t exactly sound like a prayer
for
accommodation to the world or relevance to the times!
At
that first Eucharist, Jesus does not beg the Father
to
consecrate his followers in public opinion—
to
set them apart for what’s most popular or convenient.
No,
Jesus prays, “Consecrate them in the truth.”
My
friends, the pressing issue for our times—
the
pressing issue in every age—
is
not that the Church ought to conform herself to the world;
it’s
that the members of the Church must conform themselves to Christ.
It’s
the world that needs changing,
and
Christ has given his Church the power to make all things new.
But
that power can’t be unleashed until we’re clear
about
who’s actually at the center of this enterprise.
Is
it all about us, or is it all about Christ?
Where’s
the focus? Who answers to whom?
Who
or what do we really worship?
Are
we trying hard to be
the
“church of what’s happening now”?
Or
are we a Church truly striving
for
holiness now, and heaven for ever?
A
priest driving through the countryside
landed
his car in the ditch.
Luckily,
a farmer came by to help
with
his big, strong horse named Buddy.
The
farmer hitched Buddy to the car
and
yelled, “Pull, Clover, pull!”
Buddy
didn’t move
Then
the farmer hollered, “Pull, Prancer, pull!”
Again,
Buddy didn’t respond.
Now
the farmer shouted, “Pull, Rosebud, pull!”
Still,
nothing.
Then
the farmer gently said, “Pull, Buddy, pull,”
and
the horse easily dragged the car up out of the ditch.
The
priest was grateful, but also quite curious,
so
he asked the farmer
why
he called the horse by the wrong name three times.
“Oh,”
the farmer answered,
“that’s because Buddy is blind
and
if he thought he was the only one pulling,
he
wouldn’t have even tried.”
The
Apostles clearly understood
that
there could be no going it alone.
As
we find them looking for a twelfth Apostle
to
take the place of Judas,
it’s
clear that the Christian project isn’t a solo effort.
It
requires a shared vision.
It’s
a matter of a common mission.
They
must make every effort to be one, as
they had heard Jesus pray.
And
so, like them, we must stick together.
We
must put our energy into making sure we’re on the same page,
rather
than attempting to change the script.
We
must avoid the temptation to go chasing after the spirit of the age,
and
instead relentlessly run after the Spirit of Christ.
“We
know that we remain in God and God in us
by
the Spirit he has given us.”
The
load may be heavy, but we never pull alone.
The
Lord Jesus has ascended to his throne in heaven,
but
he has not abandoned his Church.
He
has given us the Holy Spirit,
who
sets the agenda and gives us the strength to fulfill it.
The
numbers sure get our attention these days.
But,
my friends—it’s not about the numbers!
It’s
not about being relevant!
It’s
about being faithful.
That’s
the only thing that has ever mattered.
That’s
the only thing that will ever work.
2 comments:
The truth is always relevant. Thank you for filling your homilies with so much truth. Some day, we'll be back to first Communion classes like that, but it won't be done by making the church more like the rest of the world.
Maeana
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