The following comes from a July 10 Religion News Service article by Cathy Lynn Grossman:
Most of today’s American Catholic parents don’t go to Mass, provide any Catholic education for their children or stress the basic sacraments beyond baptism.
And yet a new study of these families finds good news: “They still have a relationship with God and pray for their family,” said a co-author of the research, Mark Gray at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
This heartens Susan Wallace, marketing director for the Holy Cross Family Ministries, the organization behind the famous slogan, “The family that prays together stays together.” It commissioned the research in advance of Pope Francis’ September visit to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and the Vatican’s October meeting to conclude the church’s Synod of Bishops on the Family.
“Clearly, it’s a good news/bad news situation,” said Wallace. “But we know the challenges and now that we are not in the dark, we can provide resources to address them. If we are looking to build the future, we need to shore up young families.”
Among the study’s findings — and challenges:
One in three did not find it very important to them that their children celebrate their First Communion. One in four didn’t consider it very important that they be confirmed. These are red flags for the future, said Gray. “If you don’t have First Communion and you’re not confirmed, you are more likely to leave the faith as an adult. You can’t take Communion or really practice your faith.”
68 percent of Catholic parents do not take their children to a Catholic school, parish religious training or even a Catholic youth ministry. This is significantly less than in previous generations, based on CARA surveys of adults reflecting on their religious education, said Gray. Wallace called the finding “staggering.”
Less than half (49 percent) pay any attention to Catholic information sources in any form.
Only 16 percent of parents pray the rosary at least once a month and 7 percent at least once a week.
That’s a shocker for Holy Cross, a ministry founded by “the Rosary Priest.” The late Father Patrick Peyton was a radio and film ministry pioneer who held “rosary rallies” and began his national media outreach and billboard campaign in 1947 with the slogan “The family that prays together stays together.”
More of “The Fruits of Vatican 2”?
No. It is a fruit of materialism and consumerism.
But Vatican II promised in 1960 to address the needs of “The Church in the Modern World” (Gaudium et Spes, ap. const.), an “aggiornamiento” which specifically claimed it would confront materialism and atheism. Why not just admit V2 has been an abject failure, and that its deliberate revolution has got us to the disaster we confront today? Why do people “double-down” on indefensible V2: is the truth that hard?
And, another thing, there is no such thing as “consumerism”— except as a straw man for dyspeptic neo-socialists: people engage in commerce: it is called society. PF and Bp. Sorondo-Sanchez can go join Pol Pot and Lenin and Ho Chi Minh and create their perfect agrarian commune—and likely starve doing so. Big…
Steve,
The Council, itself, was not a failure and, if anything, occurred to late. The problem was that it was implemented during an unstable time when evil inundated Western culture. It is this evil which largely caused the issues in the aftermath of the Council. A great many priests, laymen, and even bishops became seduced by the culture. The Council’s poor implementation by Paul VI was inadequate to address this problem. John Paul II corrected many of the problems with the initial implementation but, by this point, significant damage had already been done.
More double-down on The New Springtime of Vatican II.
Let’s look around us. Read CARA/Georgetown’s many studies that flatly attribute the catastrophic collapse of Catholic numbers of every kind to V2. Read the many accompanying Pew Surveys 1965-2015. Or read Kenneth C. Jones epic report “Index of Leading Catholic Indicators” (2002), incontrovertibly pointing to the deliberately revolutionary changes of V2 as the reason for where we are now.
No, it wasnt V2: it was a some thing that looked just like, sounded just like, felt just like Vatican 2. But it wasn’t V2.
Steve, there IS such a thing as consumerism. I do not know about you, but my family is constantly bombarded by businesses calling us, even though we are on the “DO Not Call List”. Some are even from overseas. We get stacks of junk mail, in our inbox and in our outside mailbox. It used to not be that way. Businesses sell people’s names and addresses to other businesses.
Most of our friends let the answering machine answer the phone, so they are not bothered with all this stuff. Sometimes when one is expecting an important call, he/she picks up the phone only to have some annoying machine at the other end. Tell me that is not consumerism.
Anne T. thinks PF’s mythical devil of “consumerism” is 3rd-class mail and telemarketing. Yet that is not what PF’s straw man is either— as usual, this Pope never exactly defines what he is attacking.
PF uses the word “consumer/ism” 5X’s in LS. The closest he comes to explaining it is in # 203: “a whirlwind of buying and spending.” Ok, PF, the solution is obvious, but do they need a Big Parent to control their behavior? So are you going to have your new “world political authority” (#175) gocern people’s impulses, turn off the internet, shut down Amazon, and close markets? Or rather: maybe “consumerism” doesn’t really exist and it’s just another vague scapegoat of negative-minded socialists. Like you, PF.
By the way, here is what is really funny: shortly after condemning “consumerism” (we infer) as “wasteful buying and selling” (cf. #109, #162, #203), Pope Visionary contradicts himself and advocates “purchasing as a moral act” (#206). It’s high comedy and precious self-parody. “I am not a nasty consumerist: I am a Moral-Environmental Purchaser. I have a Good Will and an Enlightened Mind. Thank God I am not like the rest of men, grasping, evil, avaricious (Luke 18:9-14).”
