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<\/a><\/div>\nThe Catholic blogosphere, like any part of that segment of modern reality, should not be the only place where people go to grow in their faith. \u00a0Mostly fueled by amateur apologists, it is a hotbed for all the things that make the Internet generation flawed at best. \u00a0So why have I spent so much of my time there?<\/p>\n
Well, you have to understand Catholicism. \u00a0Even Catholics \u2013 yes, even those apologists defending the Church \u2013 admit that fellowship and outreach are not the strong suits of Catholic living. \u00a0Koinonia\u00a0<\/i>is the Greek word for fellowship. \u00a0Some Protestant churches used to suffer from what we coined Koinonitis<\/i>. \u00a0That is, we have all the people we want, we want no more.<\/p>\n
Catholics seem to have this in spades. \u00a0Because many parishes are, in fact, monstrous churches with thousands of families, you imagine it won\u2019t be that way. \u00a0Most Protestant churches that suffered from this were usually smaller congregations. \u00a0So you imagine that in Catholic parishes with thousands, there would be no problem finding groups to fit in. \u00a0And you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n
After ten years, we have yet to fit in. \u00a0Hired by a Catholic lay ministry, involved in RCIA and other educational endeavors, kids in youth groups, public speaking, you\u2019d think we\u2019d have found that magic group to rub shoulders with. \u00a0And again, you\u2019d be wrong. <\/p>\n
Not that nobody has been open to us. \u00a0We\u2019ve met very friendly people. \u00a0Helpful people. \u00a0People who would stop and chat for a few. \u00a0Even invited to a couple houses. \u00a0But it\u2019s been like being friends at work. \u00a0You know how if you\u2019re working with someone you can get to be friends over time? \u00a0But then if you transfer to another position or task, and aren\u2019t around that person, it sort of fades. \u00a0And if you see them six months later, you have to start from scratch.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been this. \u00a0Priests have so many people to shepherd, they don\u2019t have time for constant discipleship and instruction. \u00a0And attempts to fit into other groups have often resulted in us sitting by ourselves listening to those who know each other chitchat. \u00a0No matter how many times over ten years we\u2019ve tried to fit in, at the end of the day, we still feel like outsiders.<\/p>\n
Some of it is our parish. \u00a0A parish with no small set of issues. Mostly liberal, it\u2019s fought the recent influx of some fairly conservative Protestant converts. \u00a0But beyond that, it\u2019s been the way in most cases we\u2019ve encountered. Those who have made us feel the most welcome are grey haired well past the point of retirement. \u00a0In many cases, because they still see value in a Protestant clergy convert. \u00a0Younger Catholics, however, don\u2019t seem to. \u00a0And those in our age group, as well as that of our kids, have felt no compunction in letting us know we\u2019d best get used to sitting by ourselves at the annual picnic. <\/p>\n
Even joining the Knights of Columbus didn\u2019t help. \u00a0And I typically found myself trying to get into the conversations, but ending up standing along the wall, listening to those who know each other carry the conservation. <\/p>\n
Hence, in order to find some fellowship, some avenue of interaction, I\u2019ve been consigned to the dreaded Blogosphere. \u00a0A place not for the weak hearted. \u00a0At best you can get some who are willing to engage in questions or disagreements on a mature level before being called a hater of the Church or Jesus. \u00a0At worst, it comes right out of the gate with accusations of being stupid, evil, not caring about dead kids, Jesus, God, or whatever. \u00a0And then it goes down from there. \u00a0That not including the obvious blindness to sin, evil, wrong, and other things that a new convert shouldn\u2019t be able to recognize as easily as they make it able to be recognized.<\/p>\n
Now I would gladly have gone anywhere else for my formation. \u00a0But Catholics are, even now, notoriously sketchy with adult education. \u00a0Some parishes have done better. \u00a0Others still struggle. \u00a0But even then, formation is only so effective without the added lair of fellowship. \u00a0And that is where a major lack has created a major void. \u00a0Leaving Catholics who would seek to grow to turn to the modern equivalent of an English boarding school, where cold and heartless brutality and stunning self righteousness substitutes for actual Christian guidance. \u00a0That can only cause problems, unless the new believer is wanting some group that he or she can join in which we thank God for not making us like those loser Catholics over there.<\/p>\n
Just thought I\u2019d throw that out. \u00a0For all that Protestants might lack, they seem to have what the Church could use. \u00a0They understand the importance of instruction and fellowship, not as two different issues worth tackling, but as a single whole needed to help new believers grow from milk to meat in their faith diets. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Catholic blogosphere, like any part of that segment of modern reality, should not be the only place where people go to grow in their faith. \u00a0Mostly fueled by amateur apologists, it is a hotbed for all the things that make the Internet generation flawed at best. \u00a0So why have I spent so much of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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