World Youth Day: Catholicism or Corruption?

[Margarite]

The Catechetical discussion is important because I believe Catechetical formation has been in a state of crisis and utter hostility to faith for decades.

You need BA’s, MA’s and other similar education to be a Catechist and most of these courses will kill a person’s faith. You have non-Catholics, heretics, and people with no Catholic faith teaching Catholic education.

You have all these coordinators, facilitators, MA’s running around being smart alecks that ridicule the faith, contradict the faith, and teach nonsense. You have all these workshops that teach more paganism than traditional Catholicism. They are a madhouse.

That is why I am going to Wyoming Catholic College in August:thumbsup: to escape the madness:hypno:

 

[Margarite]

It was diocese wide. In Ontario we have the public Catholic school system, they ran the programs through out the hundreds of schools so there was no escaping it!

What do you mean by Public Catholic, I didn’t think those two words could be used right next to each other?

 

[Freshman88]

What do you mean by Public Catholic, I didn’t think those two words could be used right next to each other?

A historic agreement was reached in Canada between Upper and Lower Canada ensuring that French-Catholic citizens (lower Canada/Quebec) would have access to a Catholic education. The result was a two tier public education system, the Anglo-Protestant system has degenerated into the public system while the Catholic system has still retained it’s identity somewhat. Thus today we have a very large, publically funded Catholic school system throughout Ontario. Yet these Public Catholic schools can be said to be as Catholic as many so called “Catholic” universities.

Recently there have been outcries to end this system. Having gone through this system, I hope they do.

 

[saint_rafael]

That is why I am going to Wyoming Catholic College in August:thumbsup: to escape the madness:hypno:

Great Choice. That school looks very interesting and orthodox.

Unfortunately, you can count all the real Catholic universities on one hand today. These small orthodox schools are preserving faith.
The famous giants of Notre Dame, CUA, ect. stopped being Catholic years ago. They turn out pagans and are more interested in scholarship and perverted plays than anything Catholic.

 

[ethelzguy]

Great Choice. That school looks very interesting and orthodox.

Unfortunately, you can count all the real Catholic universities on one hand today. These small orthodox schools are preserving faith.
The famous giants of Notre Dame, CUA, ect. stopped being Catholic years ago. They turn out pagans and are more interested in scholarship and perverted plays than anything Catholic.

For someone who uses the term “saint” in their screen name, you spend an awful lot of time libeling the Catholic Church and it’s affilates.

 

[Margarite]

Well, the Catholic Church is in a mess, and the first step to cleaning up a mess is to acknowledge that it is a mess. Catholic schools are no longer Catholic. I went to a public school because the Catholic high school in Las Vegas is worse than the public schools. My family has met two priests who say that if they had gone to “Catholic” schools, they would have lost their faith. Hardly any Catholic kids know what Catholic means. Many teens are falling away from all religion and claiming to be atheist. If they don’t do that, then to go to a religion, that seems stronger, like the LDS church where everything is very organized.
It is a sad state of affairs. My brothers go to a Catholic middle school. They are in classes of 60 students, and only one or two of the other boys in each class go to mass every Sunday, most just go when it is easy for their parents to go, thus never in soccer season, and only occasionally during the hot summer months.
The youth group is more about talking about the bad “Catholic” high school they all attend, or watching skits that say skipping Sunday mass is OK.
The music in Church is protestant.
The priest rushes through mass because it has become a chore to him. He has to say 4-5 masses on Sundays, and shake a thousand people’s hands as the walk out after each mass.
The schools are run by liberals who care more about the art and science classes than the religion classes in which the kids are allowed to watch movies on their laptops.

I could go on and on and on for pages, but I think you know what we are talking about. I blame mostly the people my grandparent’s ages, they are the ones who were the hippies, they were the ones who started this in the Church. But the people my parent’s age have not helped any and the kids my age probably won’t do much either.

There are a few of us in every generation who are blessed, or you might say cursed, with more knowledge of our faith. We are blessed because we have been given the gift of knowledge, but in another way it is a curse, because with knowledge comes responsibility.

I am going to Wyoming Catholic College because I think that if I get a good Catholic Liberal Arts education, I will be able to make more of a difference. I have been taught too much not to use it, so now I need to develop it.

It is hard to be alone, and often those of us who are trads, are alone, but when I went to World Youth Day, I wasn’t alone.
I knew that many of them were liberals who didn’t really care what religion they were, who didn’t know much about their faith, and were only there for the trip. But I they are Catholic. And even if that means nothing to them now, maybe it will someday. It gave me great strength to see the hundreds of priests and nuns, many of them wearing full habits or cassocks.

You may dislike the stuff that the liberal diocese do with WYD, but until you go, don’t say you don’t like WYD. If you go and dislike it, then you can really talk, but if you haven’t gone, and you are judging it only by the liberal bishop and diocese, that is like judging a good book by it’s bad cover.

 

[KCT]

World Youth is all about partying and rock music. It nothing more than the glorification of the cultural revolution that has destroyed the world since the 60’s.