And Anne T. uncritically thinks PF’s mythic devil, “consumerism” is 3rd-class mail and aggressive marketing: but that is neither what PF defines as “consumerism”: because he doesn’t ever define his terms exactly.
If we look at LS, PF uses the word 5x’s: the closest he comes to explaining it is in #203: “a whirlwind of buying and spending.” Ok PF, the solution is obvious: But do we need a Big Parent now to control behavior you deem “wasteful”? Are you going to then have your new “World Political Authority” (#175) govern people’s impulses, turn off their internet, shut down Amazon, and close down markets? Or, maybe “consumerism” really doesn’t exist at all: it’s just another vague scapegoat of…
Steve Phoenix, I do have to say that Pope Francis does speak “off the cuff” too much without explaining what he means and giving examples. He needs to think more before he speaks, so his words are not easily twisted. Nevertheless, every one of us needs to read what he says in context before we criticize.
Protestants were the first to accept contraception and sterilization. Now “Catholics” accept contraception as much as Protestants. I would call this trend the “fruits of contraception”
That is true what you say Tracy. I completely agree!
But contraception is a fruit of materialism. Before we had a culture that valued conspicuous consumption, children were the status symbol.
People do what they do and don’t do what they don’t do because of their beliefs. I have a relative who never attends Mass, has never gotten their children baptized but prays every day. To them, that is adequate. I do not know what they pray. I do not know what their spiritual goals are for their family. I have given them a book about the value of Mass. They had Catholic schooling from kindergarten through college. They will not share honestly with me because they are intimidated by questions about it. There is something more there but I do not know what.
…indeed the fruit of materialism and consumerism that was preferred allowing for compromise at a Vatican council by leaders who knew better.
Not going to Mass is not a fruit of Vatican II. That is a ridiculous claim. If anything, VII spoke of the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life more clearly than any prior teaching. That teaching is one that I have experienced over and over again in my own life, and it’s exposition in VII was more perfect than anything in the 2 thousand years that lead up to it.
I’m glad that you were moved by the realities surrounding the Blessed Sacrament, YFC. But whereas that was a reiteration of traditional Catholic teaching, the inclusion of vague language and novelty in other areas is what has left many others leaving the Faith.
So yes, not going to mass has been a fruit of Vatican II.
Now that is just silly.
How many people have even read the Vatican II documents?
Like there are people who read the documents and say “This is vague. I’m not going to church anymore.”
A disregard for teaching the Faith, accurately and completely by encouraging all literate Laity over age 15 to read at HOME – both
1) a Catholic Bible;
2) “Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition” of 1997.
Yes, and the Church became hospitable to materialism and consumerism in the destruction wreaked upon itself post V2.
Ralph, I would strongly disagree with that. It has a lot more to do with the people in the parish. Do you go to a parish with people who are pretty well off?
….the people in the parish are often the result of what they are fed by the parish priest, Anonymous. That and what they are not fed. This is why we need leaders, friend.
Or would you consider those who attended the Cur of Ars parish were just reformed because of the culture and the money they had? I strongly suspect that the reform of his parish was due quite particularly to the Saints calling on grace and being fearless in preaching the truth without compromise.
John,
Vatican II was an excellent council [as are all Ecumenical Councils]. However, It would have been better if it had been called 50 years earlier. As it turned out, it concluded shortly before evil flooded Western culture — very bad timing. As such, the Council had issues with its initial implementation.
Steve Seitz –
That’s not an insight I’d ever considered before! Perhaps you are right!
YFC
No “Steve Seitz”, Vatican II, and its implementation, were not “excellent” in any regard (although many VII documents clearly reflect Tradtional teachings). It was held at the dawning of a new technological age — too early for the internet to have stopped the foolish excesses of destroying the mass, for example.
And, why do you think that this was? Satan is clearly pleased with how things are turning out, so far.
Satan is clearly pleased with those who reject the Solemn Ecumenical Council.
Too bad if it sounds insulting, but these parents are LAZY!! Catholic parents have for decades been teaching their children the faith, ensuring they receive the sacraments, and sending them to truly Catholic schools. And this is when Catholic families had significantly more than the 2.2 children they have today. Parents, it is your DUTY to raise your children in the faith. If you yourself do not know the faith, you must educate yourself as well. For the sake of the souls of your children, make it happen!
Kristin, any “catholic” who contracepts and/or sterilizes him or herself and refuses to repent IS a protestant. Why would anyone, therefore be surprised when they act like one?
The good news is ‘they still pray”? That’s like driving down the road with a nail in your tire, but considering it “good news” that you don’t know about it (yet)!
What a beautiful family in the picture. God bless them.
