Any good catholic communites in the USA?

[EasterJoy]

here is a good song:

youtube.com/results?search_query=property+of+jesus+bob+dylan

ever since I got born again as a catholic, I became fond of this song:thumbsup:

“Born again” as a Catholic? What do you mean?

I’m not sure what you’re getting at by “good Catholic community,” but I suspect you might be interested in becoming a third-order Dominican or Franciscan or a Benedictine oblate, something of that nature. It is definitely deeper in the extraparochial community sense than merely finding a group within a parish that goes to Mass every day:
oblatespring.com/oblatespring0605thirdorders.htm

When it comes to going to Mass every day and being very involved in the parish, including in liturgy, Bible study, and the like, most parishes have an informal group or maybe several informal groups like that, depending on the parish. It’s pretty much the people that keep the parishes running, to be blunt. There are parishes in which the fraction of “very involved” parishioners is higher, but those five or ten percent of parishioners probably do 95% of the volunteer work in a typical parish. If they’re not there, the parish is on its last legs.

 

[MikeWest]

I checked out Nazareth Farm, Jerusalem Farm & Bethlehem Farm;
those are not “catholic communities” as regards everyone living
in the same neighborhood.
They’re sister “social justice” groups that
don’t dwell together.

That’s fine if you want to live in a neighborhood “anywhere”
and just meet with your “community” members a dozen or
so times per year.

They are a lot like joining Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Version.
People get together at the Farms to have retreats and do
good stuff.

But it seems nobody actually lives there except maybe a
few students taking a year off from college.

Rather, the ppl who “belong” live where ever they want
and commute a few times per week or month to
involve themselves with the “Farm”.

For instance, one Farm has a eleven persons on the
Board of Directors. Not one of them actually lives at
the Farm.

So far, Ave Maria is still the only
catholic community where the members dwell together.

The Little Portion in Arkansas is John Michael Talbot’s group.
I am very familiar with them & have great respect for
them but I don’t feel they would ever want to
open themselves up to families like mine.

Unless I can find something better, I’ll go with Ave Maria.

One guy dissed Ave Maria bec they had the nerve to have “condominiums”.

However, most homes are single family residences.

The condos are generally designed to be occupied by renting students at the University there.
They are packed into them like sardines to save on college “room & board” costs.

If I have mis-read some of these communities, plz let me know. Unless you live
in Arkansas.

 

[EasterJoy]

I checked out Nazareth Farm, Jerusalem Farm & Bethlehem Farm;
those are not “catholic communities” as regards everyone living
in the same neighborhood.
They’re sister “social justice” groups that
don’t dwell together.

That’s fine if you want to live in a neighborhood “anywhere”
and just meet with your “community” members a dozen or
so times per year.

They are a lot like joining Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Version.
People get together at the Farms to have retreats and do
good stuff.

But it seems nobody actually lives there except maybe a
few students taking a year off from college.

Rather, the ppl who “belong” live where ever they want
and commute a few times per week or month to
involve themselves with the “Farm”.

For instance, one Farm has a eleven persons on the
Board of Directors. Not one of them actually lives at
the Farm.

So far, Ave Maria is still the only
catholic community where the members dwell together.

The Little Portion in Arkansas is John Michael Talbot’s group.
I am very familiar with them & have great respect for
them but I don’t feel they would ever want to
open themselves up to families like mine.

Unless I can find something better, I’ll go with Ave Maria.

One guy dissed Ave Maria bec they had the nerve to have “condominiums”.

However, most homes are single family residences.

The condos are generally designed to be occupied by renting students at the University there.
They are packed into them like sardines to save on college “room & board” costs.

If I have mis-read some of these communities, plz let me know. Unless you live
in Arkansas.

I thought I’d heard Ave Maria was more under the authority of founder Tom Monaghan than under the authority of the local bishop.

But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that you would all run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the manifested will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds of the earth, are so by the will of Jesus Christ… Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.
—St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, Ch 3,5

I would make independent inquiries concerning the relationship between Ave Maria and the local bishop, not to mention looking into whether the residents of Ave Maria have self-governance yet. If Tom Monaghan is in fact the quasi-bishop of Ave Maria, that would be a non-starter for me, but I’m not sure what the situation is.

 

[nodito]

I would make independent inquiries concerning the relationship between Ave Maria and the local bishop, not to mention looking into whether the residents of Ave Maria have self-governance yet. If Tom Monaghan is in fact the quasi-bishop of Ave Maria, that would be a non-starter for me, but I’m not sure what the situation is.

Ave Maria is just a regular Florida town. It welcomes Catholics and non-Catholics. Tom Monaghan donated the money for the oratory, which just recently (like within the last few months I think) became a parish in the Diocese of Venice, under direction of their bishop. But even before that when they were a quasi-parish they had the blessing of the bishop and were not doing anything untoward, as far as I could tell.

 

[EasterJoy]

Ave Maria is just a regular Florida town. It welcomes Catholics and non-Catholics. Tom Monaghan donated the money for the oratory, which just recently (like within the last few months I think) became a parish in the Diocese of Venice, under direction of their bishop. But even before that when they were a quasi-parish they had the blessing of the bishop and were not doing anything untoward, as far as I could tell.

Oh, so they have an elected mayor and a typical city government, now? I hadn’t heard that.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

If you are visualizing a Catholics-only community, that may be something that does not exist in the US outside of a monastery setting. US law forbids religious discrimination in real estate sales and rentals. The Ave Maria development in Florida has never been Catholics only, despite incorrect reports to the contrary. I think that it is very interesting as a planned community around a new Catholic college. Compare it to the old European plan with the big church at the center of town.

