Let’s keep it local. Keep our local parishes strong. Preach the Word, mean The Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, and celebrate the Sacraments by reading the black, doing the red and with flair and most of all faith and devotion.
Provide opportunities for popular devotions, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and personal prayer in an open church.
Provide opportunities for Christian Service especially ecumenical ones, various apostolates and teach the pristine Catholic Faith.
Help families to be congregational too, by being the Church in miniature as it concerns all I write above.
Finally I found this comment on another blog. What do you think:
If I could go back in time, to the day after Vatican II and I could tweak the church on one item and it would not be theology, celibacy or birth control. I would give people in parishes the option to buy back the deed to their local church, school etc. That so much of the anger with the church these past five or more decades has more to the secular accounting, global spreadsheet, philosophy/religion, founded at Wharton, Brown and Harvard.
That to see the parishes of my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles become obsolete and turned into 7/11s in Philly or upstate Pennsylvania is the real reason so much anger is out there or at least from my point of view. My grandparents sweated blood and gave everything to help found a church and now 90 years later, the deed is in some cleric's hands who is selling it for the price of the land and not the buildings on it, goes to your point about democracy.
Constantine did not make every Christian a shareholder in the local basilica. He gave it, the deed, to the men who could deliver taxes and men into his armies, collected and recruited out of those very same basilicas.
That one tweak I think would have created a better flow of energy, understanding and purpose of the Spirit from that day to this than any other thing.
9 comments:
"That to see the parishes of my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles become obsolete and turned into 7/11s in Philly or upstate Pennsylvania is the real reason so much anger is out there or at least from my point of view."
Well, the author is mad that people moved away. Inner cities emptied for decades as "The Suburbs" became THE places to live.
Many people, mostly white and, from many NE cities, mainly Catholic, were making good money. They could move to the 'Burbs because now they could afford cars. Cars gave the mobility - you didn't have to live near a trolley or bus line. Jobs weren't in inner city industries and factories, but in Office Parks.
Folks wanted to escape inner city decay, so they moved.
And now, Vatican II and the lack of popular devotions are to blame? Of course! If St. Beccabunga still had that Tuesday novena, no one would have left the parish . . .
I don’t think that is what he meant. But those who owned the parish would keep it open even with a small congregation like so many Protestant ones and more than likely would tithe if they had more control over their donations. They could also come up with creative ways to use their buildings with a declining population. Now, bishops determine what parishes are closed the not congregation.
"...more than likely would tithe if they had more control over their donations."
A congregation that built a church that seats 1400 when the neighborhood had 10,000 Catholics in it is not going to be able to tithe enough to keep the doors open and the building repaired when there are 199 Catholics left.
Then the 199 left make the decision to sell it and take their money and go to the suburbs or give it to the poor.
They can also take their stain glass, magnificent altars and any other memorials given by parents, grandparents and others.
Father McDonald,
It’s too bad you don’t strip Anonymous Kavanaugh of his Anonymous status when he is being a triple A horses -ss
yes a parish was closed here 30+ years ago in the Cincinnati diocese program called for the harvest, they got reaped. 1st the parishioners were told what parish they were expected to give to, most quit giving. They were told that the church would be made available for weddings, nope locked, stripped, interior sold. The parishioners asked for the stained glass name plates from the windows, they received them in boxes smashed to pieces. the church was dozed and buried. all that was left was the cemetery. The lot was sold, the buyer put up a memorial to the parish, diocese complained, the new owner told them to bugger off. To say the least there was hard feelings
On a similar note our local Knights of St John built a hall back in the 1970's, nice place, they financed it by forming a "home corporation", the grand commandery has tried for decades to get them to deed it over, What will you do if you ever disband" "you need to be protected". they have it in their bylaws that if they ever disband the final members get to split the proceeds and do as they want with it. It is all about money
I could go on and on
No one has any claim whatsoever to the stained glass, altars, memorial gifts, or any other accoutrements they or their parents or grandparents or great-grandparents have given to a parish church. None.
Dear Anon
and you know what, the church does NOT have right to my wallet, the day of pray pay and obey are just about DONE. All the sacrifice my fore bearers did for the church is now used to supply hush money for the corrupt, to pay off debts caused by what, lawsuits!!!! caused by corrupt leaders
The church administration does not have the right to use the sacrifice of my family for their gain.
There was a time when priests and bishops were unquestioned, they were the princes of the church, well the princes have squandered that reputation, My sainted old German grandma would not allow any questioning of what the priest said, no matter how stupid or asinine. And I have known my share of lying greedy priests, lie through their teeth and publicly condemn you if you raised a question. NO MORE, I will tolerate a priest doing his job but beware if he strays, he will think he hit a s--t storm.
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