I'm Not Being Fed!!!!

I have heard this phrase bandied about many times well before I was Catholic (1977).  I have heard it said by every type of Christian.  I have heard Catholics say it. I have heard every type of Protestant say it.  I have heard Orthodox say it.

I understand the frustration that usually lies behind it.  It can mean a variety of things though.  It can mean I am not being told THE truth. I can mean I am not being entertained.  It can mean I am being challenged and I don't like it.  It can mean I am being spiritually malnourished.  It can mean I am getting real food when I want junk food and candy.

This post has a narrow intended audience.  I t is written for Catholics.  One might be able to extrapolate parts for one's own church, but I am aiming at Catholics.

You are being fed...maybe

I want to start with a very basic premise.  If you are a Catholic in a state of grace, you are being fed every time you do go to Mass. The primary feeding does not come in the form of well-executed liturgy, nor truth filled preaching, nor in great music necessarily.  These are the work of man.  The primary feeding comes from what Jesus Christ offers in the giving of His Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist.  In John 6:55, Jesus proclaims, "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." If one is in a state of grace, one does not leave the Catholic Church without being fed what is the real food we need...maybe.

Maybe?  Yes.  Maybe.  Every sacrament has what is called form and matter.  The form are the words used and the matter are the things used. To change the form or matter invalidates the sacrament. For example, the priest changes the words of the Institution Narrative of the Eucharistic Prayer changes the form of the Mass and can invalidate the sacrament.  In other words, you do not receive the Body of Christ; you receive bread.  The true feeding you need is not done. If something other than unleavened wheat bread (in the Roman Rite) is used, it invalidates the sacrament.  The addition of honey, other grains, and leaven are prohibited in the Latin Rite. Such abuses should be reported immediately to the Diocesan Bishop as Catholics who are free to receive the Eucharist to have a right to the Eucharist.  Clerics do not possess the authority to change either the form or matter of any sacrament.  The General Instruction of the Roman Missal makes this clear in section 24, " However, the Priest will remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass."

If the form and matter is properly done, even if the priest is not a holy man, then one is fed at Mass.  One is fed even of the homily is horrible.  One is fed even if the music is wretched.  One is fed even if the priest goes 100 MPH.  In the end, the Sacraments is the work of Christ and His Church.  The real food needed comes from Christ.  Believe me, though, I am not letting those, clergy and laity, off the hook for poor execution of their roles within the Mass.  The Mass is the worship of God.  When Mass becomes the worship of man, we are going to have the problems expressed by 'I am not being fed."

Right Recipe...Right Ingredients

I like to cook.  I know you can have all the right ingredients and still have an inedible meal.  You have to follow the recipe.  The type of ingredients matter.  Say a recipe calls for strawberries and you use rotten strawberries, you have used what the recipe called for, but have managed to ruin the dish all the same. The same goes for how we worship.  I can have correct form and matter; that guarantees the Eucharist to be sure.  But our worship of God should be a like quality.  How we worship should be as best a reflection of the reality of the Real Presence.

After correct form and matter, we should have correct orientation.  The Mass is all about the worship of God.  We come first and foremost to give thanks to God.  The presence of God at Mass is not incidental: it is primary.  I wonder how many times I hear, "I am not being fed" is actually a belief that I am not coming into the presence of God.  It can be a bemoaning of a loss of transcendence.   Though, the transcendent God IS present in many ways at Mass (The Word, the Eucharistic Species, The People of God), it can be obscured by a misfocus or lack of focus. The presence can be obscured by too much a focus on the people.  The focus can be obscured by a lackadaisical mannerism or a 'going-through-the-motions' mentality where I am merely putting in my time...and as little time as I can get away with giving.

While the apex of the Mass is and always will be the Eucharist, the other ingredients are to be of a quality that befits the Eucharist.  The Church should connote an entrance into the presence of God.  It should be more than just a gathering space akin to an auditorium where we are only silent once the play has begun.

In entering into a Catholic Church, because of our belief in what the Blessed Sacrament is, there should be an acknowledgement and etiquette about how we respond and act.  When the building focuses too much on the people, it loses that sense of transcendence and becomes mundane and commonplace.  The sanctuary of the Church should be seen as the center of the throne room and not the stage for the play.

How the priest does the Mass and preaches matters.  If it did not, seminary training would be much lesser.  Because he must avoid being the center of attention (which is difficult) and seeing himself as a showman trying to sell the performance, he must remember he sets the tone for worship.  If he goes through the motions or rushes through it, he tells the people what he thinks is or is not going on.  The Church is specific in its rubrics (ways of doing things) and prayers in telling the priest what is expected and what the people who have come to the Eucharist have a right to.  

The homily does matter.  For better or worse, it is the principle point where the lay faithful are given an explication of the truths of the faith and reason to worship. The homily cannot be divorced from  Catholic teaching.  For better or worse, the homily exposes the spirituality and faith of the priest.  It can do grave damage if it becomes a place where he departs from the teachings of the Church. If it shows depth and faith, it encourages the faithful to seek the same.  No cleric who has been given charge of this task can believe it a throw-away task; it was through His proclamation of the Gospel that Christ first made known the will of the Father.  We clerics must take the same seriousness and depth in preaching and teaching that Our Lord did.   We are obligated to the truth.  We can poison the meal with deceit.

In as far as music goes, it does matter for two reasons.  First, music should facilitate our worship of God.  Too often, the lyrics point not to God but to just how special we think we are.  Sometimes the music can be so like the secular music that there is no difference between that and what is heard on the radio.  Recall, what is on the radio is meant to entertain.  Second, the purpose of sacred music isn't to entertain..it is to offer worship to God.  I am not at Mass to have things speak to me primarily...no, I am there at Mass to speak to God.  If the focus is off, then one will leave empty.  It is like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.  The Pharisee came to tell God how great he was, the publican came to rely on how great God is. Only one walked out justified. (Luke 18:9-14)

All this said, it is still possible for a person to feel like they are not fed even though all the other ingredients are there.  What about them?  Let's just say you can't walk into a 4 star restaurant and want a Big Mac.

