where is it<\/a>?\u00a0 As is well known, without immigration, the Catholic Church in America would be losing members like a sinking ship.\u00a0\u00a0 Ex-Catholics have been called the single largest denomination in America.\u00a0 If we\u2019ve had 30 years of emphasizing evangelization, where are the results?\u00a0 Why aren\u2019t we seeing them in our own back yards?\u00a0 <\/p>\nWell, I\u2019m not an expert.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have degrees from Catholic universities.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have access to the highest offices in the Church.\u00a0 But I do hail from a denomination that, for all its flaws and warts, was known for its emphasis on missions, evangelization, and church growth.\u00a0 For better or worse, doing evangelism in that denomination was the source and summit of the faith, and it was around evangelization that everything \u2013 church, worship, ministries, pastoral counseling, everything \u2013 was measured.\u00a0 So there are few observations I\u2019d like to make.<\/p>\n
One, evangelization is not just something you say.\u00a0 It\u2019s how you live.\u00a0 It\u2019s how things revolve.\u00a0 Right now, the source and summit of Catholicism is the Eucharist.\u00a0 OK, that\u2019s fine.\u00a0 That brings me and, like a laser beam, focuses\u00a0me on Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s me and Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s Jesus and me.\u00a0 That\u2019s as it should be.\u00a0 But it can\u2019t only be that.\u00a0 Because if the focus is on Jesus and me, and nobody else makes three, then it\u2019s highly unlikely I will develop an actual passion for anything but a faith that revolves around Jesus and me.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
And that is a major, major, major issue I see in Catholicism.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t spelled out.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t an official doctrine.\u00a0 But somehow, in some way, many Catholics I see or listen to (or more often, read on the Internet), have developed an approach to the faith that says the single most important thing in the universe is me, getting to heaven.\u00a0 That\u2019s it.\u00a0 Everything else, and I mean every thing else, comes dead last.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
This manifests itself in some strange discussion in the Catholic blogosphere.\u00a0 Even when Catholics are standing on the teachings of the Church, one can\u2019t help but get a whiff of something wrong in the mix.\u00a0 There\u2019s a sort of \u2018I don\u2019t care what happens, as long as I get to heaven.\u2019\u00a0 Nothing is more important than me being saved, and since the Church calls for nothing less than perfection, and any one of a number of mortal sins can derail that journey, it\u2019s not hard to see the logical outcome of such an approach to one\u2019s faith: I\u2019d rather do nothing, than take the chance on doing something wrong.\u00a0 Or, I may simply not develop a faith that puts much emphasis on others, at least on other beings\u2019 physical, worldly needs. <\/p>\n
Think this is far fetched?\u00a0 Just consider some conversations I\u2019ve had with folks in my eight years of Catholic livun\u2019.\u00a0 Some years ago, an argument broke out over the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan.\u00a0 Now, officially, the Church leadership condemns those.\u00a0 Fair enough.\u00a0 This falls under \u2018don\u2019t kill innocent civilians, even in war.\u2019\u00a0 And yet, watching the debate, I couldn\u2019t help but notice something.\u00a0 There is this trend in Catholic debate that puts much emphasis on \u2018doing\u2019 something that is an intrinsic evil.\u00a0 That is, if it\u2019s sinful, wrong, evil, you can\u2019t do it, ever.\u00a0 Now in this debate, you had many wishing to buttress their arguments by the usual \u2018Japan was a country of peace\u2019, \u2018all Japan wanted was to give peace a chance\u2019, \u2018Japan was begging to surrender but we just wanted to nuke babies.\u2019\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Anyone who studies history and is honest about things knows, especially in light of the last 20 years of other Asian countries revealing the horrors of Imperial Japan, that this was not the case, no matter what Japan says.\u00a0 No matter how Japan officially wants us to believe it, there is no suggestion that Japan was all about peace, love, and John Lennon songs in 1945.\u00a0 That still doesn\u2019t make the bombings right, but it does make it more difficult to find an alternative.\u00a0 So in this discussion, I noticed someone bringing back the increasingly likely chance that America would have had to invade to end the war.\u00a0 Hundreds of thousands could have died.\u00a0 Hundreds of thousands of civilians and children as well.\u00a0 After all, the casualty rates on Okinawa, a mere island off the coast of Japan, were horrible.\u00a0 What of that?\u00a0 What of an invasion that could have killed ten times the casualties of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?<\/p>\n