This should be a challenge for all of us. The methods we have been using are no longer working, so we must find new ways to evangelize to parents and their kids. This must be a struggle for our older Priest who were trained one way but now face different methods for educating Catholic families and making the faith important to them. It has nothing to do with VII or TLM vs. NO. It has to do with the times. If having their kids in religion class is not important to families, how do you make it important? If First Communion is not important, how do we make it important. I wonder if the typical parish even has the cell phone number or emai address of parents and the younger kids? Young people don’t read newspapers, so we have to get…
Bob One if you think Vatican 2 has nothing to do with current state of affairs, you are blind to facts… Why is it Bob One that the several traditional parishes that I attend are attended by large families, the parishes generate vocations, they are financially viable, the preaching is solidly Catholic…there is no need for novelty or new ways to preach…The answer is staring you right in the face…..Traditional Catholicism… End of Story
Canisius, you describe a very nice situation for those who like the more traditional Mass. What you describe may all be true, but you are preaching to the choir of believers. The issue in this discussion is about people who do not believe in the teaching of the Church, or in God, or consider it something to think about when everything else is taken care of. How do you get non-believers to believe, to join the church anew, to raise their kids in the faith. The culture, our culture, has overtaken the Church’s ability to attract people to the church. I know people who will not set foot in a Catholic church because of the Priest scandal of a few years ago, or because of our “hatred” of gays, or our interference with their life style…
” I know people who will not set foot in a Catholic church because of the Priest scandal of a few years ago, or because of our “hatred” of gays, or our interference with their life style” Bob One, there are those who will reject Christ no matter what, He saw this from garden in gethesemane that there are those who despite His sacrifice will reject Him. our interference with their life style” no one is interfering with their perversions, they are incapable of serving God, they must serve their passions they are well on their way to Hell..
It has everything to do with Catholic Tradition, “Bob One”; what a surprise, yet another lie from the Zombie-Liberal side!!
Catholics need more Orthodoxy, not heterodoxy. Until recently, America was a “mission” country, and should be again. Catholic practice, today is, for all intents and purposes, no longer True Catholicism. You can see this by the overwhelmingly negative response by Catholic High School students and their clueless parents whenever an orthodox religious or priest simply tells them what the True Faith is on issues like, contraception, divorce/remarriage, homosexual sex, abortion, adultery, and fornication. They do not like it!!
Bob One, how often over the past several years has your Diocese Bishop, and your Pastor – publically and prominently promoted the read of Sacred Scripture and also the CCC at home by the literate laity ?
If not much they are disobedient to our Popes, etc.
Young people don’t red newspapers, so we have to get to them in new ways. Does your parish send out daily instant messaging to parents and kids? Do we have sermons available on podcasts? Is the monthly newsletter pushed out electronically? Does the parish have a youth minister concentrating on grade school kids, high school kids, etc. Does the parish have a young adult ministry relevant to 18-30 year olds? Etc. This data call for a new awakening.
You’re right about modern technology being used to communicate but the proper message is what needs to be sent. A twitter about abortion, same sex attraction, the “DEVIL” and that there is a “HELL” would work and not this global warming crap.
When was the last time that your Diocese Bishop and Pastor actively, prominently, and frequently encouraged the literate to read the Bible and also CCC, Bob One?
Why not ?
Both are available electronically as well as in book form.
Its not a matter so much of being lazy Kristin, these parents have lost the catholic faith. They nolonger see the importance of receiving the sacraments for themselves or their children. They unknowingly are harming their children’s souls, setting them up for spiritual failure and eternal happiness in heaven. This goes hand-in-hand with the masses belief these days from national polls that 2/3rds of V2 members don’t believe in transubstantiation. How very sad, and yet at the same time how true that point is in the V2 Church which changed all the sacraments, yes men changed what Christ had instituted arrogantly believeing they knew better than the Son of God. God is the alpha and the omega, all knowing and never changing. What He…
Yes, some have lost the faith yet still call themselves “Catholic”, yet others should not be let off the hook. They are lazy when it comes to their own practice, and more so concerning their children. Talk about sending innocents off to battle with no training! They abrogate their parenting duties.
You can thank V2 for the destruction. Christ directed His apostles to travel to all the continents and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. They obeyed, and many missionaries falling Christ’s direction have died as martyrs. Then we have in Bolivia where Francis I is apologizing to the indegnious natives for the Roman Catholic missionairies converting them from their “death of soul” pagan cultures and into a Roman Catholic culture and the atheists glee, and the rest of the protestant world smiles at their hero.
They are not just looking more Protestant, THEY ARE PROTESTANT. Very few believe the Holy Eucharist is the Body of Christ, most practice birth control and favor abortion and gay rights. They know nothing about their faith, and think everyone who dies goes to Heaven. They think they are all saved, because of Amazing Grace, never go to confession, nor pray the Rosary. Put all the facts together, and you have Protestants. Thank you, Vatican II.
It is very hard to raise children to look up to and take guidance from a presbyterate that is so tainted with the sex abuse scandal and an episcopate which did so little to do anything about it and in some cases enabled it. It’s hard to raise children to look up to people who people who have never raised a family themselves, and who are oftentimes stuck equating morality with following a set of rules completely abstracted from the reality of life. And it is very difficult to understand the importance of sticking with it when so few around you do.
And yet YOU do, even with all the shortcomings you list.
YFC, you don’t raise your children to look up to and take guidance from the presbytery. You teach them the catechism and read the Bible to them. You teach them to pray for guidance. You want them not to be scared of priests but you have to tell them about what has happened and how to protect themselves. The reality of life is that when you follow those moral “rules” life is a lot easier and simpler and peaceful. And it is very easy to point out to your children the complications and sufferings that have happened to all those people around us who do not follow the rules.
YFC since you are a sodomite raising children is not really a concern for you. You are right about one thing we have a hierarchy that is either gay or gay friendly which let the pederast scandals go on unabated…Question though do you believe the morality taught by Christ is abstract.. if you do just leave the Church
So join the Episcopalians, “Your Fellow Catholic”! Your words are an implicit attack on a celibate clergy, and small wonder, coming from a homosexual background. The problem with Catholic priests is that they are not manly enough, not that they need to be “free” to have sex and raise a family.
