"Re-engaging the faithful"?

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Tis_Bearself

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Like a lot of Catholics, I am sitting here checking the news on a regular basis to see when public Mass and Communion might start up again as the state is making moves to re-open.
So I see this article:


What is all this business about “Renewal of Parish Life” and “Re-Engaging” people? Dude. Open the Church for Mass, I’ll be there. If you need to rope off some pews, put out extra hand sanitizer, have us all in masks, go for it, I’ll do it, I just want to go to Mass and receive Jesus. If it’s going to be first-come first-served till you hit a magic number and I have to be there an hour early to get a spot, let me know, I’ll do my best to be at the front of the line.

Why do you need a webinar, an “initiative”, and a lot of buzzwords about it? If the webinar is a training program for pastors on what they need to do to keep people from passing viruses around, why not just call it that, “COVID-19 Training for Pastors”? Most of us who were going to church regularly don’t need an engraved invitation begging us to come back; the quotes in the article itself say people want to go back to physical Mass and receive physical Eucharist.

It seems like dioceses can’t do a simple thing these days without couching it in more marketing-speak than a product launch. Why do they do this? Am I missing something here?
 
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I also miss Mass and Communion, but as I can see the virus itself has brought in one way spiritual renewal, maybe better to say awakening, of many people (me first) /parishes so I don’t understand purpose of what is stated on page. I’m not sure what difference is expected to happen after that.
Epidemics happened in past and people came back to churches normally, there was no program for reintegration and everything worked fine. (That word reintegration reminds me of ex prisoners.)
And at a time when there was no covid19 people were free to come or not to come in church, both believers and unbelievers were coming with or without invitation.
 
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Arise Together in Christ is a diocesan renewal program that has been around for several years.

It looks like the new Archbishop in Philly is planning to implement it, something that can several years to carry out. I would guess he has decided long range planning should continue alongside coping with the pandemic.

Seems reasonable to me.
 
Thank you, Dovekin, for putting it in perspective.

It may be that CatholicPhilly has kind of slanted the story and made it more of a COVID story. It seems likely in view of your post that the Archdiocese was planning to do this as part of the New Evangelization before all this COVID broke out. That would make sense.

I see it’s part of “Renew International”. I have always tended to avoid/ ignore “Renew” iniatives because they are not my thing nor my mother’s thing when she was alive, so I was not aware of this program. Where I am located, several of the churches tend to be so full on Sundays that it’s a bigger issue to just get a seat at some of the Masses than it is to “renew” the parish, but perhaps it is needed elsewhere.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Most of us who were going to church regularly don’t need an engraved invitation begging us to come back
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The operative word here is “most”. However, both Catholic and Protestant church leaders fear that a good portion will not return to regular attendance, having grown comfortable with watching religious services online, and having grown uncomfortable gathering in a crowd of strangers. And that donations will plummet as a result.

In other words, it is already clear to them that there will never be a return to the situation we had before the pandemic, and that the Catholic Church is going to take a big hit in terms of numbers, dollars and influence, just like most other religious groups, all of whom are desperately trying to figure out a way to soften the blow.
 
I’m thinking this ‘renewal and re-engaging’ will not be needed in Traditional parishes.
 
yankeesouth said:
I’m thinking this ‘renewal and re-engaging’ will not be needed in Traditional parishes.
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Probably more so, as most Traditionalist parishes are barely sustainable in terms of numbers and cash, and a small decrease in either can spell doom. A lot of the elderly on with these parishes depend will not return, preferring to age out a little early than risk their health. In many cases, the decision will be made for them by younger family members, few of whom are sympathetic to the Traditionalist cause. And with them goes their money.

Furthermore, a good part of those who travel long distances to attend the EF will decide that watching on TV satisfies their needs.

Larger well-funded OF parishes can take a torpedo or two and keep on chugging along. Smaller EF groups with limited resources are much more vulnerable.
 
Jbrady said:
it is already clear to them that there will never be a return to the situation we had before the pandemic,
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“Never” is a pretty strong word. People have short memories.

Also, if a 2-month suspension of Masses is going to knock someone off the track of ever going to Mass again, their faith must have been the proverbial “house built on sand” to begin with.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
“Never” is a pretty strong word. People have short memories.
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You realize that you just confirmed what I said? Yes, people do have short memories, but it is more likely that the thing they are going to forget is regular attendance. And the longer this goes on, the fewer are going to remember to come back. Ever.
 
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Watching on TV satisfies their needs? For ‘Traditionalist’ parish members? Come on. If ‘watching on TV’ satisfied their needs they wouldn’t then have been following Catholic precepts. “Watching on TV” never ‘satisfied their need” (I.e. for worshipping Sat/Sun and holy days) and it doesn’t NOW either. It’s a PIOUS PRACTICE, not a substitute.

Who put the cynic in your OJ today?
 
stpurl said:
Watching on TV satisfies their needs? For ‘Traditionalist’ parish members?
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For many Traditionalists it already does, especially those who are adverse to attending the OF even when no EF is available.
 
