The most important day of secular America’s calendar is fast approaching. I’m talking of course about Super Bowl Sunday—the highest holy day of our land.
Most religious leaders would do anything to get followers this dedicated. For many people football has become a way of life, an identity in which one finds comfort and fulfillment. Attend any NFL game or enter a team’s subreddit and you’ll see what I mean.
Football isn’t the only cultural touchstone that attracts devoted followers. TV shows, other sports, hobbies, and political movements all spawn communities of passionate devotees obsessing over the details of their cause. Although this has been true for decades, the internet has accelerated the trend, allowing followers of even the most obscure interests to come together in Reddit groups, forums, and chat rooms. Someone in the 1980’s who loved 19th century English fashion might have felt all alone, but now she can unite with others to discuss and debate their common obsession endlessly.
It’s not that being a football fan or passionate about a hobby is immoral, but the zeal with which many embrace their recreational interests is disordered, replacing what should be the role of religion in their lives. Since 2000, when the internet really started becoming ubiquitous, religion (including Catholicism) has seen a dramatic drop in membership. I don’t think this is a coincidence.
People have an innate need for purpose and for community. Historically, religion was perfect at fulfilling those needs—which makes sense, since God made man to desire religion. It gave a clear purpose in life: usually some form of “follow the teachings of this religion and you will spend eternity in heaven.” It also provided a community—members who gathered together at least once a week, supported one another, and worked together for the cause of the church.
A few years ago I saw the stark contrast between parish life and other modern causes in the form of dueling posters. My daughter was playing in a softball tournament out of town, and I noticed a poster advertising a new girls travel team. It spoke of the intense commitment needed to be part of the team, as well as the talent needed to make the roster. But it promised rewards (in improving skills, winning games) for those who stuck with the commitment.
The next day we attended a parish nearby. On the bulletin board was a poster seeking altar servers. It emphasized that little commitment was needed, it was easy to learn, and anyone could do it.
Which do you think is more attractive to young people? The one promising camaraderie through the sacrifice of achieving a shared goal, or the one that clearly didn’t think its existence was very important?
This is a microcosm of the failure of religion in the 21st century. While moderns have a multitude of causes and interests to attract them, religion has been characterized as no big deal, as an add-on that one can take or leave.
How should Catholic parishes respond? I think they should look to why these groups attract such passionate followers. In fact, there is an example of this within the Catholic Church already: the traditional Latin Mass communities. While I don’t want to discount the real theological and liturgical reasons people are attracted to TLM parishes, it’s true that they also fulfill the real need for a clear and unifying purpose to gather around. TLM-goers recognize the seriousness with which the Faith is taken in these communities, a seriousness often sadly lacking in many regular Catholic parishes.
This clear unifying purpose also has a flip side: it’s exclusionary by its very nature. Anyone who is not supportive of the mission is outside the group, not part of the community. When two Bengals fans get together, they have a shared interest that separates them from the rest of the outside world. This increases their sense of belonging and commitment to the community. This is likewise true in TLM communities.
Catholic parishes, in other words, need to be distinctive. They need to separate themselves from the crowded marketplace by being clear about their mission—and by being clear about the demands of following that mission. Instead of preaching, “Be nice,” parishes need to preach, “Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) and “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
Full story at Crisis Magazine.
What’s a subreddit? Is that in the stadium?
It is on the Internet. Reddit is a website where people can write about what interests them. A subreddit would be one of the topics on Reddit.
Catholic seminarians are not taught how to “do” church, and there is good reason for that. The first and foremost “job” of a priest is to say mass and administer the sacraments. Most liturgical Protestant pastors are taught a variation on the theme. The churches that are growing and maintain huge attendance, however, are taught how to manage a church for growth. We could learn from them. For them, the sermon is a major part of the service and they spend most of their week preparing it and practicing it. There are few Evangelical ministers who are bad speakers. They are taught how to recruit members, how to make the church the central part of the congregation’s life. They have powerful training for the children, starting in nursery school. They have weekly Bible study, small groups, youth activities, counseling for addicts and alcoholics, home visits for those who don’t show up for a week or two. But mostly they are focused on bringing Christ to the people on a daily basis. Their music is uplifting and the kind that all want to sing. They know how to “do” church.
But they do not have the holiest thing of all from which all grace flows — the Sacrifice. That is what I, as a Methodist child, asked myself. There stood a beautiful altar in my church with a golden cross, two golden candlesticks and two golden flower vases but no sacrifice. An altar requires a sacrifice. “Where,” I later asked myself, “is the true altar about which St. Paul spoke in the book of Hebrews?
“Prostate I adore Thee, Deity unseen,
Who Thy glory hidest beneath these shadows mean;
Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
Entranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.”
Ann T, and no one will know about the Sacrifice if we don’t first get them into the church. And they won’t stay unless we make the church an important, relevant part of their lives. Too many don’t find hope or meaning in the church anymore or don’t agree with its teachings. Too bad, but …
Belief in the Real Presence is a gift from God. We need to pray for those who do not believe it.
There will always be people who stray and we need to pray for them to return.
is anyone actually suggesting
that anything could be bigger,
greater and/or more noble and
uplifting than the annual super bowl liturgy?
I’ll tell you this: if you own a business, better close for the afternoon and evening on that day.
Our SF Archdiocese posted a wonderful YouTube interview with Kansas City Chief kicker, Harrison Butker, a devout Catholic who is married to his high school sweetheart, and has a baby boy. His devout Catholic Faith is inspiring! He especially loves the beautiful Latin Tridentine Mass, and serves as an altar boy weekly, for it, at his parish. His lovely young wife also converted to the Catholic Faith, inspired by her husband. Young Harrison Butker may be a source of inspiration for many other young people. Here is the YouTube interview:
https://youtu.be/FEfq7PFLypY
There was a wonderful story today, on the pro-life “Live Action” website of Lila Rose, all about the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle, Marquise Copeland, whose mother was pressured to have an abortion, when she got pregnant with him, in 1997. A pro-life ministry helped her through her pregnancy, and beyond. Marquise later became a big success at both academics and football. And he was on the winning team, the L.A. Rams, that won this year’s Superbowl!