That is, today’s Catholic priest often fails to even mention any “rules” much less to enforce them (or even to suggest that violations of same are “sinful” like homosexual sex; always wrong). More orthodox priests means more orthodox Catholics.
…..a set of rules so abstracted from the realities of life (nature) is exactly what the Supreme Court set about to do with their latest cave in. The ‘make your own’ reality is nothing but a foundation of sand that will wash away and ruin all that is built upon it. That’s why orthodoxy – that is the teachings of the Faith – need to be upheld, preached, and promulgated in fullness. Beginning with learning self restraint.
My wife and I were blessed with six children- all raised in the Church, attended Catholic schools and colleges. All have left the Church- they say due to the various scandals. There are no guarantees anymore- the Dark ages have returned. This generation is lost, we must start instructing the next generation in the essentials of the faith – the grand children.
I am sorry that your children have left the Church. I will pray for them. I left the Church. I returned but it was agonizing. I will pray for them to have a less traumatic conversion than I did.
Bob, have no fear, the grand children already know that love wins out. That’s why they support the Supreme Court’s Decision 4 to 1.
….they support the Supreme Court’s error because they have no understanding of what love actually means. Somewhat like those in the days of Dred Scott didn’t understand what being human entailed.
That is something to fear…. for it is not of God or nature.
YFC, true LOVE does not entice or encourage sending Souls to Hell.
You merely love LUST in your promotion of homosexual acts and sodomy marriage.
Homosexual Acts,
as well as adultery, fornication, masturbation, pornography all send un-repented Souls to Hell.
Love wins out….evil is still evil even if its popular….
No, “Your Fellow Catholic” it is because they are pagans, with little to no understanding of the Cathlic Faith from their families, or church, or anyone.
Satan is much sexier than going to a church that seems embarrassed about its own history, its teachings, or its mission.
I am also sorry, Bob One, that your children, at least at this present time, are not in the Church. Ironically, or perhaps not, the one child ( of my 3) that had all “Catholic ed”, including the vaunted Jesuit prep school ed, believes little or nothing now: but the other two, both girls, with pub school ed, are believing trad Catholics. It is entirely unpredictable with kids..
We can only hope, and we will pray, that your six will have a Damascus road encounter. Add in my lost sheep, too.
The photo of the Catholic family praying (above: article) is encouraging: however it isn’t necessarily the norm, nor is it hard to understand how CARA/Georgetown’s research reveals the deconstruction of traditional Catholic prayer life. For one thing, then-Card.Abp of LA, Card. Mahony in 2000 (ca.) released his booklet on liturgy and prayer to the archdiocese: in it, he criticized those who would “shut their eyes and pray” (he said they should look at each other in the assembly) and who would kneel at Mass.
When you deliberately advocate to destroy the very outward forms which, for centuries, have described Catholic union with God in prayer, the CARA survey outcomes are only inevitable.
Well, at least this family is closing their eyes, looking at a crucifix or holy picture or, hopefully, visualizing some religious scene or people for whom to pray, instead of worshipping each other.
I find it much easier to pray in chapels before the Blessed Sacrament in silence or in churches with Gregorian chant or similar chant. It seems to take one up out of oneself and into thinking about God and our relationship to him. It is easier to hear what he is saying to me about myself and others — my need to change and how I should be praying for other people. .
In this hurried world, silence is much needed by all except the very extroverted. Even our Lord went off by himself alone to get away from it all and refresh his relationship to His Father. More and more Catholic churches that are very noisy during Mass are getting chapels for people to have quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament. That is good if one cannot go to the more…
continued: “the more traditional”.
If you are not in a state of grace you gain NO merit from prayer.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.
Come on this is basic.
If you intentionally do not go to Mass on even one Sunday without something serious that has made attendance impossible you are in a state of mortal sin.
Again, Basic.
How is it that anyone in anyway associated with the Church, like say Holy Cross Family Ministries is not pointing this out.
And pointing it out over and over again.
Does no one fear facing Our Lord during their Personal Judgment?
Kathleen, have you ever tried to explain the difference between mortal sin and venial sin to anyone who doesn’t believe in sin, God, heaven or hell, etc. Have you tried to explain to the majority of ex-catholics why same sex marriage is wrong without being told that you belong to a hate group? The basics are for believers. Our job is to rope them in and our methods are not working. Why is it that so many parishes have only a few hundred people on Sunday while the five years of “community church” down the road is pulling in thousands every Sunday? We could learn from them. They are going to church and we are not!
I’m blessed to be with a group that is **unabashedly** teaching the **fullness** of what the Church teaches successfully to the poorest of poor sinners — those frequenting the abortion mills.
So Yes Bob, I have.
You say [for yourself] “our methods are not working”
Perhaps you need to ask yourself why.
We are not meant to hide the Truth. We and outfits like Holy Cross Family Ministries are called to proclaim the truth.
No we cannot, “Bob One”. The problem with the Catholic churches today is that they fail to teach the True Faith. Sappy, happy, limp-wristed, whiny sermons doing nothing but bore people. Add to this wreckovated churches, screechy, Protestant music, and the absence of much devotion, and there is little to remind people why they are in Church.