I think you mean ‘averse’. . .

And no “Traditionalist’ now attending an EF parish, nor the vast majority of Traditionalists who cannot travel, ‘watches the Mass on TV” in LIEU of attending an OF.

IF a person attended an OF parish where the Mass was actually invalid, that person would be excused from the obligation to attend (theoretically) and no doubt would have already had a discussion with the local bishop. And if the BISHOP said, “attend OF anyway”, that person would attend. And watching an EF on You Tube would not ‘satisfy his NEEDS’ but simply soothe his soul as he or she waited, obediently, either for the OF parish to celebrate a valid Mass again, or for the opportunity for attendance at a parish which had a valid Mass, OF or EF.

Perhaps you think the very tiny number of those who are sedevacantist (and thus do not attend an OF, SOME of them) are ‘all traditionalists’ and thus assume that what you ‘heard’ of them is ‘true of all traditionalists’.

Well you know what they say about assume!!!
 
I didn’t “confirm what you said” in any way. I think you have some unpleasant and unrealistic agenda here, and I am not reading any more of what you write. Have a nice weekend.
 
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Jbrady said:
Probably more so, as most Traditionalist parishes are barely sustainable in terms of numbers and cash, and a small decrease in either can spell doom. A lot of the elderly on with these parishes depend will not return, preferring to age out a little early than risk their health. In many cases, the decision will be made for them by younger family members, few of whom are sympathetic to the Traditionalist cause. And with them goes their money.

Furthermore, a good part of those who travel long distances to attend the EF will decide that watching on TV satisfies their needs.

Larger well-funded OF parishes can take a torpedo or two and keep on chugging along. Smaller EF groups with limited resources are much more vulnerable.
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I’m not so sure about this. The following has been my experience with the FSSP in my area:
Traditionalist parishes, tend to be sustained by people who have proven their willingness to commute to be part of this community. Several years ago, I spoke to an FSSP pastor in the Seattle area, who told me that the average commute to his church was 40 minutes. That resonated, as I had driven an hour, myself, to assist at his Mass, and I knew of others who were spending significantly more time on the road than I.
People who have proven for years that the drive is worthwhile, are unlikely to suddenly change their minds.
Traditionalist families will schedule activities such as soccer around going to Mass each week. They are more likely to regularly assist at Mass, mindful of the requirement to keep holy the sabbath. They will be back, the minute the doors open.
If you attend FSSP masses in the Seattle area, you will find lots of young families and lots of large families. Traditionalist marriages are open to life. new generations are being formed in the faith. Many families home school, and others actively seek out places which are focused upon sound catechesis. They are raising their children with the goal of getting them into heaven.
Financially, traditionalist families are more likely to tithe. Regular financial sacrifice and support are built into the culture. I would anticipate these parishes to be more sustainable because of this culture.
 
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jeannetherese said:
Financially, traditionalist families are more likely to tithe. Regular financial sacrifice and support are built into the culture. I would anticipate these parishes to be more sustainable because of this culture.
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Right. They are there because they want to be there, because it’s an important value for them in life.

They aren’t there out of habit, or because of some vague fear of going to Hell if they don’t show up and warm a seat for an hour a week.

There are also OF people who are at church every week because it’s important for them, and they aren’t going to stop supporting their church over COVID. If they don’t show up at re-opened Mass, it’s likely to be because of a health issue, although many people with health issues will still make mighty efforts to attend Mass anyway.
 
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Of course! That should be the goal in all parishes.
I assist at several parish churches in my general area.
In terms of the sabbath, I know quite a few families who will bail on Mass at my novus ordo parishes if it conflicts with their kids soccer game or other similar activity. This does not apply to all families, but it is a problem. I know teachers who make sure to read Sunday’s gospel in their classroom because so many of their Catholic students rarely attend Mass, except when it is an in school activity.
It’s a work in progress.

At the FSSP parish you just don’t run into a Mass is optional if I have a sports activity on the weekend attitude.
At the local parish, it’s, unfortunately, an all too common attitude.
I’m hoping that the experience of having the option to skip Mass, suddenly becoming a “you will not go to Mass whether you want to or not,” situation, will encourage us all to reconsider whether we have become to casual in our attitudes regarding spending time each week at Mass in the presence of Our Lord.
 
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There is such a thing as functional atheism. If you go long enough without praying or practicing religion, you stop thinking about it for longer and longer periods. Until you wake up one day and realize you haven’t needed religion to function in a very long time.
 
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I don’t know. I went through a period in my life where I would play hookey from Mass for a while.
After a while I would notice that thing were out of sorts. A sense of disquiet, as if the birds were flying upside down-something just wasn’t right. And, after a while, I would have this realization: I need to get to Mass. The Eucharist would call me back.
I very much believe that God is calling to all of us and that that call resonates in our hearts, however we might distract ourselves or deny it.
When we are ready to search out the source of our disquiet, we will find that he has always been there, waiting for us to acknowledge Him and take His hand.
The timing for each of us, may vary; ultimately, we are on God’s time.
 
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