Three easy steps that would dispense with the questionnaire

Time to remove the cuckoo's egg

According to Deacon Nick's excellent post, the Vatican is now telling us that we are becoming too intense with regard to the Family Synod questionnaire.

There are parts of the questionnaire that do not involve us, they are beyond our pay grade.

That may be the case but why, in Heaven's name issue a market research paper that is so misleading?

So ambiguous. So intent on asking questions that run well beyond the writ of most of the laity and the clergy.

And why embark upon this exercise at all when the means of pinpointing the moves that will restore the Faith is so blooming obvious?

I have worked in education for 25 years, not as an academic but as an administrator.  In that time I have helped design many strategic plans and most (not all) have been successful.

More specifically, I have been part of a team designing solutions to problems; of course, none quite as complex and wide ranging as renewing the Faith and zeal of 1.2 billion Catholics, but most of the same principles apply.

I am sure that Rome can call on talent that far exceeds my basic skills but, even I, can see a pathway that will bring the Barque of St Peter back on course.

It is based on three elements.

It's not astrodynamics.

The three elements are Education, Training and Liturgy.

Firstly, education. Certainly in the UK we desperately need an RI syllabus that provides red meat as opposed to the thin gruel that has poisoned and disaffected the minds of the young for so long.

Young minds are capable of much more than the Catholic education system currently offers.

What is required, at secondary level, is a programme that focuses on key elements such as the history of the Palestine region during the time of Christ, the parables and the life of Christ, the New and Old Testaments, the Sacraments, comparative outlines of other faiths and their relationship to Catholicism all set within a framework of morals and society.

The underpinning knowledge element to come from the Catechism.

OK, that's a quick fix, broad brushstroke treatment but it's well on the way to creating knowledge, love of God and fervour for the Faith in the hearts and minds of the young.

However, Catholic education should be more than curriculum based.

There are outward signs and acts that reinforce knowledge and encourage belief and piety.

A crucifix in every classroom.
Prayers at the beginning and end of the school day, School retreat days, pilgrimages to Catholic shrines (not Hindu temples), weekly school Masses, Inter school Faith quizzes, Nativity plays at Christmas, Passion plays at Easter, Catholic Poets' Societies, School Scout and Guide troops, a shadow school board of pupils charged with developing Catholic social and charitable events.

The list could go on, but you get the idea.

The second step, that of training, would be aimed at Catholic adults. It would need to be doctrinally sound and morally unambiguous.
The schedule would include the doctrinal and dogmatic elements of the Faith, the primacy of the Papacy, the role of the Magisterium and the responsibilities of the hierarchy.
 The role of the priest as an "other Christ" and the cultural and social role of Catholics both within the Church and in the outside world.

And maybe one or two 'out' sessions where a more spiritual element is introduced by studying the Ten Commandments or how greater reverence can be introduced into the parish.

Thirdly, I would argue that 'Liturgy' should be properly ordered so that we begin to regain some semblance of continuity and community.

Most members of the laity have either forgotten or do not know what is expected of them at Mass and, I suspect are ignorant of the liturgical riches that should be readily available.

Benediction, Stations of the Cross (not just during Lent), the Angelus, Forty hours Devotion, the Rosary.

So, parish priests should have their authority restored so that they may impose (yep, that is what it needs) the correct way of behaving in church; no loud chatter and laughter, genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament, dignity at all times, abolition of the KoP, appropriate dress codes, reception of the Eucharist in a reverent manner and, above all else, the awareness of what takes place during the Consecration; the fact that bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Our Lord while still maintaining the characteristics of bread and wine.

 That is, the most vital element of all.

And finally, an integral overarching component of all three of the strategies, Education, Training and Liturgy, is to make the Mass in the Extraordinary Form available on every Sunday in every parish church throughout the world.

Oh, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should be done away with, not with a hatchet but with charity.

Do all of the above and the souls of many will be saved and the demands of Fatima fulfilled.

And Satan and all his works will be thwarted.

But will it happen? Heaven help us! Literally.

If the Catholic Church was a patient....................

....Just what would be its state of health?

 



 

Well, in England and Wales, any medico making an analysis of Church ills, might well be inclined to declare the patient as suitable for the DNR ('Do not resuscitate') tag.

In fact, we are probably not so far away from having a large ticket tied to our big toe before being sent to the morgue.

But, the cry goes up, "Our parish has welcomers, lots of lay readers, Extraordinary Ministers, a vibrant parish council (is that an oxymoron?) and special services for the children on a Sunday, just what are you talking about?"

The fact is that, in England and Wales, the Church has dropped arches, poor circulation, chronic emphysema, limited vision and, it's overweight, clinically obese, in fact.

It is not quite yet dead but it does require remedial invasive surgery as well as a fitness programme to return it to full health.

To renew and re-invigorate.

Parishes that make the claim that they have a lively programme of church activities may well be telling the truth but they are missing the point, a busy and varied liturgical and social programme is fine but that is not the measure of success; it's only a partial performance indicator.

There are thousands of Catholics out there who are falling through the net and to whom, parish bible reading sessions are anathema.

And there are millions of non Catholics out there who, if presented with the average Diocesan newsletter, would move into reverse gear and put their foot hard down on the accelerator (gas) pedal.

The Church message has not changed; so why the problem?

It all has to do with focus and delivery.

Focus inasmuch that, so I believe, men and women are hungry for real meat and are not interested in  a faux Anglican Church comprising of middle class citizens and delivery in terms of the means that the Church employs to reach out to its existing members and to its potential members.

We have seen the great Anglican experiment of vicars drinking half pints of beer with the lads on a Friday night and then placing their Sunday Worship programme into the hands of a few members of the laity so that liturgy is trumped by nature displays from the primary school children and the Mother's Union clog dancing performance.

That has failed and quite rightly so.
 There is no substance to that just as there is no substance to most Catholic diocesan and parish activities.

Show me a parish with a blog or website that utilises the abundance of material available on the internet.

Where are the Facebook and Twitter entries?
 Non existent, while parish news is carried on poorly printed and highly boring A4 sheets left at the back of the church.

Of course, access to a computer is not available to all, but it is to the masses and full use needs to be made of it.

That's the delivery side, now for the focus.

If you treat the liturgy as a form of Playschool where you patronise and obscure, then it's no wonder that the pews are empty and folk look to the 'new' evangelical faiths.

Summorum Pontificum still applies.

Reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament still applies - stop bowing and start genuflecting.

Apply some rigour to attending church on a Sunday - cut out the chattering before and after Mass. Develop useful activities for the female altar servers ( not church cleaning) and get them off the altar.

Give the Sacrament of Reconciliation sitting in an armchair facing the priest the heave ho and re-introduce the Sacrament of Penance, in a confessional, at regular times.

Reception of Holy Communion in a reverent fashion still applies (in the Roman Rite) - bring back the altar rails, allow the faithful to kneel and to receive by mouth.

Above all else, open up the windows and allow fresh air to blow through the parishes, expelling the low oxygen levels and stale air of the past 50 years of headless chicken church management.

The Gospels are there.

Renewal is still possible; but the spirit needs to be willing.

We need leaders who have spirit and vision and who are inspired by the love of Christ to place us back on track.

Pray for Archbishop Mennini that he will long continue to give us the blood transfusion we so desperately need.