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{"id":2612,"date":"2012-05-04T17:37:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T17:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/05\/why.html"},"modified":"2012-05-04T17:37:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T17:37:00","slug":"why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/05\/why.html","title":{"rendered":"Why?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So in this case<\/a>, we see that approximately one fifth of American Catholics are not tied to a parish.\u00a0 What does that even mean?\u00a0 Well, that would be like those Protestants and Evangelicals who consider\u00a0themselves Christian, but don\u2019t attend church.\u00a0 The difference is, I never knew the numbers of any denomination I was affiliated with to be that high.<\/p>\n

Of course there is a cultural difference.\u00a0 The Catholic Church does treat things differently and approach things differently than other Christian traditions.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not just this either.\u00a0 Time and time again, you see this or that study out that Catholics don\u2019t believe basic Catholic teachings, ignore teachings on crucial issues (abortion\/contraception), or don\u2019t know what their own faith teaches far beyond what those in other religions and traditions kinow about theirs.\u00a0 Why? <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But here\u2019s my thought. Because 1000 years ago, when the Christian world was confined to a single civilization, and that civilization, while not\u00a0entirely based upon Christian teachings, was nonetheless heavily influenced and centered around Christian teachings, the Church could administer the sacraments, teach those who wanted to be taught, and leave it there.\u00a0 Without tryinig, Catholicism was more or less in the air that Catholic breathed.\u00a0 For the next ten centuries, the Catholic Church didn\u2019t appear to do much to change that dynamic.<\/p>\n

Even in this century, we all know that Catholics were told that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Faith.\u00a0 We Catholics are a Sacramental people.\u00a0 It\u2019s the Sacraments, stupid.\u00a0 OK.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 The Sacraments are those all important pit stops in our spiritual pilgrimage, the sources of energy and power that we have to keep going in our quest for eternal life. <\/p>\n

The problem is, the Indianapolis 500 is not all about pit stops.\u00a0 I mean, drivers don\u2019t get there and then go from pit stop to pit stop.\u00a0 Nor do they go to a pit stop once in a while and then leave for home.\u00a0 The pit stop is essential for racing, but it\u2019s ultimately about the race, not the pit stop.\u00a0 The pit stops are there to serve the greater goal of winning the prize.\u00a0 And many things outside the pit stop, including practicing, the right car, the right crew, the training and knowledge of the crew, the funding, all go into a successful racing career.\u00a0 Oh, without the pit stops, you wouldn\u2019t win races.\u00a0 They are life itself.\u00a0 But nobody in their right mind thinks that the Indy or any other race is just about the pit stops.<\/p>\n

And yet, get down to it, and the Catholic Church continues to take this \u2018we\u2019re just here for the sacraments\u2019 approach in a culture increasingly open about its hostility toward the Faith.\u00a0 A non-Christian culture.\u00a0 A civilization where, outside of the Catholic Church, where exactly are the faithful going to get anything BUT the Sacraments if the Catholic Church isn\u2019t providing it?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The good news is that the Church is coming around, and\u00a0seeing the need to cultivate an inner fellowship, an essential kerygma<\/em> but also an absolutely crucial didache<\/em>.\u00a0 Evangelism and teaching.\u00a0 Our culture isn\u2019t going to advise people to check out the Church.\u00a0 And nothing in it is going to encourage people to live that Catholic life.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

So while the good news is that the Church appears to be learning that you can\u2019t take the Medieval European model for Catholic living and apply it to a post-Christian, secular hedonistic civilization, the change is, as can be expected, painfully slow.\u00a0 And as that giant ship lurches its way in a half circle to get to where it needs to be, no small number of Catholics are slipping through the cracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"