Example 1: I have personally watched the percentage of males on the altar decrease exponentially over the course of my lifetime, and I’m not that old. I don’t go to the same church every week so I have an opportunity to regularly observe multiple churches around the area in which I live. Serving mass used to be a church activity which boys could engage in separately from the girls. Not only is this no longer the case but the girls outnumber the boys. If you asked me to estimate the ratio of altar girls to altar boys within the churches that I attend I would estimate it to be about 4 to 1. Why is this an issue? Boys learn to be masculine by learning from men and from interacting with other boys, and they will naturally seek out activities that are exclusively male. It’s one of the ways they develop their masculine identity. When girls enter the picture, most boys will instinctively go in search of another activity that is exclusively masculine. As it relates to altar boys, serving mass is a good way for boys to learn to value and revere the holy sacrifice of the mass. They become actively engaged in that sacrifice. Boys are now being turned off from serving mass. Does anybody care?
Example 2: While protecting the weak is a natural instinct for males, it does need reinforcement and development. “You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training.” That quote is credited to a Greek philosopher named Archilochus and is popular amongst members of our armed forces. How does this relate to masculinity? It is not reasonable to expect a man to be able to defend the weak if he has not developed the physical and mental toughness to effectively do so. This is one reason why my father had me and my brothers trained in boxing and other fighting styles from a fairly young age. In terms of developing physical and mental toughness I cannot think of anything better and I highly recommend at least some training for every boy. When I was in high school, one of the girls in church told my sister that she thought the training that I participated in was “barbaric.” She is not the only one with this attitude, since boys are not allowed to fight in school, not even to defend themselves. This includes Catholic schools. How can we expect to teach boys about chivalry and protecting the weak when they are being told that fighting, under any circumstance, is wrong?
Example 3: About four years ago I was sitting in church with my family, listening to the sermon. The celebrant that day was a Franciscan friar who was actually on EWTN for a while. I can’t remember for sure if it was Mother’s Day, but I do remember that he did nothing but talk about various ways in which women were “oppressed” in various societies throughout history, as if we as men were supposed to feel guilty for all the wrongs, real or otherwise, that our male ancestors had committed against their women. Because of the Blessed Virgin, Catholicism has always taught that women are to be respected and cherished as the heart of the home. When’s the last time you heard a sermon about giving husbands and fathers the proper respect as the heads of the home? Why do we care? The family is the basic building block of Christ’s body, the Church. The family is made up of the father, mother, and the children. Can any unit function effectively when the members do not respect the leader? How can any organization stand when the individual units don’t function properly?
If the Church is indeed universal it should not be overlooking the needs and proper development of either gender, including men.