A couple weeks ago I discussed the
situation here in the Hartford Archdiocese and in my local parish. In a
nutshell, we are struggling. Mass attendance has plummeted in recent decades,
and as a result, donations also have plummeted. Which means many parishes and
other Catholic operations are in real danger of shutting down.
Because the situation is so dire, I
said our only response is to rejoice. And not surprisingly, I received a fair
amount of feedback, asking whether I’ve lost my mind, or started drinking
again, or both.
Well, I’m still sober, thank God, and
regarding the whereabouts of my mind, that’s always up for debate. But the
reason I said we must rejoice is because the Catholic Church is the only
institution on earth that has been given a divine guarantee of success. (A
guarantee, by the way, which has never been given to the United States of
America. With the national debt approaching $20 trillion and the populace becoming
more and more self-centered, irresponsible, and violent, how long do you really
think this nation can survive? Just sayin’.)
When Jesus founded the Church 2,000
years ago, He specifically said “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against
it.” This means the Church cannot fail; it cannot collapse; it cannot and will
not disappear from the face of the earth. Jesus promised that He will never let
that happen.
So, I said this fact should give us
confidence and help us to stay optimistic even when Mass attendance and parish
finances are gloomy. However, if I gave the impression that everything is peachy
keen and there’s no pain and heartache as a result of the current situation in
the Church, then I apologize. I was in no way trying to say we can dismiss our
problems as trivial, and simply sit back complacently and wait for Mass
attendance to swell right before our eyes.
The fact of the matter is: there is
plenty of pain and heartache as a result of our current situation. Much of the
heartache comes when historic parishes flounder financially and then finally
shut their doors for good. It’s no fun when the church built by your
great-grandfather’s generation—the place where all your loved ones over the
years have been married and buried—is shut down, sold off, and turned into,
say, a community rec center owned by the city.
The real pain and heartache, though,
is not financial; it’s spiritual. On any given weekend here in the Hartford
Archdiocese, Mass attendance is 250,000 people FEWER than in 1967. This is a
quarter-million people who have drifted away from Jesus’ Church. This is a
quarter-million people who no longer receive Christ in the Eucharist. This is a
quarter-million precious souls whose eternal fate is now in jeopardy.
After all, why does the Catholic
Church even exist? That’s simple: to make saints and get souls into Heaven for
all eternity. Those who decide they’ll somehow make it to Heaven while ignoring
Jesus’ Church and the grace-giving sacraments He instituted, are taking a big
gamble, a gamble with eternal consequences.
So yes, even though Jesus promised
that the Church will be victorious, He never said there would be no casualties.
The current situation is indeed grim. To be blunt about it, the present state
of affairs in our Church is causing countless precious souls to end up in Hell.
This fact is quite sobering.
Despite all this, we still can and
should rejoice. First, we should rejoice because the Lord promised that His
Church ultimately will flourish, and that’s very comforting knowledge. Second,
we should rejoice because confidence and optimism are traits that will attract
people to the Church once again. I mean, who wants to return to a place where
the parishioners are a bunch of hand-wringing sad-sacks?
We can rejoice—while at the same time knowing
that victory will be won only after a long and grueling struggle.
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