F
freshwind
Guest
very good synopsis N.E.P. - I had never really heard it put quite that way… I was in grade 4 in 68 so the hoopla was somewhat lost on me…another point I think that has a strong bearing is the amount of educators in Catholic schools that have come out of the 60’s and 70’s, including a lot of our priests.
the “conscience” advice has been given a great number of times by well meaning priests who may not have had the strongest guidance in seminary in the 70’s.
I have 4 children who came up through the Catholic school system here in Canada, and sadly, I failed to be a strong enough influence to overcome what they were taught in school…I was old fashioned and “not with it” as their religion class was not so much about our faith as it was about world religions and trying to find the good in all…while the Church has always taught that under certain circumstances non-Catholics could still go to heaven, the mis-interpretation of VII led many to believe it didn’t matter, as long as one was good and moral.
Our Holy Father referred to this recently in a statement about the number of young people who through no fault of their own, consider themselves Catholic and generally try to live the faith to their understanding, but due to poor teaching, they fall short of the mark.
I see this in my kids, and see it clearly…other than very sporadic Church attendance they would be considered pretty good Catholics…they live life generally showing many of the traits (better than some church goers I know) that one would look for…I find this disconcerting and hope as they get a little older they return to regular active participation.
The Holy Father says we need to discover how to reach out to these people…generally when these issues are discussed here, the opinions are usually quite extreme…either very liberal, or very strict and I personally find many of these issues are a little grey, not as black and white as some seem to make it out to be.
I find great judgements made at times in these discussions, whereas the Holy Father seems to want us to reach out with compassion and prayer…he is our rock and our guide in these matters.
How many folks are there out there that may consider themselves Catholic, and through no outright rejection, but as a result of their poor teaching at some point in their journey “honestly” do not see themselves as sinning…what does our Blessed Mother think when she sees these children, is her heart broken? And what of our Lord…his justice and his mercy must surely be tested in this situation…will he have compassion on these misguided, or will he shuffle them off on judgement day?
Somehow, I see this as the greatest challenge to our Church today, how do we reach these people…calling them cafeteria catholics, and worse, does nothing to solve the phenomena, we need compassion, reason and patience…
sorry for the long winded response, but I see this as much an issue with Mass attendance as the encyclical…maybe I am off base, but I know a lot of people like this, in my family and outside of it.
I have a cousin who has been a Fransiscan priest for 50 years… his advice is to encourage them to be honest and to seek…where that leads them we will never know, but he also believes that if they are truly honest, at some point God will reach them…whether they are young, or on their deathbed, if they honestly question and seek He will not allow them to be lost, He will answer them in His own time.
the “conscience” advice has been given a great number of times by well meaning priests who may not have had the strongest guidance in seminary in the 70’s.
I have 4 children who came up through the Catholic school system here in Canada, and sadly, I failed to be a strong enough influence to overcome what they were taught in school…I was old fashioned and “not with it” as their religion class was not so much about our faith as it was about world religions and trying to find the good in all…while the Church has always taught that under certain circumstances non-Catholics could still go to heaven, the mis-interpretation of VII led many to believe it didn’t matter, as long as one was good and moral.
Our Holy Father referred to this recently in a statement about the number of young people who through no fault of their own, consider themselves Catholic and generally try to live the faith to their understanding, but due to poor teaching, they fall short of the mark.
I see this in my kids, and see it clearly…other than very sporadic Church attendance they would be considered pretty good Catholics…they live life generally showing many of the traits (better than some church goers I know) that one would look for…I find this disconcerting and hope as they get a little older they return to regular active participation.
The Holy Father says we need to discover how to reach out to these people…generally when these issues are discussed here, the opinions are usually quite extreme…either very liberal, or very strict and I personally find many of these issues are a little grey, not as black and white as some seem to make it out to be.
I find great judgements made at times in these discussions, whereas the Holy Father seems to want us to reach out with compassion and prayer…he is our rock and our guide in these matters.
How many folks are there out there that may consider themselves Catholic, and through no outright rejection, but as a result of their poor teaching at some point in their journey “honestly” do not see themselves as sinning…what does our Blessed Mother think when she sees these children, is her heart broken? And what of our Lord…his justice and his mercy must surely be tested in this situation…will he have compassion on these misguided, or will he shuffle them off on judgement day?
Somehow, I see this as the greatest challenge to our Church today, how do we reach these people…calling them cafeteria catholics, and worse, does nothing to solve the phenomena, we need compassion, reason and patience…
sorry for the long winded response, but I see this as much an issue with Mass attendance as the encyclical…maybe I am off base, but I know a lot of people like this, in my family and outside of it.
I have a cousin who has been a Fransiscan priest for 50 years… his advice is to encourage them to be honest and to seek…where that leads them we will never know, but he also believes that if they are truly honest, at some point God will reach them…whether they are young, or on their deathbed, if they honestly question and seek He will not allow them to be lost, He will answer them in His own time.
