The Catholic Springtime?

Okay, it might be time to say it. I have been resisting writing about this, because it seemed too soon, but the Holy Spirit likes to haul me out of bed at strange hours and make me write stuff, and such is the case, this time – or it was, when I started this in the wee small hours.

My own judgement says, don’t do it just now.

And yet, here I am, writing it.

The thing is, something is happening.

My email box is running high with these sorts of messages:

“I have never been religious or a Christian and yet I realize now that I do believe, and I want to believe more.”

“I was leaning toward Catholicism and the funeral has pushed me to take some action on it.”

“The pope’s funeral sent me back to Mass for the first time in 15 years.”

“Can you point me toward some Catholic sources?”

“Something has changed inside me. His funeral and the days before it, made me pay attention to him for the first time, really, and his faith made me want what he had.”

“I have had a deep mistrust of organized religion, (but) the death of John Paul II has affected me deeply. The message of the Lord that JP2 communicated so well, ‘Be Not Afraid’ has resonated within my soul and my being more deeply this last week than I can say in words… I want to feel this connection to God and renew it again and again. I do not believe the Lord cares which path we take to Him only that we follow that path and strive with all our hearts and actions to be true to Him. I believe that John Paul II would be happy knowing that his example helped bring me closer to God.”

“Can you point me to some sites where I can get a little information on the basics of the Catholic faith?”

Buster works in our rectory, answering phones and scheduling funerals and such. He reports that he’s fielded perhaps 20 calls this week, from people inquiring about “coming back to church,” and perhaps 8 or 9 calls asking about RCIA (classes for people thinking about entering the church).

My little brother Thom said that his parish is reporting the same.

Something is happening. A friend of mine, a devout Baptist who nevertheless has a longstanding relationship with Mary and who regards the Catholic church as the “taproot” of Christianity feels it.

It is as though something has shifted. You could almost feel it happening in the weeks leading up to the death of John Paul the Great, when first the Iraq elections went off with success, then Sr. Lucia – the visionary of Fatima died, then Terri Schiavo’s situation came to the attention of the world, and then JPII died, and we saw that staggering influx of humanity, getting off of planes and trains and dragging their luggage with them, sleeping in streets, to simply BE in Rome, together at a particular moment. To gather together near Nero’s obelisk, surrounded by the magnificent art of the Christian era, an era almost considered “quaint” these days, especially in Europe.

800,000 people, with more across the river, gathering there. 800,000 people, praying together, in dead old Latin, the formerly “universal” language, and in every other language. In Greek, in Polish, in Italian, in German, in Mandarin, in Spanish, in French – they all prayed in their own language, in worship and praise of the Creator, and in thanksgiving for the life of one of his creatures.

And then, in what the Creature John Paul had named The Year of the Eucharist, the whole world saw these hundreds of thousands receive Communion, the Holy Eucharist, live and in public. The whole world peered in and saw faces closed in prayer, and for a while it felt like the entire world was STEEPED in holiness, surrounded by prayer.

It is all significant. And yes, something shifted. For many, it was a palpable shift.

And the whole world saw it.

The press is telling us that the Catholic Church is in dire straights, that the pews are empty (look full to me) and the seminaries and convents are, too. They don’t mention that worldwide there are more seminarians today than there were in 1961. They don’t write about this simple fact: Where orthodoxy is embraced, there are no shortages of vocations.

The late Cardinal John O’ Connor was just figuring this out, shortly before his death, and he gave the okay to several new orders of nuns and priests and their numbers are thriving, as well.

I’m sure Cardinal Mahoney in LA has an empty seminary, but Archbishop Chaput does not. Nor does Bishop Rigali, nor Burke.

The Legionaries of Christ are burgeoning. So are the Fathers of Mercy: Fathers of Mercy, and the women’s orders are expanding like mad, but NOT the old, tired, 1960’s activist orders; these are newer orders, more orthodox, more committed to prayer and service and tradition. These Dominicans can’t seem to build motherhouse extensions fast enough, and the Carmelites, both active and contemplative are seeing a resurgence.

Even the abbeys and priories are coming back from what everyone thought – 20 years ago – was the end of monastic life. This is a particularly beautiful site.

For Catholics who wondered 20 years ago if we would still be a Eucharistic church by now, this is all very heartening. I think had any man but Wojtyla been pope in these last decades, things would be very, very different for us. And, of course, for the whole world, for very different reasons.

But, you look at these sites, and you see it in the joyful faces of the young. Something had already been put in motion, and it does seem like…something has happened. A shift. I pray it’s true.