When our son went to Cologne there were catechesis sessions, plus the vocation.com coffee house w/ vocations testimonies & a place for Adoration.

 

[m134e5]

Indirectly, it is. Why must so much importance be placed on “youth”?. If the church taught the faith in its tradition, youth wouldn’t need debacles such as WYD. It is nothing more than modern thinking, it is worldly and inappropriate, worldly culture is intermingled with our faith…and that is just wrong in my opinion. Again, there is that adulation of youth, putting them in a separate category than everyone else and appealing to the worst traits of their nature rather than instilling piety and a sense of the sacred. There should be no WYD, there should be a call to the return to our traditional Catholic faith and to *all *members of the Church Militant.

I suppose we should all just go to our own parishes, with the altar societies and legions of Mary full of old ladies. I suppose we should just sing traditional hymns at Mass lifelessly (heaven forbid they be at a tempo other than “slow”, “very slow”, or the tempo one notch lower that is all too common in some places and makes you wonder if the organist is about to die or something) I suppose we should go on encouraging women to wear clothes that went out of style in the 1700’s- and look like they were made then too. I suppose all our catechesis need include is memorization and recitation of the Baltimore catechism and various traditional prayers- after all “because the Church says so is a good enough reason.”

You have to reach out to people- you can’t expect them to just wake up one day and decide to come to church- especially if it seems to contradict everything society tells them they should strive for. You have to be able to speak to them on their level. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t bring them up to where they need to be once we do speak to them.

World Youth Day and other events for youth have often been taken and twisted into a show. They do not have to be done that way. There have been problems with some of the things that go on, but that doesn’t make the idea a bad one. There is nothing wrong with the pope reaching out to the youth- who are trying to find their way in a mixed up world. “Why can’t the youth just learn things like I did” is something I hear way too often. The answer is simple- because they simply won’t. The education system, the values commonly held by society, and many other things have become corrupted over the years. Our culture is sick. We don’t want youth to get mixed up in it, but we have to reach out to them in a way they will understand and respect (and it can be- and has been done).

 

[piouswoman]

I suppose we should all just go to our own parishes, with the altar societies and legions of Mary full of old ladies. I suppose we should just sing traditional hymns at Mass lifelessly (heaven forbid they be at a tempo other than “slow”, “very slow”, or the tempo one notch lower that is all too common in some places and makes you wonder if the organist is about to die or something) I suppose we should go on encouraging women to wear clothes that went out of style in the 1700’s- and look like they were made then too. I suppose all our catechesis need include is memorization and recitation of the Baltimore catechism and various traditional prayers- after all “because the Church says so is a good enough reason.”

You have to reach out to people- you can’t expect them to just wake up one day and decide to come to church- especially if it seems to contradict everything society tells them they should strive for. You have to be able to speak to them on their level. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t bring them up to where they need to be once we do speak to them.

World Youth Day and other events for youth have often been taken and twisted into a show. They do not have to be done that way. There have been problems with some of the things that go on, but that doesn’t make the idea a bad one. There is nothing wrong with the pope reaching out to the youth- who are trying to find their way in a mixed up world. “Why can’t the youth just learn things like I did” is something I hear way too often. The answer is simple- because they simply won’t. The education system, the values commonly held by society, and many other things have become corrupted over the years. Our culture is sick. We don’t want youth to get mixed up in it, but we have to reach out to them in a way they will understand and respect (and it can be- and has been done).

The one thing you said here that makes sense, is that our culture is sick. And why is it sick? Because we don’t go to our parishes and join the altar society or the Legion of Mary, because we don’t sing traditional hymns, because we don’t wear modest clothing and most are afraid to be different by rejecting the sinful and immodest fashions that are acceptable by today’s standards, because we don’t turn our backs on the materialistic and sick world that we inhabit. And the only thing that our faith and catechism should include is that which was taught to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is fairly simple I would say. Raise your children right from the beginning and they don’t need World Youth Day.

 

[ethelzguy]

The one thing you said here that makes sense, is that our culture is sick. And why is it sick? Because we don’t go to our parishes and join the altar society or the Legion of Mary, because we don’t sing traditional hymns, because we don’t wear modest clothing and most are afraid to be different by rejecting the sinful and immodest fashions that are acceptable by today’s standards, because we don’t turn our backs on the materialistic and sick world that we inhabit. And the only thing that our faith and catechism should include is that which was taught to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is fairly simple I would say. Raise your children right from the beginning and they don’t need World Youth Day.

Do you currently have any children under the age of 18?

 

[Freshman88]

Do you currently have any children under the age of 18?

How long ago was it that you were 18?

I recently got together with my highschool friends (Catholic highschool). I still can’t believe what I heard and saw. Coke addicts, pot heads, and alcoholics who had no respect for woman at all. Too many drop outs, too many kids living on the street.

I’m scared for my little brother, I had heard too many stories about him and his friends. Its happening all over again, and with his class, its even worse. (gr.9 cokeheads? what the **** is going on?)

We had a very youth oriented ministry (complete with liberal doctrine)… why didn’t it reach out to them? Of course you can’t blame it on youth ministry that would be completely unfair. But I think we’re all kidding ourselves if we truly believe that we are doing a good job of reaching out to our youth.

