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From the Pastor’s Desk, May 18, 2008

On May 4 and May 11, I reprinted portions of the answer the Holy Father gave at a meeting of the American bishops to a certain question. The question concerned the drifting away of many Catholics from Mass and from identifying with the Church. He stated the importance of a faith based not on externals, but on “a way of thinking and acting grounded in the Gospel and enriched by the Church’s living tradition.” Last week I wrote that the Pope had two observations to make. In the first, he emphasized the necessity of speaking about salvation, of “awakening a thirst for the fulfillment which only Christ can bring.” In the second, the first part of which I reprinted last week, Pope Benedict discussed the need to think beyond the things of this world.

This is the final part of the Holy Father’s response:

Second, we need to acknowledge with concern the almost complete eclipse of an eschatological sense [the sense of the “last things:” death, judgment, heaven, hell, purgatory, and the immortality of the soul -JG] in many of our traditionally Christian societies. As you know, I have pointed to this problem in the Encyclical Spe Salvi. Suffice it to say that faith and hope are not limited to this world: as theological virtues, they unite us with the Lord and draw us toward the fulfillment not only of our personal destiny but also that of all creation. Faith and hope are the inspiration and basis of our efforts to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God. In Christianity, there can be no room for purely private religion: Christ is the Savior of the world, and, as members of his Body and sharers in his prophetic, priestly and royal munera [that is, prophetic, priestly, and royal offices – Christ has a threefold office of priest, prophet, and king that is shared by every person who is baptized -JG], we cannot separate our love for him from our commitment to the building up of the Church and the extension of his Kingdom. To the extent that religion becomes a purely private affair, it loses its very soul.
Let me conclude by stating the obvious. The fields are still ripe for harvesting (cf. Jn 4:35); God continues to give the growth (cf. 1 Cor 3:6). We can and must believe, with the late Pope John Paul II, that God is preparing a new springtime for Christianity (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 86). What is needed above all, at this time in the history of the Church in America, is a renewal of that apostolic zeal which inspires her shepherds actively to seek out the lost, to bind up those who have been wounded, and to bring strength to those who are languishing (cf. Ez 34:16). And this, as I have said, calls for new ways of thinking based on a sound diagnosis of today’s challenges and a commitment to unity in the service of the Church’s mission to the present generation.

Doesn’t that just explode your everyday concerns, and help you to realize the importance of the things that have lasting value? The Pope says there has been an “almost complete eclipse” of thought about eternal things, and he is correct. Even our society, which despite the protestations of many who prefer not to think of it was founded on Christian principles, usually overlooks questions of eternal life. Usually people prefer to think about things they can buy or experience now. “Eternal life?” many say, “Who cares!” They have games to play. They have cabins to visit. They have shopping to do. They have lawns to mow. But Christian hope is hope in eternal life. We must all raise our thoughts so that they are not focused solely on the cares of this world. And if we consider heaven, hell, purgatory, death, and judgment, we have to be interested in extending the kingdom of Christ. Then we can see clearly that religion is not a private affair. A strong desire (the Pope calls it “apostolic zeal”) must fill the hearts of bishops to bring people to Christ, and that same desire should fill the hearts of all people, since all baptized people share in Christ’s prophetic, priestly, and royal offices.

From the Pastor’s Desk, May 11, 2008

Last week I reprinted a portion of the answer the Holy Father gave at a meeting of the American bishops to a certain question. The question concerned the drifting away of many Catholics from Mass and from identifying with the Church. He stated the importance of a faith based not on externals, but on “a way of thinking and acting grounded in the Gospel and enriched by the Church’s living tradition.” It seems he believes that in many cases, people have not consciously rejected the faith, but have quietly distanced themselves from the Church because their faith never developed to maturity. We can all agree that if we learned our faith when we were in grade school and then stop learning anything about it, our faith will have stayed at a grade school level. When confronted with the issues of the adult world, that grade-school version of our faith could seem rather ridiculous. Maybe a lot of people had a grade-school version of their faith years ago. They may have kept their faith intact because they lived in a Catholic culture with the guardrails up, as the expression goes. There is no strong Catholic culture to provide protection today. That is why it is necessary for each Catholic to develop his or her faith to maturity through a living connection to the community of the Church. Without that mature faith among the people, the Pope says, “the result can be a quiet apostasy.”

This is the next part of Pope Benedict’s response:

So let me make two brief observations on the problem of “attrition”, which I hope will stimulate further reflection.
First, as you know, it is becoming more and more difficult, in our Western societies, to speak in a meaningful way of “salvation”. Yet salvation – deliverance from the reality of evil, and the gift of new life and freedom in Christ – is at the heart of the Gospel. We need to discover, as I have suggested, new and engaging ways of proclaiming this message and awakening a thirst for the fulfillment which only Christ can bring. It is in the Church’s liturgy, and above all in the sacrament of the Eucharist, that these realities are most powerfully expressed and lived in the life of believers; perhaps we still have much to do in realizing the Council’s vision of the liturgy as the exercise of the common priesthood and the impetus for a fruitful apostolate in the world.

I certainly do try to make salvation a constant theme in my preaching. It must be perfectly clear that we live the Christian life for the purpose of salvation – our salvation and that of everybody else we meet. So I do try to use “new and engaging ways of proclaiming this message and awakening a thirst for the fulfillment which only Christ can bring.” Since we share in a common priesthood of Jesus Christ because of our status as baptized people, after we have worshiped God we must take the Church’s liturgy into our daily lives by offering God a sacrifice of praise. An important way we offer a sacrifice of praise is through apostolate. This is what for many years has mistakenly been referred to as “ministry:” the activity of the Christian to spread the reign of Christ. It might involve making regular visits to nursing homes, bringing groceries to someone who can’t leave home, volunteering as a catechist or teacher at church, or countless other activities.

The final part of the Holy Father’s response begins this way:

Second, we need to acknowledge with concern the almost complete eclipse of an eschatological sense [the sense of the “last things:” death, judgment, heaven, hell, purgatory, and the immortality of the soul] in many of our traditionally Christian societies. As you know, I have pointed to this problem in the Encyclical Spe Salvi. Suffice it to say that faith and hope are not limited to this world: as theological virtues, they unite us with the Lord and draw us toward the fulfillment not only of our personal destiny but also that of all creation.

I will continue with Pope Benedict’s answer next week.