Setting Some Priorities

 

Dear Parishioners,

As a pastor for many years with numerous previous assignments, I have observed how people often have various ideas regarding how a parish should be organized or operate. We certainly can differ in opinion when asking some important questions: What should a parish's priorities be? What activities or programs should we support? Where should we place our time, energy and resources?

Similarly, people can disagree on their expectation of the role of a pastor. We need a pastor who is a holy, spiritual leader . . . a talented administrator . . . a gifted fundraiser . . . a creative, dynamic shepherd . . . a riveting preacher . . . a brilliant teacher . . . etc., etc. Let me remind everyone that although Jesus was indeed the Son of God and the most perfect man who ever lived, even He did not meet certain people's expectations and was nailed to a cross by His dissenters. Any pastor, with his human flaws and weaknesses, will sadly fall short of people's expectations.

People should know that a priest, by his ordination, is meant to offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. I was ordained to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for my people. I am not primarily a counselor, social worker, fundraiser, etc. I am a pastor/priest whose primary roles are to preach and teach, to sanctify (administer the sacraments) and to govern (the parish). These are my priorities here or wherever I may be assigned by the bishop. 

So, I want to spell out as clearly as possible how I envision the situation here at St. Thomas the Apostle, having been pastor for only a couple weeks. You should know what I am thinking.

All parishes must emphasize the need for continual growth. To achieve such, we should see a commitment by parishioners to regular Mass attendance, to adequate financial support, and to volunteering. Without younger families, more children and young adults as well as faithful Mass attendance by all, we could head down a dangerous path with a very uncertain parish future.

Priority One. Pray more. Attend Mass weekly (especially, if you are not currently doing so). Go to confession (the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation) regularly. Be an active part of the parish.

Priority Two. Bring people to Christ. We must evangelize! Invite people to Mass. Ask people if they ever thought about becoming a Catholic. Talk about your faith. Any future parish activities or suggestions first need to ask this question: How is my idea going to bring people to Christ and help to grow our congregation? How am I making new disciples for Christ? In my opinion, this will be time well-spent.     

Priority Three. Seek out our lukewarm or inactive Catholics. There are far too many non-practicing Catholics. We need to counter any utilitarian mentality where people come to the Church only when they need something or find it personally convenient. A sad joke that has circulated church circles for years was that people would seek out the Catholic Church only to be hatched (baptism), matched (marriage) and dispatched (funeral rites). We have often labeled inactive members as Christmas and Easter Catholics. The point behind the labels is that too many Catholics no longer practice their faith regularly. Catholics primarily worship through the Mass. The term "New Evangelization" has been used to indicate the task of bringing back those baptized Catholics who no longer practice their faith. This should be important to us all. Start with any inactive family members.

While the above list is by no means complete, we must start somewhere and this is where I think our collective energy currently needs to be spent.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

The Submarine Catholic and the "New Evangelization"

Dear Parishioners,

Last month I was at a wedding and someone described herself to me as a submarine Catholic.  Not quite sure of what she meant—probably because of the perplexed look on my face—she continued to explain:  “Yeh, I surface at Christmas and Easter.”

While I had to chuckle at the remark, I later thought to myself:  Is this what our Catholic faith has come down to?

Pope Saint John Paul II called for a type of new evangelization in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio.  He spoke of those situations in the Church “where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel.  In this case what is needed is a ‘new evangelization’ or a ‘re-evangelization.’" (#33)

How common it is for baptized Catholic people today to be only loosely connected to their Church or to be alienated from it entirely.   Mass attendance here on any given Saturday/Sunday is less than 25% of the registered Catholics of the parish.  During weddings and funerals, when we often see Catholics re-surface for the particular occasion, I can usually sense when people haven’t been to Mass in a while.  For example, I frequently hear the former response “And also with you” when I greet the people “The Lord be with you.”  The response changed a number of years ago when the new translation of the liturgy was implemented (Advent, 2011).

We continually see Catholic couples cohabitating before marriage, Catholics not properly married in the Church (usually without any required dispensation), pro-choice Catholics, Catholics supportive of gay marriage, Catholics who practice artificial birth control, sparse confessional lines, and the vast majority of Catholics either unknowingly or shamelessly coming up to receive Holy Communion—especially at Christmas and Easter.  Do we need a "new evangelization?"

In addition, according to the Pew Research Center, the number of those “unaffiliated” with a church or religion in the U.S. is up to about 23 percent.  Catholicism is still the largest denomination in America, but the second largest group of people, above and beyond any other Christian or Protestant denomination, is former or ex-Catholics.

Whenever I offer Mass and I repeat the words of consecration—the words that Jesus spoke when He gave us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist—I am reminded of THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT.  Jesus sealed this covenant in His own blood.  The sacrifice was a total self-giving.  Jesus gave everything for us and took our sins upon Himself.  He unquestionably did His part.

I think He deserves more of a commitment from us than perhaps surfacing once or twice a year.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

A Crisis of Faith in a “Year of Faith”

Dear Parishioners,

Pope Benedict XVI declared that a Year of Faith began on October 11, 2012.  It will conclude with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe on November 24, 2013.

Why is this Year of Faith so important for us at this time in history?  Here are a few of my observations:  

• On average, approximately three-fourths of Catholics in our area are not attending Mass weekly.

• The number of Catholics frequenting the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Confession) is sporadic at best—usually concentrated most around the holiday seasons of Christmas and Easter.

• Many young Catholics are following a fad of destination weddings (removed from any association with the Church)—not realizing the need for proper preparation and the sacredness of the marital covenant / sacrament about to be made. This “wedding” frequently follows a period of co-habitation.

• Too often individual Catholics are ignorant of some basic teachings and practices of our faith: the sacraments of the Church, various standard prayers, why we genuflect, why we use holy water, why we say “Amen,” etc.

• The remarks that I’ve heard spoken to me can be quite revealing: “I didn’t know that the Eucharist is really Jesus’ Body and Blood” (and not just some symbolic action). “I didn’t have my children baptized. We were going to let them choose for themselves which religion to believe once they grew older.” “I can confess my sins directly to God; I don’t need to go to a priest.” “Nobody is going to tell me how I can or cannot live my faith. That’s my business.” “The Church is sadly wrong on its teaching on human sexuality.” “My truth doesn’t agree with your truth.” “You mean sex before marriage is a sin!”

• The secular media has done a great job undermining the teachings of the Church. This is often accomplished by accentuating the sins of various priests / bishops—as if to paint all priests / bishops as untrustworthy (or perhaps hypocritical) and all Church teaching as out of touch, irrelevant or, at least, suspect. 

• Various Catholics readily and more boldly dissent from Church teaching (birth control, "pro-choice," gay “marriage,” etc.)

With all of this being said, the heart of the matter is that faith is ultimately about a personal relationship with the Risen Christ.  It is important that we know about our Catholic faith and its teachings, but it is more essential that we first know Jesus in an intimate, loving relationship.  This relationship begins by a prayer life—talking to Jesus daily.  It is fostered by reading about Him in the Sacred Scriptures and by receiving His Body and Blood frequently in the Holy Eucharist.  It grows even deeper by learning about and understanding His Mystical Body, the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have encouraged a “New Evangelization” where Catholics can grow in their faith, witness to it and spread it to others.  There is an emphasis on The Catechism of the Catholic Church as an invaluable tool to better knowing the content of our faith.

Sadly, it seems that each generation of Catholics appears to know less and less about the Catholic faith and its practice.  Even more sad is the number of people who do not know Jesus—or at least live in such a manner that His teaching and His call to conversion go unheeded.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor