Concerns with the Catholic Church

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Our parish used to be packed, but like most Churches, attendance has dwindled. When I grew up, we saw FAMILIES. Now when we we see young couples with children, they’re like jewels. Yet we have a priest, and a Deacon who give great homilies. A fellow parishioner told me a young man said to him that the homilies were too long, and he and a few friends weren’t coming back just for that reason. Our Pastor works hard, is bringing in new altar boys, is there for anyone and everyone, young himself, and the parish is active, lots of groups and friendly. I just don’t know what more can be done?
 
To be fair I don’t think it’s a Catholic problem I think it’s that society is very age segregated and it’s naturally reflected in churches.

There have also been so many changes socially and technologically in a relatively short time but I feel many older people still expect young people to be like younger versions of themselves. I’ve also been guilty as a younger person of thinking that most older people won’t have relevant life experience and there is little to learn from them.

Rightly or wrongly elderly churches are often very unappealing to a lone young adult walking in for the first time.
 
I am kind of worried about the lack of education we are getting.
 
Valid question. I am very much a part of the church, that there is so much to be done, which we always lack in somewhere. I don’t have any issue in my place but probably the issue with myself is that I cannot give more because I am lazy sometimes.
 
alexyanthar said:
I was just curious as to what some issues are that you find are happening in the Catholic Church as a whole
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One of my deepest concerns , and I plead guilty on this one , is the extent to which Catholics allow their country , their society , their political ideologies to fashion their religious beliefs .

Rather than their Christian faith being used to mould the society in which they live many let their “religion” be moulded by the values of the society in which they live .

Be it constitutions , political parties , politicians , the media , or just the people they hang around with , many within the Church take on values and opinions which are alien to the Gospel .

Jesus said , “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. "

It is so easy to be blinded by the glitter of society , to see “pearls” within that society , and to sell everything one has , including one’s faith , to buy into the bogus glamour of a culture at odds with the Gospel .

As Cardinal Spell once said , "If the Church adopts the colours of society , you end up with the bland leading the bland . "

I recall being on retreat in the 1960s . The retreat was led by a Lithuanian Jesuit . Lithuania was then a Soviet bloc nation , and this Jesuit priest was a refugee from his homeland . I can still remember some words of his which he repeated many times . He would say , “In the East they are harsh and cruel . In the West they are soft and lewd .”

I imagine that when your enemy is harsh and cruel it is easier to recognise and reject than an enemy which is soft and lewd , insidiously worming its way into the very fibres of one’s being .

The exiled Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn , a forceful critic of the Soviet system , reminded me in some ways of this Lithuanian Jesuit . Solzhenitysn ended up making scathing attacks on western society as morally bankrupt . He termed Soviet-style communism “zero and less than zero,” but went on to say “But should someone ask me whether I would indicate the West such as it is today as a model to my country, frankly I would have to answer negatively. No, I could not recommend your society in its present state as an ideal for the transformation of ours.” He spoke of the “spiritual exhaustion” of the West.

We neglect these prophets from the East at our peril . I believe they put into words some very profound concerns we should have about ourselves and the Church of which we are members , and which we influence even in our most inner thoughts and mindsets .

I cannot but conclude that the character of Western societies and the character of the Gospel are too much at variance .

We have a choice to make , or we can compromise by conceding still more of the legitimate legacy of 2000 years of tradition , some of which we find troublesome because it goes against the flow of our milieiu where we have become established .
 
Ah I see. Well it’s quite obvious that you are much more well informed than I in these matters of the Church so thank you for clearing that up with me. You are putting great arguments and concerns regarding how the younger feel in church and how the older feel in church regarding how they feel about each other. There is some kind of dissonance between communication between the younger and older if I understand correctly (let me know if I am wrong). It is a lack of unity as people who should be unified in Christ. We as people of God should always humble ourselves in front of His divine majesty because what we know is not much, but what He knows is everything. There is much pride to put down between both the young and old and it is very true that the old can teach the young and young teach the old.
 
Do you speak of both religious education and scholarly education?
 
I see. We are all, as I have said, unified in Christ so when one part of the body of Christ feels pain or is hurting in some way, the whole body also hurts. I say this (and that is a paraphrase from St. Paul) that what you feel, send to the God-head which is Christ our Lord so that those unified in the body can be intercessors and helpers in the grace that Christ so graciously wants to give you so you may no longer feel lazy, but always hard at work for the Lord.

I know it’s difficult sometimes to admit to a fault that we may have and I thank you and I know God definitely thanks you for sharing this. As much as their are always things to be done, even God through the creation in Gensis has taken a break on the seventh day so maybe you see it as lazy, but it could be a well earned break. However, I will leave that for you to judge.
 
This post was very educational probably more than to just me. I understand where Solzhenitsyn comes from when he says that the western society is rather weak and quite obsessed with “political correctness” which in what I know, seems to make those who are persecuted, be defended by people who will now get praise for defending those minorities without caring about them, but much more for their own-self by thinking they have done something good. I don’t think that many of those who are politically correct do what they do out of love but rather out of fear of being judged and for their own merit.

In terms of allowing society to reflect ideologies and religious beliefs, I cannot help but agree more. If we even look to the life of Jesus as a whole and even more in depth, to all of His servants that we know of (both before Jesus and after) they were all persecuted and many of them killed out of their love for the people, but since it is against the hierarchy and law that the society and leaders developed, they worry for what they believe they have worked hard to establish will crumble.

Catholics as people of God are not put on this earth to attack anyone, but to give love as Christ gives us love. Without love, we have nothing and many of these leaders cause so many different people of different cultures and backgrounds to sin by enforcing what they believe is right and essentially challenging God.

