Frustrated: Why doesn't our clergy get it?!

[Cat]

I have to admit, I appreciate it when priests talk about the Church and the doctrines.

When we were still Protestant, one of the priests in our Parish always explained the feast days, traditions, practices, etc.

And–praise God!–one of the reasons my older daughter is becoming Catholic is that she started attending the cathedral in her city, and the priest is what she describes as a “teacher.” He explained everything in his homilies, and she learned so much from him that she decided to become Catholic.

 

[InLight247]

Thank you Dan for this significant thread.
This discussion could bring realization to all of us that we should not count every responsibility on our priests. You and me as Catholics all have to get our feet wet in helping our fellow believers, our church.

That is why I started to teach 7th grade CCD last year, and I will continue to teach though every time after class I felt physically drained by their misbehavior. Like mercygate said, sowing seeds in young minds are very important. I make sure all the key points are repeatedly explained to those 13 years old again and again. And I am in the process of refining my first year typed lesson plans, hoping to make them more lively and impressive for this coming fall.

I also found in Chinese community, the Protestants are so active about getting new comers to their group. But there is none Chinese Catholic group at all in the city I live. For so many years, I only know another Chinese couple who are Catholic. And a while ago, I ran into a Chinese Catholic lady who seldom attends Mass but worship with the Chinese Protestants every Sunday. My heart was in agony and decided to form a Chinese Catholic Bible Study starting with five people( my husband and I, the other Chinese Catholic couple and this lady). Now our group is growing. Some not baptized friends start to join us, and I am hoping to lead them to RCIA in the future.

I share this with you to make the point that the responsibility of teaching the truth and evangelizing is truly on you and me.

 

[melensdad]

I think there is a danger of turning Mass into some kind of “Pep-talk” by emphasising dialogue and education a little too much.

However, we also need to realise that we have very little oppurtunity to educate people in our Beautiful Truth as Mass is usually the only thing most Catholics go to (If they do anything at all)

Apologetics shouldn’t take away from the sacrificial aspect of Mass - it should add to it and enrich it.

I’ve suggested to our priest that he LENGTHEN the mass by 5 minutes. Typically at the end of our mass he spends a minute or 2 and reads some announcements. What harm would it cause to add 5 minutes of "Why we believe this. . . " or "Why Catholics do that. . . " at the end of the mass? Seems to me it would just become part of our enrichment. And it would not take away from the sanctity of the mass if it was added at the end during the announcement time. I suppose it could be added at the beginning during the welcoming, he could use it to explain what was about to happen in the day’s liturgy.

 

[Sr_Sally]

When I caught myself whining in similar terms one too many times, I decided that maybe God was telling me to DO something about it. I signed up to teach CCD and by the grace of God was given sixth grade, in which the curriculum is SCRIPTURE. Lemme tell ya: I use that class to catechize parents as well as the kids. And whether or not the kids come out of it really grasping the message, at least they will have HEARD the message. I’m not responsible for how the seed grows, but I’m out there with my seed-sack scattering the stuff all over their little 12-year-old heads.

Amen! I also believe we should look to see what we ourselves can do before we start bashing others for inaction.

 

[fellowChristian]

I teach CCD and I can’t tell you how many times I have left shaking my head. I tell my husband to much sugar (Jesus loves you) not enough meat ( why do Catholics do that)

But we have to get more involved. That is why I teach. And the time we are worshipping God (The Mass) is not the time to teach.It is for worshipping God.

So every chance I get I am evangelizing! People know if you talk to “her” she’s going to talk about God and the Church! It is kinda nice, people call me and email me and ask questions. And now at work people come looking for me because they have a question.

 

[Beachcomber]

I think that homilies have gone down hill all over. During my time away from the Catholic church (30 years), I attended a variety of other churches. In that time, there was a rise in ‘seeker sensitive’ church programs that aimed at ‘not offending’ anyone. There was no real exposition of scripture or basic Christian teachings. A person had to go to a small group Bible study during the week for any sort of ‘meat.’

Upon my return to the Church, I have noticed that as far as homilies go, not a lot has changed. The parish I attend is doing the Catholic version of ‘seeker sensitive.’ It would be nice, as the OP said, to have some real doctrine taught.

One other comment, I think that priests during their seminary years don’t get much in the way of training in how to give a good homily.