Focus, Focus, Focus

Throughout all of history, there has always been those who want to be entertained.  The focus is on them.  Mass must speak to their desires and proclivities.  It becomes style over substance. My disposition in coming in can be like bringing a vial of poison into the meal with me; taking that poison as a aperitif before the meal.  It is especially loathsome when a priest does this.  Remember, we priests are to be the servants of the Liturgy, not its master.

When the focus is primarily what I get out of Mass, then prepare to starve. The focus is not where it needs to be. The focus is to be on God.  The focus is God as He is, not as I want Him to be.  It is not the job of the Church to change itself to worship the God I want; it is the job of the Church to call us into worship of the God who is.  Were the congregation and the clergy to focus on this reality, were all aspects of the Mass to point to this reality, then I believe people would leave knowing they have been 'fed'.  For the Mass is always about the glorification of God and the sanctification of His people.  We get what we get as God's part in this exchange.  It is an exchange.  If we leave our part out, then we will leave Mass incomplete.  That, my friends, accounts much of the time for 'not being fed.'

The focus matters.  The focus matters for the priest.  The focus matters for the musicians and cantors.  The focus matters for the lectors, servers, and other persons assisting in Mass. The focus matters for every single of the lay faithful.   We should be assisting each other in maintaining that focus so the worship and glorification of God DOES take place and the glorification of HIs people DOES take place.  There will be times where the focus is bit harder, especially when toddlers are out of sorts (I am a big believer that they stay as the only way to train appropriate behavior is to follow through...and every parent has been there).  There will be times when the music is off or the preaching is off.  Nobody bats 1.000.  Nonetheless each of us is to use the grace of God to maintain that focus.

Some find this easier to do in the Ordinary Form and some in the Extraordinary Form.  I am not going to get in the weeds on this one, but only to say that both are recognized by the Church as legitimate.  Since it was the Apostles, specifically Peter and his successors, that were given the Keys to the Kingdom, I should very careful in attempting to commandeer that authority to suit my own proclivities. Both have rubrics and prayers that are not to be adjusted by the priest.  Both rituals should be adhered to with all due diligence. Focus matters.  Obedience matters.

The only time I would recommend fleeing a Church is if the priest is changing form and matter in such a way as to invalidate the Mass and prohibit the faithful in a state of grace from reception of the Blessed Sacrament. If that is happening, then indeed, the person is not being fed.  For the true food and drink Christ offers isn't splendid music, superb preaching, or such..it is and always will be His Body and Blood.

 

An Open Letter to Young Catholic Men

In J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", a band or fellowship is formed among men of various races to accomplish a single goal; to fight back and defeat a seemingly all powerful enemy bent on the destruction of all not of his making. Key to this is the destruction of a ring of tremendous power. We know the story.  The fellowship suffers defeats and success.  The fellowship has to fight valiantly. Through tremendous selfless struggle and a courage to stand up in overwhelming odds, they win the day.

Tolkien's writings still resonate with so many because they tap into the human condition in a powerful way.  In this case, they point to the fact that we must face incredible evil from time to time.  How we face evil exposes the kind of man we are. How willing we are to stand up, shatter any connections to comfort, and willingly engage with a culture who seeks nothing more than our complicity and silence goes to the core of the definition of masculinity in our world.

We have a tendency to deal in extremes in our culture.  Extremes are easy to identify.  To one extreme when it comes to masculinity is the warped image of the man as an authoritarian despot who treats all around him as a means to an end.  To the other extreme is the image of a perpetual boy numbed with comfort and spineless in opinion. When I speak of masculinity, I wish to avoid these extremes.  Too many times, we drift to these extremes to define who we should be.  I am purposing a third way.  For Christ calls us to neither be dictators nor door mats.

My proposal is for us to find our masculinity in something that is modeled after Jesus Himself.  I caution, though, in as much as the definitions of masculinity are manipulated by cultures, so is the image of who Jesus is.  In this we must avoid the extremes of a Vengeful God who cannot wait to drop us into hell or the peace, love, and crunchy granola hippie who is a tragic victim of 'the man'.

Jesus and Masculinity 

Key to understanding Jesus, is to understand that He is completely motivated by love, specifically self-giving love.  The life He embraces is one of detachment from all worldly goods.  He shows compassion where love dictates it should.  He shows fervor and courage where love dictates it should.  He is not defined by any societal conventions.  He eats with sinners.  He talks to people he shouldn't.  He doesn't back from confrontation. He is the Son of God/Son of Man that the Father wants Him to be. Even when He had to face the torture and brutality of the Passion and crucifixion, He doesn't back down.

When He sends His apostles and disciples out, He tells them He is sending them out as lambs among wolves.  He expects them to follow His lead.  When He calls them despite their frailties, He knows who  they can be with His help.  He expects them to follow Him in a life of detachment.  He expects them to follow the same compassion and courage.  He expects them to face their crosses with the same love and courageous resolve that He did.  On top of this, He expects them to preach what is considered madness in the Roman world.

In the Roman world, the paterfamilias (father of the family) had absolute control over his wife and children.  They could be killed, sold into slavery, or any other action that he saw fit.  The apostles were not to model the way they fathered this fledgling church on such behavior.  In fact, they were to challenge the very idea of the paterfamilias as it stood.  They didn't do this by going to the opposite extreme and teach men to be door mats; the heart of being a leader was to be a servant.  This is how Jesus leads, this is how his apostles were to follow suit.

The Pressure

Most young men find themselves in a world that still preaches the extremes.  On the one hand we have the part of the culture that tells us that you prove your manhood by what you can conquer. This is the basis of the hook-up culture.  This is the success-at-all-cost culture.  This is the culture that tells you to manipulate everything around you.  It requires a great deal of arrogance and suppressing of being a servant. On the other side, you are told to sit down and shut up. You are taught to be ashamed of anything distinctly masculine as being part of the rape culture/patriarchy. This side assumes the only other option is the other extreme.  The goal is to create an easily subjugated group.

