Last night I reached into the back pocket of the pants I wore to Mass Sunday and pulled out the bulletin from the Mass I attended at Our Lady of Lourdes. The pastor’s message, written by my friend Fr. Dan Griffith, had a very sobering statement in it.
Dan began by referring to the American gymnast Gabby Douglas’ statement in an interview after winning the gold medal for the all-around performance. She said, “It’s a win, win; we give glory to God and He showers blessings upon us.”
Dan then shared that his thought as he watched her praise of God was that “the chances of her being Catholic are about 1%.” He elaborated:
One rarely hears Catholics thanking or praising God in public. We often keep our faith very tightly to ourselves, rarely engaging in public manifestations of our faith.
If Dan is right, that is a pretty damning indictment. As he pointed out in his message, the original impulse of the Church was evangelical. More importantly, we are called to proclaim the Gospel just as Jesus instructed his disciples. to do so. In his Apostolic exhortation, Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II wrote:
The entire mission of the Church, then, is concentrated and manifested in evangelization. Through the winding passages of history the Church has made her way under the grace and the command of Jesus Christ: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” …and lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age”…. “To evangelize,” writes Paul VI, “is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her most profound identity.”
Do we behave as Gabby Douglas did? Or is Fr. Dan right that we who call ourselves Catholics have fallen down on our task to go out into the world to live and speak God’s word?
That is a great question – upon reflection, it seems that all traditional christian faiths are typically more reserved – keep their faith to themselves- as Dan suggests – that is until the “new Evangelicals” that have put aside much of the traditional ways of western european christian worship. The other question for Catholics would be: is the Catholic tradition by its nature and focus on the sacraments and liturgy – typically fairly private things – other than perhaps with those with whom we worship- not as conducive to more public expressions of praise or even how we invite or encourage others to learn more about our tradition?
I applaud you for commenting on a rather touchy subject.
As a former Roman Catholic, and now an ordained Pastor in the Evangelical Church, having been on both sides of the isle, allow me to offer the following…
The priesthood in Catholicism overarchs all other ministries and callings. Only out of need has the office of the deacon become more popular recently, due to the critical shortage of priests. The dominance of the priesthood is also evident in the position the Vatican recently took regarding nuns in the Catholic Church. Priests are often revered in ways which are clearly unhealthy.
The Bible, in the Book of Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 12 (NIV) states that the responsibility of the ordained priesthood is to accomplish the following… “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
This charge, in very large measure, is not carried out in the Catholic Church and is clearly a contributing factor in Father Dan’s comments. The vast majoroity of those attending mass are passive, believing it is the priest’s duty to do all that needs to be done, they are not participants, but observers (reciting a response at an appropriate time does not make one a participant, there are exceptions, but all too few unfortunately). Catholics have been taught that the mass, and in particular, the eucharist, are central to their worship. With few exceptions, if one attends mass, one is believed to be walking in “the faith.” Participation outside Sunday morning is NOT preached in large measure, so the “Go Ye” message of scripture is not heard. All too many believe evangelism is the work of the clergy and the clergy alone.
As an ordained evangelical Pastor, I had the unique privilege of teaching in a Catholic school for 21 years, having left that position only within the last few years to devote myself to full time pastoral ministry. So I am more than a casual observer and my comments are born out of real life, current experience. The approach taken with the students I taught was one which did not introduce them to the person of Christ, but focused clearly on the rules of the church and how to behave piously in the building we call the church! Great emphasis and time was placed on the memorization of prayers and their recitation is a “holy” manner. Posture in church, standing and kneeling in unison, were stressed over and over. These comments are but the tip of the iceberg, but are illustrative of the foundation being set.
Why isn’t the following truth of scripture being preached and taught from the pulpits of Cathloc churches… “the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead indwells all believers.” When truly understood and cultivated, this truth can and will mobilize those who truly have a desire to be followers of their Lord and Savior and the church will begin the process of turning outward to a world that desperately needs Christ. shalom