Turning our back on this culture is exactly what we need to do.

 

[ethelzguy]

How long ago was it that you were 18?

My question was directed at piouswoman, thank you.

But, since you asked, it was 1955. And while “going back” may sound noble and altruistic, it is not realistic. While some continue to live in the past, the world is passing by and soulds are being lost.

 

[Freshman88]

My question was directed at piouswoman, thank you.

Then I would direct you to PM, it is a public forum, thank you.

But, since you asked, it was 1955. And while “going back” may sound noble and altruistic, it is not realistic. While some continue to live in the past, the world is passing by and soulds are being lost.

Going back? I don’t have anything to go back to… I’m only 20.

Indeed, souls are being lost, and the effort to mix our current culture and ministry failed miserably at my highschool. Not just souls, but lives are being lost… I don’t want to ever have to go to a funeral of an old friend, who had OD’ed, ever again.

 

[ethelzguy]

Indeed, souls are being lost, and the effort to mix our current culture and ministry failed miserably at my highschool. Not just souls, but lives are being lost… I don’t want to ever have to go to a funeral of an old friend, who had OD’ed, ever again.

Sounds like you need some new friends…

 

[Freshman88]

Sounds like you need some new friends…

Sounds like you need to get a better grasp of what our generation is facing.

 

[consumedconvert]

Sounds like you need to get a better grasp of what our generation is facing.

May I interject? Indeed, our generation faces tremendous challenges, the manner of which have not been seen in this country before. Which is precisely why we need outreaches like WYD. Have there been excesses by some young people and youth leaders? Undoubtedly. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[Freshman88]

May I interject? Indeed, our generation faces tremendous challenges, the manner of which have not been seen in this country before. Which is precisely why we need outreaches like WYD. Have there been excesses by some young people and youth leaders? Undoubtedly. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

I agree wholeheartily.

I’m not saying youth ministry is a problem, in of itself is not. The fact that youth ministers only use one form of outreach is problematic. They fail to realize that traditionalism is exactly what many young people are craving for. Yet they refuse to go down this route…

 

[m134e5]

The one thing you said here that makes sense, is that our culture is sick. And why is it sick? Because we don’t go to our parishes and join the altar society or the Legion of Mary,

That’s because they’re full of old ladies who do nothing but clean and put flowers in the church. They make it into their own little clique and the group dies off when they do. That isn’t to say that these groups, by their very nature, don’t attract younger people- it’s just been my experience that they don’t do much to try to attract younger people.

because we don’t sing traditional hymns,

I love traditional hymns. I am a classical musician, and I appreciate the variety of harmony- and the profoundness of the texts of traditional hymns that I just don’t find in the contemporary stuff. When I am in charge of the music at church, I will *only *use traditional hymns. I just don’t like it when parishes use the same ones over and over again, or play them too slow and lifelessly.

because we don’t wear modest clothing and most are afraid to be different by rejecting the sinful and immodest fashions that are acceptable by today’s standards,

I don’t think people should wear immodest clothes, but modest clothes can still look good. I have seen traditional Catholics who wear nice clothes. I have also seen some who look like they’re doing a 1600’s reinactment.

because we don’t turn our backs on the materialistic and sick world that we inhabit.

It’s good to turn our backs to that, but if we do it and expect those who don’t to just come to understand why on their own, it won’t happen.

And the only thing that our faith and catechism should include is that which was taught to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is fairly simple I would say. Raise your children right from the beginning and they don’t need World Youth Day.

There’s something to be said for meeting with a bunch of people your own age who are passionate about their faith. It shouldn’t be necessary for their faith- their faith should be stronger then that, but there’s not much else we can do if it isn’t. Also, even if it isn’t necessary, it still can be a nice thing to do. I’ve seen pictures from Eucharistic congresses and things like that from the 50’s or earlier. I’m sure the people who went to those events really appreciated them- they probably weren’t necessary for the faith of most of the people there, but I’m sure they helped people.

When John Paul II was around, he recognized that the youth are the future of the Church- and they were pretty disinterested at the time. Many still are, unfortunately, but there is also a significant crowd of people between about 25 and 35 or so who went to things like World Youth Day, and came back with a newfound enthusiasm for the Faith. That was the intent of these things. It is a shame that many people have made them into a show, or that some kids go just for the chance to go on a trip without their parents.

 

[m134e5]

while “going back” may sound noble and altruistic, it is not realistic. While some continue to live in the past, the world is passing by and soulds are being lost.

Well said

 

[ethelzguy]

Sounds like you need to get a better grasp of what our generation is facing.

I have enough “grasp” to understand that we are each responsible FOR ourselves and, TO, God.

To submit a post on CAF that insinuates that the Church’s stewardship of our youth is responsible for your friends’ drug problems is both preposterous and irresponsible.

That commentary is so common today in the workplace with your generation. Always looking for someone/something else to blame for your problems, rather than accepting personal responsibility.

The Church teaches the truth, whether you like it’s style or not. You can lead a horse to water…