Both sides, though, have a common enemy. Catholicism. Both sides speak in terminology of power: either being the one wielding power or being the one who power wielded over. Catholicism, as is written, goes in an opposite direction.  It places a premium on selfless love.  If one selflessly loves, then one will not treat others as a means to and end; whether that end be sexual conquests, fiscal conquest, or whatever other conquest is sought. If one selflessly loves, then hedonism (the Playboy mentality) and materialism cannot be sought. Catholicism also places a premium on being a witness to something greater.  Hence, a life of mousy silence and religion-as-a-personal-hobby is not the goal either.  Catholicism requires making stands for the truth even when that truth is unpopular.  Catholicism requires entering into the warfare of culture to uphold the truth.  While the truth will set you free, it will not win the approval of the culture.

Isolation and Fellowship

The greatest way to manipulate someone is to increasingly isolate them. If I were the devil, I would use isolation as a primary tool. How would I strangle the spiritual life of a young man? I would introduce him to porn as early as possible. I would simultaneously teach him to treat sexuality as a means of self-gratification and then make him feel deeply guilty about seeing women as such.  That way I could isolate him out from forming healthy relationship with women and use it as a source of shame to preclude service to God.  I would have wallow in a swamp of shame at his weakness and resentment that the Church teaches he should not be doing this.

If I were the devil, I would have the young man cut himself off of sacramental grace; I would want nothing of the life of Christ in him.  I would isolate him from his community of faith.  I would cut him off from men who might model Catholic masculinity.  I would make him feel uncomfortable in deepening any sense of faith. I would provide of plethora of distractions all of which he could treat as greater and more pressing priorities. In doing this, I could isolate him from godly men and surround him with men from the extremes. I would leave him trying to fill a hole in his heart with all of these things.

In Tolkien's story,  the task of standing against evil is not left to one man.  A fellowship is formed.  Even the task of destroying the ring isn't left to a single man; that man takes his friend with him to push him and encourage him when he felt weak or was tempted by the power of the ring. Jesus sent his disciples in groups of two.  He expected the Apostles to be one, to create a group who would be one throughout the world.  They were to support one another and bring out the best in one another.  They were to be bound in the same selfless service that He Himself lived.

Over the years, fraternal orders have been formed for Catholic men to bring our the best in other Catholic men so as to call to courageous and selfless service.  I speak of groups like the Knights of Columbus and more recently, the Frassati groups. The goal is to make men understand that if you are isolated, you are an easy target for destruction.  As we want you to be strong, we form the bonds of fellowship.

That first and most essential bond is that of the divine life placed in us by the Sacramental life of the Church.  You cannot do this without the life of Christ running through your veins.  It is also the place you learn about selflessness.  This means getting away from the idea of Mass as something you get something from to a place where you offer selfless service and worship to God. It means being able to see sacramental grace as the fuel to building resolve to the man God made you to be.

Last Sunday, during a panel for confirmation, a question was asked how to maintain faith and grow as a person left home and was no longer compelled to go.  One bit of advice I gave was to surround yourself with  people who would call you to being a person of faith. In the same panel, I also challenged the students to look at what influences they allowed in their life through media and entertainment.  Inevitably, young men, you make the decisions of what you allow into your life.  IF you drink poison, be prepared for the consequences.

Add men to your life who will encourage you to rise to the level of selfless service.  Push beyond the tepid nature of comfort. The world is not going to like your doing this.  Then again, what enemy likes it when a combatant enters the field of battle against it?

Know the Tools

In Tolkien's story, the fellowship was not sent out to their task unarmed.  The weapons of war necessary to the task at hand were taken with them to accomplish the task.  St. Paul likens the life of a Christian to that one of a soldier going off to battle.  The main armor and weapons of the Catholic man are the virtues.  A Catholic man embraces them and learns how to effectively use them with all the skill of a soldier and his weapon.  Dropping these weapons and armor only leaves you vulnerable to an enemy who gives no quarter.

A Catholic man has at his disposal a use of the cardinal virtues.  He can use prudence to judge how and when to act. He can use justice to put his own needs aside in order to give to another what is needed.  He can use temperance to show the self-control and discipline to act rightly and selflessly.  He can use fortitude to show the courage necessary to take the stands he needs to take, to engage wisely in the battles he must fight, and to band with his brothers so that man is left behind.

A Catholic man knows that he isn't meant to do this on his own.  He has the God given and God strengthened theological virtues to know God's will (faith), to trust God's will (hope), and to execute God's will in such a way as to model himself after Christ (love). This boldness gives you the ability to cry out "DEUS VULT" when our culture would scare you off the field.

Find that fellowship in your own life.  I know it might require a great courage and might also mean intense shifts.  I know some of you might already feel isolated.  Maybe you have already allowed poisons like porn, promiscuity, and such into your life.  Maybe you have isolated yourself from the sacraments or have treated faith as a pious hobby at best.  The point is, though, that God can take you from such a timid and selfish existence and rise you above it.  You just have to be willing to be uncomfortable, to stand out, and to be the man who doesn't live in the extremes of this culture.

We need men who will rise up and take on the courage of the Tolkien's fellowship.  We need men who will mimic Christ and His apostles and embrace detachment and pour themselves out for the good of those God will place in their care.  If you are called to marriage and family life, your family will need you to be this man.  If you are called priesthood, your parish will need you to be this man.  We know the damage done by those who took on these roles and weren't these men.  Now...go out and learn to be this man.  Know that God will give you what you need if your willing to do it.

Lukewarm Parishes Part 2

In the history of the Church, outside persecutions have never been able to destroy the Church.  They have caused grave damage, but cannot destroy. The Church has suffered greatly at her own hand, though, throughout the ages.  One of the greatest autoimmune viruses to inflict the Church is the one that was inflicting the Church of Laodicea: that of lukewarmness. An autoimmune disease is any disease in the body is essentially attacking itself.  Some autoimmune diseases, such as MS or rheumatoid arthritis can literally cripple the body to immobility.  So lukewarmness does the same.  It cripples a parish or diocese into immobility and a disagreeable acceptance of a status quo.

Lukewarmness and the Status Quo

                I believe that the phrase, “We have always done it this way” is a sign of a dying institution.   This doesn’t mean we throw out or adapt teachings on faith and morals within the Church.  This doesn’t mean we treat Mass as a blank pallet on which to do what we want.  Truth be told, I believe we need to stick stronger to these things.  Compromise, in these areas, is a direct result of lukewarmness.

