Proper Focus
By JOE SIXPACK
A Jesuit, a Dominican, and a Franciscan were walking along an old road, debating the greatness of their orders. Suddenly, an apparition of the Holy Family appeared in front of them, with Jesus in a manger and Mary and Joseph praying over Him. The Franciscan fell on his face, overcome with awe at the sight of God born in such poverty. The Dominican fell to his knees, adoring the beautiful reflection of the Trinity and the Holy Family. The Jesuit walked up to Joseph, put his arm around his shoulder, and said, “So, have you thought about where to send him to school?”
You have to admit this is funny…and the Jesuit offers a stereotypical Jesuit reaction to the apparition. But I chose to lead with this joke to make a point about proper focus.
Some of the priests from our deanery formed a committee made up of lay members from each of their parishes. Their mandate is to focus on and make plans to be implemented for local evangelization and our Catholic schools, because the deanery priests realize we’re moving into an ever-changing social landscape where the “old ways” no longer work. While I most certainly agree with this committee formation in concept, I’m equally convinced the end result will be failure. (I pray I’m wrong!)
Human nature being as predictable as it is, I’m anticipating this committee to focus on all the wrong things. The laity who make up the committee, I predict, will focus on these questions: “How do we gain more students in our schools?” “How do we raise money to keep the schools open without raising tuition?” “How do we get lapsed Catholics to begin attending Mass again so we can increase collections?” “How do we motivate our parishioners to get people attending Mass again and at the same time enroll their kids in our schools?”
Yeah, the focus will overwhelmingly be on Catholic schools rather than on evangelization. And be sure that their idea of evangelization is somehow getting people back at Mass so collections will increase for the support of the parishes. It’s important to note that the emphasis and discussion will be on money, tuition, and enrollment…as it always seems to be. I’m not saying the priests of the deanery would want this to be the focus of the laity they appointed. I only know two of the priests, and I can state definitively that neither of them would promote such thinking, so presumably the others wouldn’t either.
Look, I’m a convert, and I’ve been in evangelization for 30-plus years. I understand from my experiences in helping hundreds of souls into the Church that focusing on the temporal isn’t what grabs people. The only thing that will grab people is preaching and teaching Jesus, and Jesus alone!
Seventy years ago, there wasn’t a parish in America facing financial trouble, much less the insolvency we see so often today. But back then, Catholics knew and understood their faith. I’ve lived in this diocese eight years now, and I can count on one hand the number of people who could tell me how many sacraments there are, much less name them. I’ve had lifelong Mass attendees tell me they didn’t know it was a sin to get drunk, masturbate, or use artificial contraception. Why? They never were taught the faith! It’s not just my diocese that’s infected; it’s that way everywhere I’ve ever been. And the blame game for who’s responsible for that is superfluous, as the damage is done and we’re left now to pick up the pieces.
The above-mentioned committee can only be successful if the members come up with the means to educate the laity and make certain that Catholic school teachers are teaching the faith to our young — wholly orthodox and completely. Then they can easily achieve the goals I predict they’ll focus on. An informed laity is a vibrant laity, on fire for Christ.
I know it will pain you to admit it, but what I’ve described here is also a malady in your diocese. Oh, sure, there’s the occasional parish full of fired-up Catholics who know and understand the faith, but chances are you’re not in one. You’re reading this, in fact, because want a deeper knowledge and understanding of the faith. After all, you can’t live what you don’t know!
I want you to do something right now for yourself and Jesus. I want you to ask yourself three questions: 1. How many sacraments are there? 2. What are they called? 3. What is the purpose of each one? If you can’t answer all three questions off the top of your head, I want you to do something else for yourself and Jesus.
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