Is it a church or a country club with a cross on top?

[DisorientingSneeze]

I’m sort of delirious on cold medicine, and I don’t recall if I took a stance on anything in this thread or just tossed some likes around, but I’m pretty sure @Xantippe is my hero.

 

[TheLittleLady]

No, I am sure you don’t. There are less friendly folks out there.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Certain Protestant denominations allow gay marriage, divorce, contraception, and women priests. They kind of went with the flow.

Their attendance doesn’t seem to be booming either.

 

[tad]

Heck, I am the one who found it refreshing that the first time I went to a Mass no one glommed onto me and tried to recruit me!

Me too. When I first started going to daily mass I was glad that Catholics exhibited enough sensitivity to simply leave me alone.

 

[joeybaggz]

Interesting that a priest, those responsible for the catechesis, or teaching, of the RCC would blame peripherals and not the pathetic fluff that goes for teaching with these old tradcats. I was subject to this teaching of the catechism in the days of pre VatII and frankly, it stunk. All about mind numbed ritualistic worship and learning a dead language that no one really understood. Have been to too many fine NO masses with altar girls that are reverent and meaningful.
Fr. Stravinskas, another chicken little, “the sky is falling” prelate. And I think a number of other posters have mentioned that travesty of the clergy back in the “good old days” of “mindless masses.”

 

[deMontfort]

The idea that by suppressing the Ordinary Form of the Mass, people will return to the church in droves is quite frankly naïve bordering on laughable. Sorry, but people didn’t leave the Church due to Mass in the vernacular: They left because the secular world overcame their faith.

 

[Irishmom2]

This is the clearest, most simply worded, yet perfect answer.

 

[Augustinian]

The idea that by suppressing the Ordinary Form of the Mass, people will return to the church in droves is quite frankly naïve bordering on laughable. Sorry, but people didn’t leave the Church due to Mass in the vernacular:

Actually, the majority really wanted Mass in the vernacular in the 1960’s.

But even if you stipulate people left the church en masse because of vernacular sacraments, that was 50 years ago and the folks who left are mostly deceased and even those who are still around have long moved on. To think that they will suddenly flock back isn’t an idea that is well thought out.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There is a school of thought that certain practices like “ad orientem” are correct in the sight of God and would bring an outpouring of grace to the church doing such practices and cause it to grow in membership. This idea is bolstered by the idea that certain parishes who pushed for a return to more traditional worship saw great growth. I suspect what actually happened is that such parishes grew because there was a pocket of people in that area seeking that kind of a worship experience and not getting it elsewhere, so they all flocked to the “ad orientem” church.

If every church was offering the same type of “ad orientem” or other traditional experience, it would draw in the pocket of people looking for this experience, but would lose the sizable pocket of people who don’t want this worship experience or don’t want it every week.

 

[MikeInVA]

I attend an ad orientem Mass once a month and I really enjoy it. I find that certain parts of the Mass that seem a little awkward in a versus populi Mass make sense, e.g. “Behold the Lamb of God.” While I prefer ao to vp, I wouldn’t change parishes because of it.

 

[casslean]

TheLittleLady:

You will still have kids who need a parish Faith Formation/R E program. Do you think that people will do that monumental task for free?

The program is run by volunteers at our church as well. It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there’s no expense. On the other hand… well, you get what you pay for. Our RE program is run by someone who has been working in the RE ministry for at least 15 years, and despite the fact that the methods and means they use did not keep their own children in the church, they vehemently resist changing them. And if you suggest it, you get shoved out of the program.

 

[casslean]

Just to be clear, even though I am not religious, I don’t want to see Christianity die but I would like to see it change some of its dogmas even though many Christians resist this idea. That’s just me, though.

We believe that the faith we have was handed down by Jesus. He, as the Son of God, proclaimed to us the truth, and it is our mission to follow it.

If we decide to change those “dogmas” because modern society finds them inconvenient, what is the foundation of our faith? Are we following God, or ourselves?

 

[Allegra]

If a person truly believes that they were created by God, His only son died for our sins, was resurrected, and established the Catholic Church, then none of those things would keep them away. The problem is that, fewer and fewer people actually believe that.