                The status quo I speak of is the willful pursuing of ways of education, formation, and evangelization (or the lack thereof) that are pursued (usually half-heartedly) even though they produce little to no positive results. More often than not, the status quo takes a one-size-fits-all mentality.  The status quo also desires a modus operandi whereas you come to us and our programs as opposed to we go to you.  Lukewarmness and the status quo seek to stay safe.  Lukewarmness and the status quo resist taking chances or stepping out of comfort zones.  Why?  Lukewarmness and the status quo are ruled by fear of change.   

                I remember being part of committee whose objective was to look at a policy that everyone around the table knew was not working.  For THREE years we spoke about it.  We brought in experts.  However, any divergence from the current policy was met with a mix of wringing of hands and steadfast stubbornness of changing the current policy…even though we had already acknowledged the current policy didn’t work.  After the three years, the policy stood unchanged without the slightest adjustment and still did not work.

The Qualities of a Lukewarm Parish

                Why was Jesus so revolted by the Church of Laodicea?  Why did he find it so bad that He wanted to projectile vomit it from His mouth?  He accuses them of being lukewarm.  What made them lukewarm?  They were comfortable with how things were.  Is being comfortable a bad thing?  After all, many in advertisement act as if it is the ultimate goal. In a way, being comfortable can be detrimental to a parish.  To maintain comfort in a parish, change cannot happen. A lukewarm parish does have certain qualities.

                First, a lukewarm parish is all about the status quo.  It will be all about the status quo even when it is generally acknowledged that the status quo is harming the parish.  Leadership will be a good-old-boy network of champions for the status quo.  They will shut out new voices while complaining that new voices do not come forward. They will keep using the same tired things over and over again.  They will be champions of deferred maintenance in every aspect of parish life.  They will complain about the catechesis but not change materials.  They will complain about the lack of youth while either insisting on continued pandering or doing nothing and blaming the youth for not liking what they like.  In all this, the actual teachings of the Church will be circumvented when they become inconvenient.

                Second, a lukewarm parish is slow to evangelize.  They will want new members, but insist that new potential members come to them and adapt 100% to the local status quo.  Church teaching that does not back the status quo will be forgotten or deliberately left out so that things remain as is.  A lukewarm parish will not retain many who join them.  They will also lose the overwhelming amount of their youth. The reason for this is that a lukewarm nature is a dying nature. It is not a human trait to invest in what is dying.  Investment of one’s time, energy, and resources usually will go to what has a future.  The more vibrant the future, the more vibrant the investment of time, energy, and resources will be as well.

                Third, a lukewarm parish will shoot for the minimum.  As with any lukewarm entity, just enough will be done to keep things breathing.  A minimalism in worship, in catechesis, in formation, and all other aspects will be hallmark.  The most dominant thing will be fundraising.  A plethora of fundraising (capital projects aside) will show that the parish isn’t showing enough life for many to invest.  Staff will be minimal.  Programs will be tired. In such a parish, the budget will determine the mission. When that happens, lukewarmness has become toxic.

                Finally, a lukewarm parish will be a place of hand wringing and excuses. People will know something is wrong.  They will feel helpless to change these things. Helplessness will breed excuse making.

                None of these sounds like what Jesus wants for His Church.  If we consider what He went through in bringing us into existence through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, we should want for us what He wants for us.     

                In the passage from Revelations, His answer to Laodicea’s lukewarmness is “But from me gold refined in fire…buy white garments in which to be clothed…buy ointment to smear on your eyes.”  Revelations 3:18.  In the next three weeks, we will look at these three things and how to use them to leave Laodicea once and for all!

Lukewarm Parishes Part 1

Many times, I have sworn to myself, that if I ever did publish a book, I would title it “Leaving Laodicea: Embracing Holiness as a Parish.” Laodicea is one of the seven churches in the Book of Revelations to whom St John is instructed to deliver a message.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this:

“‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God’s creation, says this: “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”   Revelation 3:14-17

The city of Laodicea was known for its spring that ran hot or cold. It was a very wealthy city. When Christianity was first preached there, it seems it took some root. However, Jesus faults this new church with a lukewarmness that is intolerable. The actual Greek verb, which is translated ‘spit out’ gives more the impression of projectile vomiting.  In other words, like the taste of something utterly revolting, Jesus finds the lukewarm nature of Laodicea to be thoroughly revolting.

What causes lukewarmness?

When we look at what little we know about Laodicea, we can get something of an answer.  If something is lukewarm, it is tepid.  Laodicea was a wealthy town.  There is no evidence given that the Church of Laodicea knew anything of persecution as did a number of the other seven churches.  They were comfortable.

We live in a society that values comfort.  We will spend great amounts of money to accrue comfort.  We will even simulate comfort by numbing ourselves through chemical addictions.  We will simulate comfort through the misuse of our sexuality and the use of pornography.  We will seek that which gives us that sense of well-being.  To value comfort necessitates a disproportionate focus on the self. The search for comfort will lead to a rejection of what disrupts that comfort.  In this rejection, we will compromise away whatever upsets our comfort.

In the same way, we will resent whatever disrupts our comfort.  We will blame outside forces for this unwanted intrusion into our comfort (especially God). 

For one who values comfort, the role of religion is to merely comfort. The comfortable religious person doesn’t seek to grow, but to remain is a state of inert stasis where they drift along as a leaf down a stream. The role of God in such a religion is to rubber stamp whatever theology I cobble together that makes me comfortable. If I do grow, it is completely on my terms and with a predetermined outcome.  Again, God’s roles are to rubber stamp my efforts and pat me on the head for any effort.

Lukewarmness is a direct result of compromise. Lukewarmness cannot find the intellectual and spiritual honesty to own up to what is actually being done.  Since it neither has the coldness of abandonment of faith nor the heat of a truly lived faith, Christ finds it loathsome enough to want to reject altogether.  Why not?! Certainly Jesus did not go through the passion, death, and resurrection so that we may be ho-hum about faith and the living out of discipleship.

Lukewarmness breeds indifference which breeds animosity

Children pick up what we as adults are truly excited about or find important. They will see this on how we live, on what is chosen as a priority, our words/attitudes about things, and our willingness to donate time, energy and resources to a cause.

