That lovin' feelin'

[otm]

Arlene:

I wonder if that is why it is so hard to keep our young people in the Catholic Church? All their friends are going to AWANA every Wednesday night saying how much fun they had and inviting them to go too. There are youth groups, mission trips, and family nights. My kids want to know why can’t they go to AWANA too. They see all their friends’ families congregating with the other families, all doing things as a group. And what do we have to offer them? CCD.

In our church, we have a huge spread out parish, with the main church and 3 mission churches. Each of the 4 churches has their own CCD, and even within each church, there is an afternoon CCD and an evening CCD. Obviously, each church has its own Mass schedule. Our kids don’t even know each other. There are kids my daughter has known from other functions for years without knowing they were Catholic.

My daughter begs me to allow her to go to AWANA. She tells me that everyone says it is so much fun. I tell her they have the fun, we have the Truth. But it is a hard pill to swallow for a kid.
This January I tried to put together a Family Fun Night once a month for all the kids of the parish to come together and hang out and have fun and have a chance to connect with each other. Every mom I talked to about it thought it was a fabulous idea. But no one came. No one wanted to take an extra night out of their busy lives.

It makes me wonder, why is it the the Protestants can draw people and make people want to make the church functions part of their lives, and why are Catholics not wanting to do anything but weekly Mass (if that).

I would love it if my girls could know who the other Catholic kids are, have some type of bond with them, or at least some familiarity, so that they could feel some type of connection, and not feel so alone in a nonCatholic/somewhat anti_Catholic town.

After I had children, that question was on my mind often.

I think there are several reasons.

1. Catechesis has been somewhere between terrible and abysmal for about 30 years, although it is starting to turn around.
2. There are too many people who see the Sacraments as some sort of “fix”; you come in, get your dose, and go about your business. They don’t see faith as impacting every aspect of their life.
3. There are a whole lot of Catholics, with a fairly large school system; that is seen as the best solution (and therefore the best choice), with any other choice coming in a far second. In other words, the other programs start out second rate, and with that attitude, why would one want to improve them?

4)See 1 above. If the parents have little or nothing solid in their own faith, why would they be concerned? or to put it another way, if you have nothing, why would you be upset that it is not passed along?

1. Catholics are notoriously poor in the amount they contribute. Tithing? Are you kidding? They think that they have given if they oopen up their wallets and stick a $5 in. Therefore, while the Church raises a lot of money, they do so because the pool of contributers is so hugh. There really isn’t enough money to hire the people they need to run the programs. many of the larger Protestant churches which have these extensive programs are not the least shy in asking, then asking for more. When it comes to asking for a just contribution, either Father’s mouth is full of pea sized pebbles (he mumbles, apologetically), or he is forthright, and a good portion of the parish is outraged, a larger portion ignores him, and the faithful few dig deeper. But hardly deep enough.

 

[Katie1723]

I had to chuckle as I read this post. By nature I am an extremely kinesthetic person. The one place I really have trouble is my partners church. He is Seventh Day Adventist and they have got to be the most “touchy feely” bunch of people. I am put off by it in that it feels very phony. All the hand shaking, hugging and “so happy to see yous” is very much a put off to me. I tell them Thanks but no thanks!

~ Kathy ~

 

[Fashina86]

Katie1723:

I had to chuckle as I read this post. By nature I am an extremely kinesthetic person. The one place I really have trouble is my partners church. He is Seventh Day Adventist and they have got to be the most “touchy feely” bunch of people. I am put off by it in that it feels very phony. All the hand shaking, hugging and “so happy to see yous” is very much a put off to me. I tell them Thanks but no thanks!

~ Kathy ~

yeah… I agree… the Confirmation teacher is a “touchy feely” kind of person too, thinking the candidates cannot understand true doctrine or dogma, and therefore not teaching it!? whatever. I cannot stand some of the “activites” that are being done now. What happened to old fashioned dogma, catechism, or doctrine? Some of them need the hard truth!

 

[Blanka]

carol marie:

I think people in the past felt more of a sense of community in their neighborhoods. They knew everyone on the block & hung out on the front porch to visit. Nowadays more often than not both parents are working, kids are in day care, people move every few years and we’re just too stressed out & tired to make connections in our neighborhood. Instead of hanging out on our porches, we’re in the a/c watching TV.

In a talk given by a religious brother one time, I recall that he commented on this exact concept of the old neighborhoods having such a close social and spiritual connection. We really have become isolated and disconnected from other Catholics in our lives.
I also remember reading a book about the Hasidic Jews in NYC and how they live in such a close knit community. Not only do they worship together but they socialize freely at each other’s homes and often host guests from out of town. It made me a bit envious that the Catholic community is not like that.