In fact, most Catholic Churches fail to preach sin, the need for confession and penance, the reality of Hell, and that many never get to Heaven. Of course people will flock to evangelical churches that preach these things. Episcopalians, however, had not seen much increase in their attendance even though they allow everything.
To say that one has no merit from prayer is not saying that one’s prayer is not heard.
Well what is it saying then?
God hears all prayer. Some prayers merit actual grace. One would not receive it , if in mortal sin.
If in doubt, go to confession. If you cannot get there quickly pray an act of perfect contrition.
What did our hierarchy expect? They been watering down Catholicism to make our religion easier and closer to the Protestants thinking that would draw them into our Church. Instead it has made it easier for Catholics to switch over to the other side. Got rid of no meat on Friday, one hour fasting before communion, standing during communion and almost got rid of any kneeling at all and then there’s the receiving the Eucharist in the hand. They made it also so much easier. Maybe the Precious Blood should be passed around in those little plastic cups next – wouldn’t be a big surprise if that should happen. Duhhhhhh.
The title of the article is a bit insulting to those who are strong Christians of other denominations. I know hundreds of Protestants who are working hard to bring up their families in strong Christian environments, getting them to church on Sunday and to weekday/night faith formation programs. They belong to congregations that have strong, growing programs for families, young adults and younger children. We Catholics can sit around all day stating that we are the one true church established by Christ, but if we do nothing in our parishes to help families know the faith, bring them to learn the faith and provide services for their kids, we can expect continued decline in membership. We need to change our processes.
…a bit insulting? We can sit around all day stating that ‘we’ are the one true Church and entirely miss the point the the Catholic Faith is the one true Faith, Bob One. That’s the point. The Faith, not us. Catholics are looking like Protestants, that is Catholics may be thinking they are Catholic, but in reality, do not have the Faith.
And the Faith is a gift from God, the Father, which is why our duty is to protect it and to promulgate it whole and entire – not worry about how the truth is offensive. That’s kind of what those in Christ’s time thought of Him. They were offended by the Truth.
But we’re too concerned about being nice…. otherwise we may get crucified.
When was the last time you heard a truly spiritual, uplifting homily at mass? We surely do not. Sunday mass is the time when 90 per cent of the parishioners are together and it is the perfect time for a priest to give a message to his folk that they can take with them for the week and put into practice. It just does not happen anymore. Those days seem to be gone forever. Would appreciate hearing where someone in the Archdiocese of S.F. can go to hear a wonderful homily.
Veronica, I would suggest that you research which parish is growing and pulling in the people. Survey after survey indicates that the three main reasons people choose a parish, other than it is in the neighborhood, are Music, Homilies and services to the family. When a parish grows and is vibrant, there will be good homilies. Some Priest will spend a half-hour preparing a Sunday sermon. The really good preachers spend hours preparing their sermon, practicing a couple of time in the pulpit and praying about it. When you decide on which church to attend, visit several, ask the preacher how he goes about preparing the sermon and why you should attend his parish – what makes it different.
Of course, “Bob One”, you post is simply crazy, and evidence, again, that you follow a script designed to do everything possible to build up the “NewChurch” that most Catholics have had dumped on them.
In fact, failthful and orthodox liturgies and homilies that reflect Catholic Tradition are the best ways to keep churches packed. You Zombie-Liberals always stress the “show” factor of the Novus Ordo as the key element, when, in fact, it is entirely irrelevant. The loss of a large percentage of Catholics as practicing, even with “The Show” contradicts your loony views.
St. C, I don’t care about old or new, I care about bringing people to the church. If the TLM is the way to bring them in, what are we doing about training the parents who don’t come to Mass and the kids they don’t bring for the Sacraments? What programs in the parish do we have to help families, to meet their needs as a family, to teach them how to train their kids, to make the parish a center of family life in the neighborhood, etc? Or, do we simply try to accommodate the few older, traditional, folks in the parish who just want to go to Mass and then be left alone? If we have no outreach programs, we have no incoming people.
Bob One, does your Pastor (and Diocese Bishop) encourage all Literate laity over age 15 to read BOTH the Bible
and the CCC which contains the Doctrine of the Faith
at HOME – so they will know for a fact what the Church teaches ?
How often? Where?
Reading/studying at home is easy and convenient.
Show me ONE study that shows that the main reason people leave is because of the liturgy not being “faithful and orthodox”. Never mind your insulting swipe at the thousands of parishes an their pastors who, you claim, are not orthodox and faithful.
Life is more than “studies”, YFC. Try looking around you and talking to actual people – like those on CCD with eyes, ears, families, stories, and histories.
This obsession you have with life in the lab and the fairy tale of the unbiased views of the white coats is not fooling a single soul. You may want to see to your own ongoing swipe against rational thought. This perpetual tamping down of field observations smacks of manufactured “science”.
yfc, Ah, the great era of “Studies”! Apparently we are now living in such enlightened times that we aren’t even allowed to think for ourselves anymore.
You are right Tracy we are not, the leftist totalitarian mindset (like YFC) forbid logical and reasoned thinking, they are ruled by their passions and emotions….
I would suggest you what you seek will be found where you find the traditional Latin Mass.