By the same token, children also pick up what isn’t worth their time or energy.  What the adults in their life are lukewarm about will pass on and deepen into indifference.  What the child witnesses to be burdensome, of lesser priority, or unimportant will be passed on down.  This indifference leads them open to going one step further into an animosity toward whatever is at hand.

We see this in study after study about faith.  For example, studies on Church attendance show a progressive slide from one generation to the next.  There are multiple factors that contribute to this, but one of the most dominant is the attitude towards God and faith.  When a parent is indifferent or seemingly goes through motion, it says something powerful to their children.  Statistically, this is especially true of the attitude of the dad.

Lukewarmness of one generation provokes the next generation to drift even further away.  There is something innate in our nature that abhors going through the motions. This is especially true with younger people. It seems to be inauthentic. Why bother with such drudgery?

Hence, lukewarmness is the devil’s playground. It is why Jesus shows such a viral antipathy to it.  Lukewarmness provides fertile ground for doubt, disbelief, and inevitable rejection of faith.

However, Jesus would not warn Laodicea about their lukewarmness if it were irreversible. It is reversible. In the next few weeks, I am going to reflect on how we leave lukewarmness behind.  I am a big believer in the fact we cannot complain about behavior we enable.  As a pastor, I want to see every aspect of who we are as a parish - outreach, education, devotion, worship, formation of our youth, and social support to roar like a lion. 

No parish should be comfortable living in Laodicea.  No family should be comfortable living in Laodicea. No individual should be comfortable living in Laodicea.   On all levels, it is far past due time to shake off the dust of Laodicea and forge boldly ahead.       

Why Fake News Works

Recently Pope Francis spoke about the phenomenon of fake news.  He said that its finds its roots in the Garden of Eden.  This is a powerful statement in his aligning fake news (propaganda) as rooted in the fall of humanity in Eden.

Fake news is not a new thing.  From the lies and misinformation first used to tricked humanity into turning against God down through ages with the widespread use of propaganda to perpetuate a lie so as to garner power, fake news and its antecedents have long been the favored tool of tyrants to spread lies so as to manipulate populations.

The Father of Lies

All  misinformation and deceit has a satanic source.  It is not without reason that bearing false witness finds itself as a topic in the Ten Commandments.  Bearing false witness/lying breeds confusion deliberately.  Starting with the lie told to Adam and Eve, that God did not want what was good for them, in sowing confusion, so that Satan could more easily turn humanity against God, lies have been sown so as to create chaos and confusion.  Make no mistake, fake news is a tool for those who wish to divide.

Why does the devil want to divide?  The devil is THE anti-Christ, he is the opposite of Christ and His mission.  If Christ came that we might be one (John 17:20-21), then the natural goal of the devil is going to be to sow as much division as possible.  He preys on fear.  To gin up fear, he will utilize lies to create and sustain a atmosphere of mistrust.  If the devil can get us to see each other as the enemy or as suspect, then he has an ample field to work with.

Us versus Them

The devil has been very successful in his endeavor. He has managed to split humanity into so many factions, that we can scarcely cooperate for even those things that effects us all.  No matter how mind-numbingly idiotic the division is, people can be found to nurture and sustain it.  Propaganda has been used by those who have given themselves first and foremost to the most base and evil things of this world to keep power.  They are able to tap into a very base part of fallen humanity; fear of the other.

Fake news is a buffet meant to sustain the lie.  It is a buffet of tasty tidbits.  It is full of salacious gossip, misinterpreted speculation, and glee at another's errors.  Ultimately though, the buffet is thoroughly poisoned.  The more the buffet is eaten from, the more the immunity is broken down. The immunity in question is the that part of our mind and soul that can aptly distinguish between lies and truths.  How on earth, though, can you make a person willingly eat of such a poisoned menu?

Simple.  Wrap the entire menu in a dose of subjectivity; convince the person that they and those who think like them are always right and those who don't now are always wrong.  Deal in absolutes about people.  Reduce people to their being either this or that, but not both. Inflate the pride of the individual to the point that any deviation from their subjective definitions of good and evil must be dealt with in a scorched earth manner.  With the disease sufficiently spread, the immune system of mercy, reason, and forgiveness is defeated.  Hence the fake news is eaten and spread with an unquenchable fury.

The A Priori World of Fake News

Having set groups against each other, it is then easy to set an a priori base that any and all things that the 'other' does must be evil.  Any good that might be done by the 'other' is simply waved away in lieu of it not fitting the predetermined narrative. The good done by the 'other' is dangerous to the a priori narrative pushed by fake news.  Instead of treating individuals as individuals, we treat them as parts of enemy groups.

That is the end goal.  Once any person can successfully marginalize a group, then that person can do anything to that group as they have dehumanized them.   This is the tool of tyrants.  This is the tool for those who have sought to eliminate entire segments of the population.  If I can get you to hate a group, I can get you to turn a blind eye or even get you to join in any evil that I might have planned.

Let's be honest, though.  No one can sell what no one wants to buy.  Because humanity is fallen, because we suffer from the effects of Original Sin, because we struggle with concupiscence, and because we can want the easy path, we are all too ready to have groups defined as those to be liked and those to be hated.  It feeds into our darker selves.

Feeding an Appetite

Humanity struggles with this darker self.  The devil knows this.  God knows this.  Tyrants know this. They know we have dispositions towards envy, wrath, gluttony, and greed.  We can be tempted to see the success of the other as detrimental to our own success.  We can suppose the worst motivations on those who hurt us or disagree with us.  We can see another's belongings as taking away from what I should have.  All of these require as a prerequisite a egotistical pride that measures all things by how it effects me.

Fake news works and is so widespread by virtue of 24/7 media and social media because so many of us want to believe the absolute worst about others.  We want to bolster our identity by tearing down the identity of others.  Furthermore, lacking the work ethic to do this on an individual basis, we merely put whole groups into camps and assign them common beliefs.  This, my friends, is identity politics.

Why It Is a Lie

The narrative falls apart if we choose to examine it with any depth.  First, the human person is complex.  Good and evil motivations can and do exist in the same person.  Because we presume the ability to grow, develop, and change, simply treating a person as a stagnant agent, though convenient for a narrative, is simply not true.  Fake news is designed to force people into a pigeon hole where they consistently stay.  It stymies conversion because it does not desire conversion. However, with most people, given the tools to do so, conversion to the good is possible.