The answers still echo in my mind.\u00a0 You see, they explained, if we had launched an invasion that slaughtered millions, that\u2019s different.\u00a0 That\u2019s not directly causing their deaths.\u00a0 By dropping the bombs, we were directly causing the deaths of those people.\u00a0 That\u2019s the evil.\u00a0 That\u2019s the sin.\u00a0 But an invasion?\u00a0 Well, that doesn\u2019t have to cause those deaths, their deaths may simply be a logical extension of the invasion.\u00a0 They may be the result, but they weren\u2019t directly caused by our actions, merely indirectly caused.\u00a0 We directly caused the deaths of the civilians in Hiroshima.\u00a0 And invasion would not directly cause deaths, therefore we would not be to blame. <\/p>\n
And it\u2019s that idea \u2013 that it\u2019s one thing to indirectly cause the wholesale mass slaughter of innocent civilians, or that it\u2019s one thing to indirectly lead someone to believing a false reality \u2013 that\u2019s the heart of the issue.\u00a0 For if we boil it all down, what we have is a faith that says you\u2019re better off not doing than doing.\u00a0 To do is risk.\u00a0 To do is chance.\u00a0 To indirectly do is better, but I can\u2019t help but notice, hear, and observe that in actual Catholic living, many Catholics seem to have concluded that if it\u2019s safer to indirectly do things, perhaps the safest of all is to do nothing.\u00a0 After all, if indirectly causing mass slaughter is fine, certainly doing nothing at all while mass slaughter occurs is acceptable, possibly even preferred.\u00a0 Hey!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t cause anything in any way.\u00a0 I simply stayed on the bleachers, kept my uniform clean, and rejoiced the the pearly gates yawn before me. <\/p>\n
And that\u2019s something I\u2019ve picked up on.\u00a0 Many Catholics, emphasizing their own salvation to the exclusion of all other considerations, have developed, perhaps without realizing it, a faith focused on themselves getting to heaven.\u00a0 All other priorities rescinded.\u00a0 All other considerations secondary.\u00a0 Heck, there could be any one of a thousand things you do that could jeopardize your soul, but by doing nothing, you\u2019re safe. It\u2019s you, it\u2019s the Eucharist, and that\u2019s just fine by God.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t for a minute believe that a Catholic would spell it out that way.\u00a0 In fact, if a Catholic did, there could be hope.\u00a0 That means they admit it, and you could reason with them why there might be something missing in the whole evangelizing\u00a0equation under such an approach.\u00a0 But I have the fear that many Catholics, without\u00a0realizing it, have that very ethic ingrained within them.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s convenience \u2013 it gets me off the hook of getting my hands dirty in a sinful, fallen world.\u00a0 But as often as not (and this is giving benefit of the doubt here), it\u2019s possibly a foundational approach to living that is as subconscious as anything could be. <\/p>\n
And that could explain why, in the end, Catholics are not that evangelistic by nature, and it will take a whole lot more than saying \u2018New Evangelization\u2019 to change that.\u00a0 It\u2019s the nature, it\u2019s the essence of Catholicism that Catholics just don\u2019t outreach.\u00a0 It\u2019s habit almost.\u00a0Habit born of focusing\u00a0how I can get to heaven, everything comes second.\u00a0When I was working in a publishing company as I we
\nnt through RCIA, I remember one of the managers was obviously Catholic: calenders with nuns, Catholic icons, Catholic prayers all about her desk.\u00a0 One day I thought I would tell her that I was a former Protestant minister, but I was becoming Catholic!\u00a0 Hurray!\u00a0 She just looked at me and, to be honest, I\u2019m not even sure she said anything.\u00a0 Had that been a Methodist, a Lutheran, a Baptist? Why, I\u2019d have at least been acknowledged, if not invited to her church to give a testimony.\u00a0 I don\u2019t feel insulted, however, because it\u2019s as if my entire statement didn\u2019t even register.\u00a0 I found, in bringing this up to other Catholics, the bulk tended to respond the same way.<\/p>\n