Here are locations in your area
94010 – BURLINGAME – St Catherine of Siena Church 1310 Bayswater Avenue
4th Sun 5:30 pm
* Diocese (Fr. Morgan)
94303 – EAST PALO ALTO – St Francis of Assisi 1425 Bay Rd
1st Fri 6 pm
Pho (650) 322-2152
* Diocese (Fr. Goode)
94110 – SAN FRANCISCO – Immaculate Conception Chapel 3255 Folsom Street
Sun 5 pm
Pho (415) 863-6259
* Diocese (Fr William Young)
94114 – SAN FRANCISCO – Star of the Sea Parish, 4420 Geary Boulevard (at 8th Avenue)
Mon-Fri 7:30 am
Sun 11 am
Pho (415) 751-0450
* Diocese (Frs Illo and Driscoll)
94903 – SAN RAFAEL – Holy Rosary Chapel of St…
An old suggestion is to pray a Hail Mary before the sermon.
Also pray to the Holy Spirit that you may discern what He will you to learn.
If this would be helpful…
There is a book called Tweeting with God that has the approval of Archbshop Cordileone.
i HIGHLY recommend to read St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life.
“Why is it that we have so little liking for spiritual things? This is because we love Jesus Crucified so little.”
– St Don Bosco
From: St. Jerome Emilian Prayer to Raise Up Christendom:
Lord Jesus Christ, our loving Father, we beseech Thee, by Thine infinite goodness, raise up Christendom once more, and bring it back to that upright holiness which flourished in the apostolic age. Amen
If these people have not taken the time to learn their faith and practice it, then no matter how much instruction they receive, if they are not willing to listen with their hearts, then they will take for granted the beautiful pearls from our faith! This culture will gladly help the lazy with this downfall;
“You have the church which is a refuge, and, if I may dare to say so, is a heaven in miniature. You have a sacrifice offered up and consummated; you have the house wherein the Holy Ghost showers down abundant graces; you have the tombs and relics of the martyrs and saints, and many other things which should induce you to return from a state of sin and indifference to that of grace and justice.” (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of…
Good Catholics pray your rosary and look for an adoration chapel to go to. Remember these as well:
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) Are:
1. Wisdom
2. Understanding
3. Counsel
4. Fortitude
5. Knowledge
6. Piety
7. Fear of the Lord
“Over the last half century the faith life of the average Catholic in the United States has gotten worse, not better. Mass attendance has gone way down, not up. Catholic Biblical and catechetical illiteracy has worsened.”
Father Roger J. Landry has written columns on a plan of life, or what used to be called a rule of life, spiritual practices to advance one in the spiritual life.
This is the index. It begins at the bottom with A Plan of Life..
https://www.anchornews.org/columnists/landry/
Our faith is a gift from God. What we do with it is our gift back to Him.
The vague phrase “consumerism” is a mythic enemy of the left: my experience with leftist university Jesuits is that it really masks their socialist agenda against free economic systems. In LS, P Francis uses “consumerist/ism” pejoratively at least 5x’s (109, 144, 161-162, 203) but never defines it: typical for this great visionary. He specifically attacks free markets at least 7x’s (#32,55-56, 82, 109,123,189) — while he only specifically criticizes abortion once (#120)—a lukewarm assertion for a procedure that that continues to liquidate millions of humans.
But the highest self-parody is where PF condemns (we infer) “consumerism” as “a whirlwind of needless buying and spending” (#203), then later, in #206, he…
Now the popes who have been true to the tradition of the Church (ex. John XXIII, “No Catholic can subscribe to even moderate socialism,” Mater et Magistra, #34, 1961) have historically attacked materialism and atheism—the two key components of communism/socialism from Marx to the present. JP2 did this strikingly in “Dominum et Vivificantem” (1986), a condemnation specifically of Marxism:
“”In principle and in fact, materialism radically excludes the presence and action of God, who is spirit, in the world and above all in man…Fundamentally, this is because it does not accept God’s existence.”
However, God and Jesus Christ are only peripheral in LS’ secular-atheist declaration, being virtually excluded from #14-63…
and 100-217 of Laudato Si.
However, God and Jesus Christ are only peripheral to LS’ secular-atheist declaration, being virtually excluded from #14-63 and #100-217 (out of 246 par). Ecology, environment/al, ecosystems are mentioned 109x’s: hostility to free markets 7x’s (with no substitute economic system proposed: they never do); and Jesus Christ 17X’s. So, there is the proof.
Consumerism doesn’t exist: you mean “commerce”, PF: and if you don’t like people engaging in commerce and don’t want to lead them by inspiring example, it is time to get your “World Political Authority” (#175) in place so that Ban Ki Moon and Jeffrey Sachs can police us and close down free markets.
You are completely misreading the Holy Father. A Pope who wants to shut down commerce would not return, after his election to the papacy, to the hotel to pay his bill. It seems to me, that action in and of itself elevates the dignity of fair commerce far beyond any misreading you might do of his subsequent encyclical.
People who crave THINGS (materialism) or who crave BUYING things (consumerism) are only a hair away from violating the commandment about coveting THINGS. Coveting something on a store shelf is hardly different than coveting something on the shelf in the house next door, even if you obtain either of them through legal channels.