However, we resist this because the conversion of another might well beg the question why we don't change to the better.  I can justify my own hates, biases, and prejudices only so long as the 'other' remains a constant.  When the 'other' changes, it necessitates my own change of how I look at them.  More threatening is the thought if the 'other' might not be always evil and wrong, then is my side always right and good?  Better for most to wallow in a comforting lie than to face an uncomfortable truth.

Looking Beyond the Label

Truth leads us to see people as unique individuals.  Jesus does this.  Instead of summarily dismissing other groups than that to which He culturally belonged, He saw past the categories (Samaritans, Romans, Lepers...) and looked to bringing out the good in them through a restoration of relationship.   To be sure, not all accepted such a generous offer, but the offer is made based on an ability to see in the most sordid of sinners something worth saving and redeeming.  Jesus did not overlook the evil men do, but He did know they were capable of better with the help of His grace.

Hence, we must, as a matter of virtuous discipline, not indulge in the tawdry delight of fake news.  It is  not merely beneath our collective humanity, but directly goes against the heart of the Christian Mission. If our starting point is to presume a person evil, it will be hard to see anything as salvageable in them.  This requires a basic disposition that the role of the entirety of creation is to sate me.  Nothing fuels the taste for fake news like a selfish heart.

We were made for better. Fake news cheapens the person of the person who spreads it.

#Evangelization2018

“Full authority has been given to me both in heaven and earth,

Go, therefore, and make disciples of the nations!

Baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Teach them to carry out all that I commanded you.

And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world! Mathew28:18b-20

                These last words of Christ to the Apostles in the Gospel of Matthew are excellent words with which to begin the year 2018.  In these words we find the essential and central mission of the Church.  These words of Christ, a directive to evangelize, are at the very heart of who we are and always have been as the Body of Christ in this world.   When are baptized into the Body of Christ, we are brought into her mission.  During the Anointing with Chrism Oil at baptism, we are directed (be it the adult coming in or the parents of an infant) to share in this evangelical mission of bringing Christ into the lives of all we meet.

Training disciples

                For the apostles who heard these words, they had been given training.  For three years they followed Jesus.  They saw the miracles. They were given instruction is such a way that even the best of seminaries could never provide. They didn’t always get it.  However, what they were given was enough to provoke them to leave the safety and security of everything they knew and proclaim a seemingly ridiculous message throughout the world: a crucified Messiah who frees us from sin and death.

                Christ gives us the same opportunity to learn at His feet.  He gives us a share in His life through the sacraments of the Church, He gives us the educational and spiritual formation of His Church, and He gives us the primary incubator of disciples, the family.  In the coming year, our parish needs to help bolster each of these elements.  It is our job as a parish to make sure that we have not just the tools to get about the work of the Kingdom, but that we have the best of tools.

                It is times like this where remembering who we are as Catholics transcends mere parish boundaries. One of the challenges of being pastor of two parishes, especially when the size of those parishes are as different as they are, is that I must acknowledge that elements such as budget, staff, and volunteers must be taken into account as to how we approach our task of evangelization.  Christ and His Church do not differentiate the call to evangelization based on the size of a parish.  Remember, the earliest churches were small and in homes. In some of the things I am purposing, both parishes will need to take into account the abilities of the other and help each other as is fit; that is part and parcel of our catholicity.

Training through the Sacraments          

              All of our efforts will fall short without the grace of God.  A Catholic who exempts themselves from the sacramental life of the Church is doomed to failure in living its mission.  Without the sacraments we lose sight of why we do what we do. Without the sacraments the essential character of the Church is reduced to a social club or social work club.  I am not saying that either of these are evil.  In fact, a healthy parish has a familial bond that brings us together and a outreach to the larger community, especially to the needy of the local community.  However, the Church is more than that. 

                In the sacraments we are given the grace necessary to live out the essential catholic charism: evangelization.  Each sacrament is given to bolster that grace in the life of a member of the Body of Christ so as to engage in evangelization as God sees fit.   They are pathways for the Holy Spirit to breathe the boldness and wisdom necessary to live the life of Christ in such a way as to go and make disciples.  The sacraments, when received in a state of grace (baptism gives us this gift),   insert the life of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, so as to embolden us to engage.  When that state of grace is lost through mortal sin, the Confession must be done to restore it so that the other sacramental graces given us are not squandered.

                Part of the things I wished to do to bolster this have already started.  It is why in adult education I am focusing on the Mass.  Last semester we went through the Constitution on the Liturgy (Sancrosanctum Concilium) and we will be doing the General Instruction of the Roman Missal for the second semester.  This class meets in the parish hall at SS Peter and Paul at 7PM on most Tuesdays staring on the 9^th of January. It is why I have already greatly expanded the times for confession in both parishes. It is why I am speaking frequently about the sacraments during the homilies.  Over the next year, we will also be evaluating the preparation programs for the sacraments so as to make sure we are giving those who are being formed into the sacramental life of the Church the best available tools.

                It is why I will be absolutely insistent that anyone who calls themselves Catholic within the parish boundaries is going to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day.  If chronic illness or advanced age prevents that, I have an army of Eucharistic Ministers and myself to bring the sacraments to them.  I try to get out once a month to afford access to the Eucharist, Confession, and Anointing of the Sick to our ill and aged. I have others in the Boonville Correction Facility who I will now go to twice a month to afford them Mass and Confession.  Everyone else, if they are going to be authentic about their faith, MUST avail themselves to the Mass and Confession.  We cannot engage in the mission of the Church if we are starving ourselves of the ability to do so.

                Because the sacramental life of the Church is essential to our Catholic identity, being on a parish roster will not be considered enough unless one is ill and of advanced age (unable to get out).  Too many times, people will put themselves on parish rosters so as to have access to a parochial school for free.  Our diocese does not charge parishioners for tuition on the belief that Catholics who put their children into our schools are living the faith.  Chronically exempting oneself and one’s children from the sacramental life of the Church tells me that what is actually being sought is a free private education and not a Catholic education.  I have no interest in fully supplementing a private education.  I also have no interest in throwing people off of our parish roster.  However, I am asking that such families be honest and either start living the sacramental life of the Church or be removed from our roster and be tuition families.  We must be honest.

