A Crisis in American Catholicism

we have a crisis in our church throughout our country and throughout Europe as well but just focusing on the United States today we have a crisis in our Catholic faith in that study that is has been done annually for many decades has found that the most recent version of this study has found that only 22% of Catholics attend Mass on the weekend every weekend 22% that means obviously 78 percent of Catholics do not come to Mass every week this is a crisis this is a population crisis the Diocese of Pittsburgh is just one example the past couple of weeks announced that they were reducing their number of parishes from 188 to 48 a loss of 140 parishes the bishop in announcing that it's a very worthwhile read if you have time to look up his letter to the Diocese of Pittsburgh talked about it's not a priest thing it's an attendance thing over the past few years the Bishop mentioned that they have had 100,000 less people coming to their mass and their loss of 10,000 just in the previous year they have enough priests to cover everything but they don't have enough Catholics coming and we don't have enough Catholics coming throughout the country at least not at the same levels that we would expect that's a crisis of population a crisis of faith and I think when we look at that issue the fact that 78 percent of Catholics are not coming to Mass every week it tells us a couple of things first of all it shows that we have to do a better job of both ourselves and our larger Catholic Church our larger Catholic our parishes our dioceses our country we have to do a better job of recognizing and understanding what it is that happens here every week what it is that we believe happens when we celebrate Mass we also have to I think confront the fact and recognize that this issue shows that there is a lack of understanding about what the church says we are to do in regards to making the mass the center of our lives and our week to Center everything that we do around the belief that at this place something different happens when we think about these two things and trying to maybe just reflect on that for a moment why do we have I think this challenge I think one of the things I think the gospel that we have today helps provide some insight into this issue in at the end of the gospel so we have the wedding feast God the Father has gathered this feast the feast celebrating what we have here and what we see at the very end of that is that someone comes in who is not properly dressed not prepared for the celebration that is about to take place right now I don't think it that the gospel is is talking to us you know about what we're supposed to wear to Mass this isn't one of those homilies but this person walks into the wedding feasts in in whatever flip flops or something and again not preaching about flip-flops today but spiritually flip-flops sometimes this idea that this person in the gospel was not prepared for what was happening he was not properly prepared he had not maybe he just walked in off the street or whatever but at whatever it was he was not ready for what it was that was getting ready to take place in that upset the king and I think that lament of it provides a moment of an opportunity of election because this isn't you know we can't just you know the 78% to the 78% of people that don't come to mass every week this is I think not not the place or the opportunity to talk to them because they're not here but I think what we do well to do is begin with ourselves and ask ourselves how do we prepare for the wedding feast for this authentic and real encounter with God this banquet that the father has laid before us now no longer just bread and wine and cheese like we hear about in the first reading this this amazing feast that God prepares for us now the feast is his son we literally receive Christ of course in the Eucharist we encounter Christ here on this altar in the words that we read from Sacred Scripture in the presence of one another as well right our Protestant brothers and sisters have lots of there's lots of gatherings taking place where Sacred Scripture is being read where there's prayer together where their song and those things are all commendable and good but that's not what is happening here and to simply sort of stumble into it spiritually so to speak to not think about what it is that we're doing here to not take any time to prepare for it properly I think is first of all then that gives us a challenge for ourselves before we worry about the 78% that aren't here and so I think about as they think about as we think about this particular challenge I would like to invite us to think about a couple of different ways that we can properly and spiritually prepare for what it is that we are celebrating here in the mass and why the church asks us to make at the center of our week and the center of our lives I think one of the ways that we can prepare ourselves is by arriving early or taking some time at home while we're still there wherever it might be to enter into some prayer time before we gather or to maybe read Sacred Scripture or to pray a rosary or to do whatever it is is good for you to just kind of take some time to prepare and focus on what it is that we are gathering to do and I'm as guilty as anyone else of that sometimes I even tell myself well you know you have three masses today you got to rush around and you don't have time to prepare no I do I just don't always take advantage of it and so sometimes I I come in rushed but because of my own doing and I just it's not good it's not good spiritually for me first and foremost right and so I think we all have to do we do well I think to ask ourselves are we spiritually preparing for what it is that we are receiving why this is different than a prayer group taking some time to do that I think another thing that I would invite you to do is to look for ways to learn about and continue to reflect on and meditate on what the mass is right at one of my favorite books that I've ever read is the Lambs supper by dr. Scott Hahn this is available for free unformed you can download it and read this book it's also available in audio form he turned it into a talk and a presentation that you can also listen to for free unformed there are lots of CDs lots of talks lots of books out there that can help keep in our mind and provide deeper and deeper spiritual insights into what it is that we're doing that can help us then remind ourselves I'm not going to just some sort of social gathering I'm going to encounter the Living God in a unique way at this mass I think if you I think sometimes we we only think about well whatever I hear from the pulpit that's my formation whatever I hear preached that's what I'm going to be taught I'm not going to do anything beyond that but I'll tell you if you're waiting you know if the only learning if the only reflection that is happening for you about what the mass is or anything else if you're just solely relying on the pulpit that that's never enough that's never enough to completely nourish and fill us up with all that we need and all that will help us right and so I just want to challenge you and invite you find something that you like find any talk any reflection any essay any book whatever we have CDs out there that you can pick up or books out there there's all kinds of stuff that's that's available you just have to go look for it and utilize it alright there's a lot of amazing stuff that's been put together that will help us theologically remind ourselves that this is a really amazing encounter with God and then finally as well just encourage us to prepare sacramentally the sacrament of confession is a great way to prepare myself to enter more fully into the mysteries that we celebrate here and can help me just feel rejuvenated and experience the the rejuvenation and and the cleansing power that comes to that so that then entering into the mass I have that that freedom that full freedom not being burdened by the sins that I have weighing down upon me so those three ways I think are great ways to prepare ourselves to make sure that in our lives the mass is that is a central event something that is at the heart of what we are doing and what we find in our lives it is and then I think from there once I get myself in order once I get my own house in order I can then go out and be a more effective witness and invitation to my fellow Catholics right Maya my other friends who are around me those who maybe have not have stopped practicing the faith etc and then hopefully from there then we go out and evangelize and bring other people to the power of the Mass to encounter and to recognize and to celebrate the presence of God in our midst the Bishop of Pittsburgh in explaining the decision said we are going to form reform vibrant communities and from there again go back out to really cultured I think when we think about all the people that are out there who were in you know we're called to preach the good news to the corners of the earth I think if we went out right now it does somehow ring a little bit Hollow when we say we want to invite you to mass and if I weren't a Catholic I might say the thing that 78% of you don't go to on a weekly basis so I think we have a real this is a crisis a spiritual one and I think again we do well to focus on ourselves to turn inward and to continue to do some some reflection and examination of conscience what place does the mass play in my life what role does it have in my life and then from there we pray that we might find time to prepare ourselves and to reflect more deeply on the sacrifice of the mass so that we can then go out and invite others to the same joy and peace that we experience

Channel: Father John Hollowell

Views: 10,818

Rating: 4.8506222 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus, Jesus Christ, Catholic, Catholicism, Catholic Church, Catholic Mass, Eucharist, wedding feast, Lamb, God, Love, baptism, wedding garment

Id: J8GwMxL_6n8

Length: 12min 20sec (740 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 15 2017