Not that there aren\u2019t Catholics who appreciate Protestants, especially former ministers, who become Catholic.\u00a0 But on the other hand, there are those Catholics who would rather see folks stay out of their church.\u00a0 So it evens out.\u00a0 The point is, reaching out, going with the flow of my conversation starter, wasn\u2019t even on the radar screen.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t even part of the whole \u2018being Catholic\u2019 package.<\/p>\n
Sometimes Catholics love, and I mean love, to bring out that famous line attributed to St. Francis: proclaim the Gospel always, and when necessary use words.\u00a0 First of all, it\u2019s doubtful that Francis actually said that.\u00a0 But even if he did, two observations: one, he still allows for the need to use words.\u00a0 And two, why do I have the feeling that most Catholics who drop this little quote weren\u2019t saying \u2018Gee, if only Francis hadn\u2019t said that, I\u2019d be on the street corner now, proclaiming the Gospel for all the hear!\u2019\u00a0 It\u2019s what\u2019s called in most circles of living, a cop-out.\u00a0 It should never be brought up.\u00a0 It merely means, if Francis said it at all, make sure you live the faith. Make sure you are an example.<\/p>\n
Which brings me to another point.\u00a0 I posted on this in one of my earliest posts<\/a> (back when I was young and foolish).\u00a0 Now everyone knows Catholics like to drink the bountiful fruit of the vine and celebrate life.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been to a Catholic wedding, you know that much.\u00a0 And there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.\u00a0 Protestants, many of whom are descended from the Puritans of old, sometimes retain some of the more, shall with say, prudish tendencies of living.\u00a0 A cold beer, a glass of wine, a selective expletive to drive home a point, a nice game of poker among friends \u2013 there should never be the idea that these things are wrong in themselves.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t wish to do them, no problem.\u00a0 But it is nothing that we should point fingers at other Christians for enjoying.<\/p>\nStop.\u00a0 With that said, there\u2019s the issue of moderation, and that\u2019s where Catholics can go overboard.\u00a0 In college, we used to joke that if you wanted to \u2018get lucky\u2019, you should avoid religious girls\u2026but Catholics were just as good.\u00a0 I knew Catholics who could out-cuss, out-drink, out-gamble, and out-debauch the most God-hating atheist.\u00a0 And while Catholics like to point out that they are not \u2013 NOT \u2013 puritans, there is an opposite extreme.\u00a0 Like it or not, most Americans, atheists and secularists included, think that being religious should mean that you don\u2019t appear to live life in the George Carlin fast lane.\u00a0 That sitting in a sanctuary, you shouldn\u2019t hear people talking as if they are reciting a long lost routine from Eddie Murphy.\u00a0 That you shouldn\u2019t go to a party and be able to bet with some confidence that the ones most drunk out of their minds will be at Mass the next day \u2013 if they decide to go at all. <\/p>\n
Hence, we have the issue of the Witness.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll get to that, along with a few other quick observations, on the next post.\u00a0 The importance of \u2018Living\u2019 a life of faith as a crucial aspect of Evangelization.\u00a0 For now, that\u2019s the first thought.\u00a0 A faith that, intentionally or not, leads people to believe that the most important part of existence is me getting to heaven, is going to be a faith where I can\u2019t help but inadvertently end up believing that the most important thing in the universe is me getting to heaven.\u00a0 That inward focus is going to make the outward focus necessary for an evangelistic mindset nigh on impossible.\u00a0 If doing nothing and focusing on my own\u00a0self to the exclusion of anything else combine, then we will end up with a Church of over a billion\u00a0people focused on themselves, and doing\u00a0nothing for fear of losing everything. \u00a0Whether we want to admit it or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Catholic Online asks the million dollar question: after decades of Pope John Paul II\u2019s New Evangelization, where is it?\u00a0 As is well known, without immigration, the Catholic Church in America would be losing members like a sinking ship.\u00a0\u00a0 Ex-Catholics have been called the single largest denomination in America.\u00a0 If we\u2019ve had 30 years of emphasizing […]<\/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-2531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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