The Domestic Church

                The Catholic Church sees as its most basic building block an entity called the domestic church, that is, the church of the family. The family is where the lessons of faith are most powerfully taught by word and deed.  The example of the parents in the way they do or do not live their faith will be the primary influence on the faith of their children.  This is especially true for the dad of the family.  The faith or faithlessness of the dad is the single largest determining factor of whether the children grow to embrace the Catholic faith themselves.

                The family is the first place of evangelization.  Children are the first targets of evangelization on the part of their parents.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 2221-2231, make clear that the role of the parents in the reception and nurturing of faith in their children is paramount.  For example: “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children.  They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church.”  (CCC 2225)

                I invite moms and dads to read the entirety of these sections from the Catechism.  These are the duties that you told God you would undertake when you had your children baptized.    The role I play within the larger parish as a pastor, you moms and dads (again, particularly the dads) play within your family.  Inasmuch as it would be scandalous for me to use my position to drive a wedge between my flock and the Church or my flock and God, so it is scandalous for parents to do the same with their children.  To this end, Jesus warns us, “Scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to him through whom they come. He would be better off thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than to give scandal to one of these little ones.” (Luke 17:1-1)

Helping You Help Them

                Each parish has a responsibility to help those who are the primary teachers in the ways of the faith.  Many times, though, the primary teachers had the necessary knowledge and formation withheld from them when they were young.  It is hard to hand on what one does not have.  I realize that for many decades Catholic catechesis has been lacking.  In some cases, it has been seriously lacking.  This must be fixed.

                To this end, our parishes have given access to an excellent online program called ‘Formed’ to give parents a forum to deepen their own understanding of the faith and give them an opportunity to be the primary teachers of the faith they are called to be.  I know many parents feel inadequate to the task to be primary teachers.  We want to help you rise to the standard and be for your child who they need you to be and who God wants you to be.

                Starting in January, we will be starting the ‘Choice Wine’ series for our married couples in order to help them be what they are called to be.  It will be started at SS Peter and Paul.  If there are people from St. Joseph who would like to be facilitators for this, I will most happily point you in the right direction.  Again, given the catholic nature of our faith, it is not merely desirable that parishes act in tandem and cooperation, it is absolutely necessary.  I also have the “Beloved’ series if some would like to try that.  The Beloved Series is available on the Formed website.

Partners, not Replacements

                Whether your child is in a parochial school, a PSR program, or a confirmation class, parents are called to be partners in the process.  As already said, parents are the first teachers.  We offer various educational opportunities to supplement what should be going on in the home.  No Catholic teacher, however brilliant they may be, will be able to counteract fully the lack of teaching that may be missing from the parent.

                In the coming months we will be developing ways in which parents are given more of a role in the spiritual and sacramental development of their children.  It is not the job of a teacher to be the primary teacher and witness to the faith.  They must be witnesses to the faith to be sure, but, it is the parents’ responsibility to be the primary teacher.  Just as in the classroom there is a necessity to make sure what is being taught is not a personal interpretation of the truth, so it is in the home.  Parents are every bit as responsible for upholding the truth of Christ and His Church as I am as a pastor.

                I am a big believer that pastors and parishes cannot gripe about behavior that they enable.  More often than not we enable behavior because changing behavior is much more difficult.  However, the task of the parish is to make sure that each of her members is living up to their evangelical call.  I know this might represent a massive shift in how we do business.  However, if my goal as a pastor is to guide the parish in its totality to Christ, then my call necessitates reaching out and correcting the ship even if it is the only ship in the harbor to be corrected.  What happens in other parishes is not my responsibility; what happens in my parishes is my responsibility.  This is why I want myself and my staff to be your partners in the development of our youth into Catholic disciples ready to live their baptismal call.

               The family is the first place where faith is formed.  It is even the primary place where the faith is formed.  Family members are bolstered in this role in the sacramental life of the Church.  However, faith has a definitive look and set of beliefs within the Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church, while it does value the emotional response, wants that emotional response to be grounded in truth.  In the Catholic Church, faith and reason go hand in hand.

It’s not a children’s book

              The Catholic faith is a wide ranging set of truths that all are intertwined with each other.  The Catholic faith is not a faith of compartments where faith applies to some compartments and not others. The Catholic faith is an integrated whole.  Understanding it is not easy.  Like most systems of advanced thought or sciences, Catholic theology circles around a few foundational premises that inform all the teachings.  The application of these teachings must be understood to teach them effectively.

              This is why learning the faith is important.  What we do in any and all education programs is to help in both the understanding of the tenets of the faith and the principles under which they are applied.  This is why the Church demands that her clergy have at least a master’s level education.  It is why bishops are to be fastidious in overseeing the content of catechetical materials to be used.  It is why pastors are to have that same knowledge of what is being taught to their parishioners and are to be seen with the same role within the parish as a parent is in the family: the primary teacher.

              The Church does want us to grasp these concepts.  The Catholic Church has it written in the words of Scripture and in the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Both of these are complicated documents.  The Church wants all her members to have broad knowledge of both.  The Church is also aware that simply giving either of these documents without any training can lead to error. The Catechism and the Sacred Scriptures are not children’s books that are easily understood or implemented. 

Help Me Help You

                As a pastor of souls, one of my major tasks is to help each parishioner to understand our Catholic faith.  I have several venues to do this. 

                The first venue is the pulpit.  I know in the 10 minutes or so I have on Sundays and elsewhere, I have a group in front of me to whom I am responsible for teaching the truth.  The homily is to use the words of Scripture to point to the truth and suggest practical application of the truth to our everyday lives.  To waste that time with fluff and pablum or to use that time to poison the minds and souls of my parishioners by promoting error  are both offenses before which I would have to answer to God.

               The second venue I am given is in my writing.  As you can tell, I use the Pastor’s Pen as a venue to explain the faith.  I also use social media and my blog to expound on the truth of the Catholic faith.