Any parish that has daily Mass will have a group of regular Mass attenders. Some Catholics are more comfortable living in an area with a larger Catholic population. However, there will always be varying levels of participation. We should look at our non-Catholic friends and neighbors, not as enemies or threats, but as opportunities for evangelization. There are many people in the US today who have never heard the Gospel, have never been to a Church service, aside from a funeral or wedding.

 

[nodito]

Oh, so they have an elected mayor and a typical city government, now? I hadn’t heard that.

I’m not sure what their form of government is. It would surprise me if they have a mayor because the town it’s not that big yet. Outside the school year it can feel practically empty. I just don’t see Tom Monaghan as running the show.

 

[EasterJoy]

I’m not sure what their form of government is. It would surprise me if they have a mayor because the town it’s not that big yet. Outside the school year it can feel practically empty. I just don’t see Tom Monaghan as running the show.

I thought he was both chancellor of the university and the major landowner in the community district, though, right? Has he given up those roles?

Since the community district gives votes in the election of the Board of Supervisors based on acres owned–“Each Landowner shall be entitled to cast one vote for each acre, or any fraction thereof, of land owned by him or her in the District, for each open position on the Board”–it is hard to see how he is not, well, “running the show.” Maybe he is nice about it, maybe he’s very responsible about it, but if, for instance, he were to sell his entire share or die tomorrow and pass it all to his heirs, the control of that community would be handed on to whomever wound up owning the place.

This little place is not like the others, that’s all I’m saying. Mr. Monaghan did not appear to have set things up with an idea that he’d hand off control to the community once it was up and running, at least not until he decided to do so. He seems to have given himself the option to retain control of it for the rest of his life, if he is so inclined.

That means anyone moving there needs to take stock not just of how the local bishop runs the diocese, but of how Mr. Monaghan has decided to run Ave Maria. That doesn’t mean no one ought to move there. It is something anyone wanting to move there ought to be aware of.

 

[phil19034]

Oh, so they have an elected mayor and a typical city government, now? I hadn’t heard that.

No, they are not an incorporated town. They do not have a government. They have homeowners associations and a business association, but no government.

Mr. Monaghan direct influence is now limited to the university only. Some of the original rules (like outlawing the sale of birth control) were shot down.

Honestly, there are only three reasons that would potentially keep me from moving to Ave Maria, none of which are against Ave Maria directly

1. Mosquitos
2. Hurricanes
3. lack of jobs in my industry

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Maria%2C_Florida

The County Sheriff’s department has opened a “work station” in Ave Maria and the local fire department has opened a substation in Ave Maria.

avemaria.com/

 

[MikeWest]

Wichita, KS is a very strong Catholic community. We have perpetual adoration at almost every parish in Wichita. As a stewardship diocese, Catholic stewardship is offered to every family who commits to tithe of time, talent and treasure. Some of the mothers in my parish take there young children with them to daily mass. We have 52 seminarians along with a handful of young people joining religious life. Our Catholic community is growing and, unlike some areas, reaches across the entire city.

Joshua: this sounds very promising; I’m just curious:
how did Wichita get so many seminarians?

what parish are you in?

is there a particular parish that is a real “on fire type” of parish
(I remember in the 70s there were some real “powerful” parishes
that stood out from others

Perhaps if I moved into that parish, it would be helpful;

a prime reason I want to move is because things are fairly dead
where I am;

My wife and I have an adult child who is quadriplegic. Something like
Ave Maria would be good to keep us spiritually strengthened.

We don’t want care for our daughter. We do the care.
My wife has letters in medicine.
We just want a lay catholic community that is like
Ave Maria, where you can walk down the street
saying the rosary en masse and nobody thinks
its unusual.

But if we can find a parish some place else, that might work
also.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Northern Virginia has many devout Catholics, but it’s also very expensive.

I’ve lived all over (military) and I’m currently in Arlington, VA. This is my favorite diocese of all the ones I’ve encountered so far. Conservative, but not insanely over the top conservative.

Northern Virginia is great, both in terms of a strong, active diocese and a vibrant economy. However, as you say, it also has a very high cost of living, and it can be very congested. A decent house in an okay neighborhood in the DC area is probably 750k at least.

 

[phil19034]

I’ve lived all over (military) and I’m currently in Arlington, VA. This is my favorite diocese of all the ones I’ve encountered so far. Conservative, but not insanely over the top conservative.

Northern Virginia is great, both in terms of a strong, active diocese and a vibrant economy. However, as you say, it also has a very high cost of living, and it can be very congested. A decent house in an okay neighborhood in the DC area is probably 750k at least.

Housing prices go down, closer to Front Royal, correct? What are prices like along the VRE train line, in places like Prince William County; Broad Run, VA; Stafford, VA; Falmouth, VA; Fredericksburg, VA?

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

Housing prices go down, closer to Front Royal, correct? What are prices like along the VRE train line, in places like Prince William County; Broad Run, VA; Stafford, VA; Falmouth, VA; Fredericksburg, VA?

Correct. Although they’re still high relative to most of the country, they’re low-ish for the DC area.

The problem for most people is that most of the jobs are in DC or immediately outlying areas of Virginia and Maryland. So if you buy a house in Fredericksburg but work in DC, you’re going to have an absolutely miserable commute.

 

[Cassandra_Lyn]

Good thread… I am going to be done with school at the end of the year and want to move somewhere with a strong Catholic community, but that is not urban.