I had posted on a recent thread about abortion and to me the woman who follows through with the act isn’t the one who is most at sin, but the one who restricts said women with extreme difficulties and hardships (most women who get abortions do it because of finances from a poll I read) that can be relieved by the government are at greater sin. The government seemingly puts one against another whether they know it or not. With the power they have, they are much more responsible in terms of who are under them and listen to them. With knowledge and power come great responsibility,
 
Peace and warm regards.
The Divine Revelation does work toward The Heavenly Liturgy,
put forth by Learned Catholics like Fr. Pacwa.
However, The Church meaning the Parishioners partly because not being exhorted enough,
and various sad reasons do not partake in Evangelizing endeavors such as The Sacredness of Life nearly enough.
The Church is always clarifying the Divine Revelation and applying in to current historical settings — and this should never be stagnant and unchanging in these regards.
And we should join Ecumenical hands with attractive peace and compassion, which
gives hearts, hands, and voices to The Holy Spirit the True Evangelizer.
God Bless and have a wonderful day.
 
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I see where you are coming from, however I will say, that much of what is learned and those who become great in the eyes of God and in the eyes for the Catholic Church, was gained through humility in prayer and a constant praise to God with Holy fear. Much of what the saints knew were from as you said divine revelation. God speaks to the soul during prayer and when one renounces all things of the world and everything in it and accepts God and His divine will. When that happens, one will gain all the knowledge that is needed according to God.

There is much work to do in these times as there was in all times of the earth. To understand the truth, which is rather simple (love) is very difficult to understand this entirely and make it perfect. It requires God to grant a soul grace, unity and the will of God to encompass the soul. Before one can preach wholly and perfectly, one has to understand the truth wholly and perfectly.
 
John Paul ii, and other previous popes gave the exhortations needed for The Church
to respond to our times. The U. S. Bishops responded with “Living The Gospel of Life,”
which according to many many reliable witnesses across the land, for the most
part the exhortation to be involved as much as possible has fallen very silent for the
most part across the land.
Growing in love means living in Covenant with God as much as possible; but as Christ
taught in means loving every neighbor as ourselves, even the one’s in the womb.
And informing consciences helps their parents very much in every facet of society.
BTW, I wasn’t referring to private revelations, per se.
We have a public revelation, and a particular historical witness to live up to, which
very humble witnesses such as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and John Cardinal O’Connor
exhorted us to repent and live The Gospel of Life.
Like Germany of the 1930s, anthropomorphic manipulations have curtailed what
The Holy Spirit is objectively asking for us to do.
 
Thank you for the kind and encouraging word, which mean so much to the hearer.

Yes, there is so much to be done but find that time is often the premium. Yes, it is often easy to sit at home, maybe watching the TV, and you often feel guilty about it because a brother or a sister have told you there is something going on, which your presence may help and that they could use you there.

People need leadership, which very often we cannot provide due to personal constraint. To me that is mostly due to time. I know I cannot make that as an excuse, and it boils down to where I just put a limitation to myself. However, I have seen my friends in the Lord who give their lives to serve, and my utmost admiration is for them.

I need to remind myself again and again that there are many people out there that needs to be served in ways which I could do that make a difference to them. As your kind word just make my day albeit this is just an internet posting. 🙂

God bless you.
 
My friend, you are absolutely correct in the idea that we need leadership, but struggle due to constraints whatever they may be. Although, I must say that the leader to rule our people is around and always has been and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. What may seem like leaders in the past (those who are regarded as Saints) were empty vessels that the Lord filled up with His bountiful goodness and used them to give the good news of the Gospel and to give salvation to all by means of love. Let the Lord lead your heart so that whatever vocation you are called to in life, He may abound and make you perfectly productive. All of a sudden, time constraints won’t seem so restrictive and that even those who are lay-people with extremely busy lives will always have a second to look at our Lord and thank Him for His goodness, even if that may be for a very brief moment in time. For example, if you see your kids playing, you can find a second to thank God for giving them life, or if you are at work and someone is happy with the work you have done, you can thank God for giving you the ability and grace to do a good job. It also goes the other way where people may talk behind your back or accuse you of things, you can thank God and ask Him to always give you humility in those afflictions and patience in suffering.

As much as change needs to be done it must not be forgotten that all people who aspire to live a Christ-like life give themselves entirely up to God so don’t feel that you are not doing a good enough job or that you are not cut out to be a servant and leader for Christ. As long as we are in the truth and He in us, then anything can happen and that doesn’t mean that you need to be a brother, sister, or a priest. Let the Lord guide you in all that you do and you know that my prayers are with you so that you may find the way in the Lord, and that He may guide you to perfection in whatever you do.

The words I have spoken to you are not from me, but from our Good Lord who speaks through me. I am nothing but a sinner, whereas our good God has given me grace to die to sin so that I may live in eternal life. So I want to say not to thank me for these words, but thank God almighty and always keep Him in your mind! 🙂
 
Beautiful. Beautifully said. Thanks for the love and charity. I would certainly want a person like you here. We could use you a lot to serve God’s people. 😄

God bless you.
 
Haha thank you! But again, it is not I who says any of these words, but our glorious God. I may not be able to personally be where you are, but know that God’s spirit is with us all and that’s how we are unified in Christ! However, if there is anything I can do to help your diocese or parish in whatever way seems fitting, I would gladly help with the grace of God. Even if that is just writing letters or email to whoever wishes to talk.

I am longing to serve God with my whole heart and I am preparing to enter the brotherhood of St. Francis of Assisi as a Franciscan so any way that I may let God give charity through me, I would be more than happy to do!

May God bless our souls and specifically the souls in your parish so that we may abound in Christ-like love. Keep the prayers of our souls in mind and always keep us humble before Your divine majesty so that we may be perfect in our faith.
 
Will keep that in mind. May the God of peace walk with you in your journey as a Franciscan.
 
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