                The third major venue I am given is the classroom.  I spend some time most days in some classroom setting.  I try to get in see the classes in our school and other educational venues.  I teach adult education, bring in speakers for our Tapping into Theology, and use what venues I have to teach.

                 To do this means I have to appropriate my time wisely.  To be able to be coherent in these tasks necessitates me continuing to educate myself and be sure my spiritual life is continuing to develop.  Consequently, I read most every day.  I make sure prayer is a daily part of my regimen.  I make choices at what gets air time in my brain and what doesn’t.  What gets priority in my life is based on what helps me to execute the duties I have as a teacher and pastor of souls.  I can’t give what I don’t have.

You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have

                   No more than I as a pastor can give my parishioners anything solid in the passing on of the faith, nor can anyone.  I am aware of this.  This is why I teach and try to use the pulpit as I should.  It is to give you the tools.  It is why I had our parishes subscribe to Formed.  This way each parishioner with internet access has a way to get to excellent content  and better teachers than myself and have that access 24/7.  

                    It is also why I am absolutely insistent that Catholic parents are regularly practicing the faith and being formed in the faith.  Without God’s grace, all the correct data in the world will go nowhere quickly.  It is not just a matter that I want to see my parish parents succeed.  I do.  The point is that I NEED my parish parents to succeed.  Their kids need their parents to succeed at this most important task. 

                    It is not just parents though.  Each member of our parish, regardless of age, gender, education level, or socioeconomic level, is necessary to the engagement of this parish with the fallen away of our neighborhoods and the unchurched of the same neighborhoods.  There are so many people out there who are searching for truth.  There are many voices saying they have the truth.  We have to be more convincing about the actual truth.   Because the Catholic faith is a lived truth, practice of the faith is absolutely essential to the ability to evangelize.

Our Reason for Being

                   The role of evangelization is not something extraneous to the lived expression of the Catholic life; it is the core of it. Jesus didn’t tell His disciples after the Resurrection to go home and keep to themselves what they had seen and heard.  He told them, rather, to go baptize the nations.  He told them to teach the nations all that He had taught them as disciples. He told them to trust that He would be with them.  Since that time, men and women have transversed the entirety of the known world, bringing with them the message of the Gospel.  The apostles, the early missionaries, the missionaries who went into barbarian territory, the missionaries who crossed oceans to new worlds, and the current day missionaries who use electronic and conventional media, all continue that mission.

                    That mission to evangelize is not limited to these select few. It is meant for all who have passed through the waters of baptism.  Consider the Parable of the Talents in which great wealth was given to three persons with the command to use it wisely.  We are given the sacraments, the Scriptures, the catechism, and the devotional life.  We are given access to a great fount of knowledge.  We have been given the five talents; let us use them wisely to help build up the Kingdom of God.

Your Keeping Using That Word....

The movie, "The Princess Bride", is quite the quotable movie.  There are a number of great lines.  I am particularly fond of the line "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."   This is a response to a character who keeps using the word 'inconceivable" repeatedly, most of the times not being appropriate to the situation.  It's funny because many times people will use words repeatedly and not get what the word actually means.

Sometimes, it is rather tragic. One such word that people bandy about is the word 'believe' or 'belief'. Most people mean that they hold a intellectual premise as true.  However, their actions would not show that they actually do hold the premise to be true.  Belief, as such,  is seen to be a stagnate entity, a set of words etched into the words of a page, but not connected to anything beyond the words.   Many times a belief is reduced to a an academic truth.  Belief is more.  In fact, with this 'more', one can rightfully question whether one does believe at all; whether they are using a word that does not mean what they think it means.

If one truly believes a proposition, one's actions will show that.  For example, if I say I believe Copperheads are poisonous, it will change how I respond to or treat a Copperhead.  If I say I believe it but handle a Copperhead as if  were an earthworm, you might well question whether I actually believe or not.  Yes, it is factually accurate that Copperheads are poisonous and my belief is well founded, but if my actions do not follow through with said belief, then I take an unnecessary risk.  If my beliefs follow through, not only will I not handle the Copperhead like an earthworm, I will be cautious and teach others to be cautious.

Today, in the Catholic Church, is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.  The name 'Jesus' means 'god saves.'  The name is itself an belief.  It sets the essential reason for being of the Incarnate God; He comes to save.  Save whom?  Humanity.  From what? Sin and death.  I think most Christians would save they believe this.  I would hope so, but do our actions follow through?

Jesus isn't the only entity out there saying they can save us.  In fact, the entities are legion.  Who we actually believe will save us, will be the entity we conform our lives to.  For example, if I think sports save, then the focus of how I make decisions and set my priorities will reflect that.  I will sacrifice time for other things to bolster it.  I might not say 'sports save' but my actions will betray the internal disposition, whether I name it or not.  You can just as easily replace the word 'sports' with wealth, fame, honor, power, pleasure, or a whole host of other things and get the same result.  The purpose is not to say that any of these things are evil by their nature (they are not), but when Jesus gets the leftovers and not the first fruits, we are saying that we believe something else saves me.

I can say I believe the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.  Factually, I would accurate. However, you will see the depth of that belief by whether of not I go to Mass, the attitude I have to it, the attitude I have toward Eucharistic Adoration, the attitude I have to state of my soul...and so on.  You will notice it in the way I receive.  You will notice in the way I handle the Eucharist as to see whether the belief has any depth or place.  Again, belief motivate changes in behavior.

To use sports again (just because it is easier), if I truly believe that sports save me it will effect my willingness to practice, strength train, to eat correctly, to get enough sleep, how I spend my time and money, and will become the first priority.  I will be okay with sacrificing the time and energy that might go to other entities (family, faith) in order to pursue what I think saves me. Sports are good...they are great in my humble opinion.  Furthermore sports and exercise are essential to good health.  But they do not save.  No earthly venture does.  How we set priorities tells God much about what we truly believe.

If belief is stagnant or has no bearing on our choices, how we can stand before God with any authenticity and say that we believed in Him. It is not enough to proclaim, even publicly,  "Jesus is my Lord and Savoir", if our actions do not show that such a belief changes who we are and conforms our life to His. Saying I believe is not enough...actual belief, that which will provoke change in our lives and will inform our priorities, that is what Christ ask for.