I Am Sick of Liberalism in the Church

[CWBetts]

To be honest, I think most Catholics who are able to be at least moderately intellectually honest with themselves (I hate that phrase, but I couldn’t think of anything else) will admit that there are problems in the Church that - for whatever reason - have gotten a bit out of hand.

What bothers me is that on the Traditional forum, there are always a bunch of threads about the “root causes” of these problems where people battle it out over whether VII was the cause, blah blah blah. At this point, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it doesn’t matter but I think the time for debating over the origins has passed. There is a problem, that problem is that Catholics do not know their faith, and we need to fix it. Desperately.

So what are some concrete actions that can be taken in Churches where clergy and laity recognize this problem? Restructuring the youth catechism classes? Refocusing the homilies to address substantive doctrinal issues? Adult catechism classes? Brining back Parish libraries? What?

Somehow the point must be driven home that catechesis is important! Education in the faith too often stops at COnfirmation. This is where we need to start

 

[Onegin]

Somehow the point must be driven home that catechesis is important! Education in the faith too often stops at COnfirmation. This is where we need to start

I absolutely agree. Adult catechism is absolutely vital. I think a wonderful idea is to have an hour of it after a Mass on Sunday, where possible. The problem is that people have trouble staying for an hour mostly on Sunday so that perception of Mass being this “side thing you do on Sunday” needs to be altered. And the parishioners need to be willing to commit the extra time.

 

[CWBetts]

We have a program at our Parish called “Catholic Adult Faith Enrichment” but participation is small

 

[Onegin]

We have a program at our Parish called “Catholic Adult Faith Enrichment” but participation is small

Yeah, that tends to be a common problem. Sometimes it takes the Priest, during the homily, to stress the absolute essential need for proper catechism. You can’t force people but placing a great deal of emphasis on it could help. Probably a lot of people think it’s this pointless optional thing.

And start simple - I know of one group that used nothing but the Baltimore Catechism (which is often used for children and new converts) and a great deal of the material in there was new to everyone.

 

[iluvburpees]

Pleas tell me that you don’t mean that Archbishop Lefebvre deserves the same level of attention as Our Lady!

Of course not. I meant that it’s the same principle, not that they’re on the same level of importance or honor.

 

[CWBetts]

Yeah, that tends to be a common problem. Sometimes it takes the Priest, during the homily, to stress the absolute essential need for proper catechism. You can’t force people but placing a great deal of emphasis on it could help. Probably a lot of people think it’s this pointless optional thing.

And start simple - I know of one group that used nothing but the Baltimore Catechism (which is often used for children and new converts) and a great deal of the material in there was new to everyone.

we tend to watch DVDs. Stuff like Fr. Groeschel or Journeys Home

 

[pnewton]

3.) (Concerning why contraceptives are wrong)
SEX IS PROCREATION, NOT RECREATION!

Not recreation, but unitive:
vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

The reason is that the fundamental nature of the marriage act, while uniting husband and wife in the closest intimacy, also renders them capable of generating new life—and this as a result of laws written into the actual nature of man and of woman. And if each of these essential qualities, the unitive and the procreative, is preserved, the use of marriage fully retains its sense of true mutual love and its ordination to the supreme responsibility of parenthood to which man is called. We believe that our contemporaries are particularly capable of seeing that this teaching is in harmony with human reason.

I understand the frustration with those who try to make the Church something which She is not. I do not agree that the Church must change with the times, but the changing times sometimes makes a different response more prudent than it would have been a thousand years ago. Also, somethings that we experience today provide data as to our nature that we simply could not have known before. While this has been an excuse to go overboard on the part of special interest groups, the Church has also used this as an opportunity to define some things more fully. An example of this is when Pope John Paul II declared that men alone are suitable for the priesthood.
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.

I am shielded from a lot that some of you put up with by having a faithful pastor that doesn’t mince words on doctrine. Dissenting teaching is not welcome at my parish.