…paying one’s hotel bill is not a treatise on one’s views of commerce. Justice would demand the bill be paid for services rendered.
Consumerism is an inordinate desire for the the things of the world. It results in placing the things of the world over God and over people. Even the poor can be consumeristic. Even communists can be consumeristic. One result of consumerism is looking at people for how they can be useful to you instead of seeing them as having intrinsic worth. You start to see people as objects.
Another result is to view spirituality as some kind of force that can help you get the things in life that you want.
Temperance is one of the four cardinal virtues. It helps restrain man’s inordinate desires for temporal things.
Well and good, this unique interpretation of “consumerism”. However, it isn’t PF’s definition: because PF has never directly defined [yet another vague and confusing] visionary buzzword of his lexicon.
If he were consistent with prior popes’ positions, such as Pius XII, JP2, others— he would call it, correctly, “materialism”—which is that which is your description above (“Anonymous”, 7/17/15, 9:36am). But most communists are materialists, and he has a love-affair in with them, so he avoids it. In one place, he decries “buying and selling” as his mythical consumerism (#203): two paragraphs later, he encourages “purchasing as a moral act.” (#206) This guy is all mixed up.
Have you written Pope Francis? He may answer your difficulties.
Glad to see some liberals i.e. Vatican 2 members are admitting to the failing statistics of the V2 Church. That is the first step in getting back on the straight and narrow path, to recognize the problems and to try to solve their origination so that they can be fixed and the damage can be reversed. Benedict the XVIth might have taken this approach when he encouraged the return to Paul the VIths mass. There are a lot of different rumors and beliefs why Benedict the XVIth resigned, perhaps the liberal V2 leaders didn’t like his reversal. One thing with certainty, the loss of the catholic faith of millions came after the implementation of V2. Anything goes. Like our Lord said :”You will know them by their fruits”. the fruits of V2…
Pray, pray, pray that God and His Holy Mother will send you to Him where He is present in soul, body, and divinity. I am convinced He will guide you to a real Roman Catholic Parish that is devoted to Roman Catholic tradition, all 7 Holy Sacraments as they were before V2 changed them, Holy Clergy (Bishops, Priests, and Nuns) that are edifying and show the utmost reverence to the Holy Eucharist. Bishops and Priests who put the salvation of souls before global warming nonsense, anti-capitalilsm and pro-Marxism, and free health-care for all at the expense of the citizens and babies aborted. Yes pray to Jesus and Mary, they will direct you to the true Roman Catholic Church and Faith, but you have to pray!
That is interesting because when I was heading that direction, the Lord physically and spiritually removed me from the temptation.
Catholic Families are looking more Protestant because many Diocese Bishops and many Parish Priests refuse to TEACH the Faith completely and accurately.
These Bishops and Priests do not teach literate Catholics over age 15 to read both the Bible and CCC at HOME. They keep the laity ignorant.
” My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.” – Hosea 4:6.
Sam, etal, do you really think that putting a Catechism in the hands of a non-believing former Catholic is THE thing that will entice them to bring their family back to church? I have many opportunities each year to attend services or meetings in Protestant churches. They always have Bibles in the pews. Families take their Bibles with them to church if they have them and the Pastors preach from the Bible, and the Bibles are full of notes, highlighted verses, etc. If people don’t have Bibles, the church gives them one. Do we have Bibles in our pews? Do we even have Missals in the pews so people can follow the Mass. Sometimes I think we make it difficult to be Catholic.
BobOne, your Bishop and your Pastors are supposed to put the Bible and CCC in the hands of the literate Catholics.
Why do you want to keep Church going Catholics ignorant ? – So that they can not accurately teach the Faith to others ? ? ? ? ?
Posters have been very clear. That Bishops and Priests must encourage the literate to read both the Bible and CCC, and you are ignoring the question. Does your Bishop and Pastor do this or not ?
Leigh, I think you read me wrong. I’m suggesting that we should do whatever we can to encourage learning the lessons of the Bible. Why don’t we follow the example of our friends in other denominations and have them in the pew racks? Why don’t we give a Cathecism to every family?
Since when are bishops and pastors supposed to put the Bible and the CCC into the hands of literate Catholics? Who made that rule up?
Bob One asks, “Why don’t we give a Catechism to every family?” = Because proper catechizing is not considered as being necessary, especially if a parish collection is still pulling in big bucks and allowing heterodoxy. Shepherds are far too busy now, selling Theology on Tap beer and “climate change” in order to confuse the already un-catechized/marginalized. Shamelessly fleecing trusting sheep for a $20.00 beer, dinner and live music duping fee. Even leftists realize that you need to somewhat inebriate the unsuspecting before you sell them more goofy propaganda. Jesus did NOT say, “My people perish for lack of knowledge about “climate change.”
https://www.facebook.com/events/396460133885136/
continued…..
continued…
No Valiant Catholic Leadership….just Valiant Beer!
*Note: This SPECIAL Theology on Tap event is $20, but it covers Valiant Brewing beer, dinner and live music***
“Join us August 7th at the Christ Cathedral for a special Theology on Tap dedicated to our Holy Father’s encyclical on the environment – Laudato Si. Tony Strawa, PhD, Catholic Climate Ambassador will lead our discussion regarding the harmful effects of global climate change, its impact on the poor and marginalized and what we can do to protect God’s creation.”
continued….
” Dr. Strawa has spent 20 years as an Atmospheric Scientist with NASA and is currently the Chair of the Diocese of San Jose Climate Change Initiative.”
“Please go here to RSVP: https://cathedralontap.eventbrite.com/”
Cathedral on Tap? = Confusion on Tap. Never RSVP to your own demise!
Luke 18:8 But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?
The beer better be really good, Catherine, because the “theology” and the science are dregs.
Since the climate change fables have now metamorphosized from global warming —since satellite data now shows no net temperature change in 21 years—- two decades when Al Gore, Dr Michael Mann (Penn State), Dr. Philip Jones (E Anglia Univ), and all the hockey-stick-graph fakes, predicted radical, world-destructive global warming— let us all attend Theology on Tap and petition Dr. Strawa that it will rain good-quality German beer, regular or NA. It is just as scientific as their preposterous claims.
Regarding our new found devil, “consumerism,” I think it’s a good homework assignment to ask our pro-Laudato Si bishops, diocese social concern directors, Vicars general (like Fresno’s Monsgr. Dreiling), and esp our Catholic Charities apparatchiks and their funded community organizers, how many Visas, Amex, & Mastercards they have in order to charge all their world travel, hotel, limo services, dinners and adult beverages to the good Catholic capitalist-dog donors whom they look down upon as “wasteful consumerists.” Be prepared for the blank “how-dare-you” stare.
One of the great teaching tools available to Pastors and Catechists if the U.S. Catechism for Adults. It teaches the faith and helps people learn how to use the teachings in their daily lives. Although the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a primary deposit of the teachings of the Church, it is primarily a source document for local Ordinaries to use in developing their own Catechisms with the approval of the Vatican. A study of the U.S. Catechism for Adults would make a good year-long program for any parish.
FALSE. BobOne, the US Bishops (USCCB) Catechism for Adults is merely a local and incomplete Catechism.
When are you going to start adhering to the statements of our Popes, rather than the USCCB ? (I personally do not trust the Bishops and staff at the USCCB to teach completely and accurately. – They contradict the CCC on the need for immigrants to obey the law, and on the death penalty.)
“….the CATECHISM has raised throughout the world, even among non-Christians, and confirms its purpose of being presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine, enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” – Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xiv)
For more quotes about the CCC…
BobOne, the USCCB did NOT need to write their own catechism for adults in the USA.
Local and regional catechisms are only for those laity who due to age, lack of maturity, and culture issues, need a different adaptation. = CCC #24.
The Laity over age 15 in the USA can very well understand the CCC, which is quoted in most official Church documents.
Do not defend bad Bishops or bad Priests who try to hide accurate and complete teachings of the Church from the literate Laity – which are contained in the CCC.
BobOne you have to quit making things up. The CCC and the USCCB’s Adult catechism are NOT of equal par at all.
This is from the USCCB web site about their Adult catechism:
“….His (Abp Carroll’s) story, like other stories at the start of the chapters in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, gives us a glimpse into the lives of Catholics who lived out their faith throughout our country’s history. Each chapter in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults includes stories, doctrine, reflections, quotations, discussion questions, and prayers to lead the reader to a deepening faith.” https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/us-catholic-catechism-for-adults/
The CCC on the other hand…
“The CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, lastly is offered to every individual who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) and who wants to know what the Catholic Church believes”. – Pope John Paul II (CCC pg 6)
Bad Bishops and bad Priests did not even tell Catholics that they could have obtained an indulgence during the Year of Faith by reading the CCC.
Pope John Paul II said this in the intro to the Catechism: This catechism is not intended to replace the local catechisms duly approved by the ecclesiastical authorities, the diocesan Bishops and the Episcopal Conferences, especially if they have been approved by the Apostolic See. It is meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to catholic doctrine.
No the CCC was not intended to replace children’s catechisms, and for those who have difficulty understanding. In the USA we have no issues with culture or literacy with those over age 15. CCC: #24.
Have you read about the contents at the USCCB web site regarding the “United States Catholic Catechism for Adults” ?
It is a joke in comparison to the Doctrine of the Faith contained in the CCC.
This is why so many Catholics do not know their Faith accurately and completely. “Each chapter in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults includes stories, doctrine, reflections, quotations, discussion questions, and prayers to lead the reader to a deepening faith. ”
https://www.usccb…
I’m sorry to disagree with you Chris P, but I think the US Catholic Catechism for Adults is a great piece of work; it does contain stories of people living their faith, has doctrine, asks people to reflect on what that means in their lives, etc. True, it is not the reference work that the CCC is, but it is based on it and approved by the Vatican. The U.S. Catechism for Adults is just what Pope John Paul II said should be created. It reflects our culture, not that of other countries who have their own version based on their culture. Reading law is not the same a deepening our faith.
Anomynous, This depends upon which Anomynous you are, the heterosexual or the homosexual. If you are the homosexual, I can completely understand your reversal as the devil wants your soul, he wants to preserve your homosexuality which is a grave sin against God. If you are the heterosexual, I can completely understand your reversal as the devil wants your soul too! The devil doesn’t want you to become closer to God and receive the graces from the 7 Holy Sacraments conducted in the Latin Rite as they are powerful and upset the devil so gravely.