Why Do So Many Miss Experiencing Jesus in Our Parishes and How Can We Change This?

We were blessed this past weekend to have Sherry Weddell, author of Forming Intentional Disciples, visit the Archdiocese of Washington and speak to priests and lay leaders. Her work is a great blessing to the Church in calling us back to “job one,” which is to make disciples. In Catholic parishes evangelization is too often relegated to committees or tossed into the “we’ll get to that next year” file. Weddell’s mission is to create greater urgency in this most central work of the Church.

Rather than present her thoughts (which are admirably stated in her books) in this blog, I would like instead to put forth a few of my own (which echo hers, and I would argue, those of Jesus Himself). Sadly, there are many issues that keep people from experiencing Jesus powerfully in our parishes. There are also some practices we ought to better observe in order to better manifest the presence and person of Jesus. Let’s consider first some problems and then some remedial practices.

I. Problems – If Jesus is present in His Church, then this is most evident in His action and presence in the Liturgy and Sacraments of the Church. Yet any cursory look into the typical Catholic parish would reveal little to indicate an awareness of this.

A. Bored and disengaged The assembled people, including the clergy, often look bored, distracted, and mildly irritated at having to endure the event. Where is the alert joy that one sees at sporting events or at the appearances of celebrities? If people believe that Jesus is alive and ministering in this moment, why do so many of them look as if they’re waiting for a root canal? It’s as though they wish the whole thing would be over as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Some argue that many people are just reserved by nature, but most of these same people are animated enough at football games or in political discussions. The answer seems to be more due to a lack of vivid faith and a failure to understand that the Liturgy and Sacraments are encounters with the Risen Lord Jesus.

B. Perfunctory Further, in terms of the spiritual life of many of the faithful, it seems that even where there is observance of norms (e.g., attendance at Sunday Mass, or confession on at least an annual basis), it is done more out of a sense of duty than with eager love. The bare minimum is all that is done, only enough to “check off the God box.” It is almost as though they are placating the deity rather than worshipping and praising the God to whom they are grateful and whom they love. The upshot is that the sacraments are considered tedious rituals rather than transformative realities or true encounters with Jesus.

C. Low Expectations Many people place more trust in Tylenol than they do in the Eucharist. When they take Tylenol they expect something to happen; they expect there to be healing, for the pain to go away or the swelling to go down. But do these same people have any real expectations about the Eucharist or the other sacraments? Almost never.

Much of the blame for these low expectations lies with priests and catechists who have never really taught the faithful to expect much. At best there are vague bromides about “being fed.” Little is taught about radical transformation and healing.

D. Unevangelized The general result is that many in the pews have received the sacraments, but have not been evangelized. Many have gone through Catholic rites of passage but have never really met Jesus. They have gone through the motions for years but are not really getting anywhere when it comes to being in a life-changing, transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. To a large degree, the Lord is a stranger to them. They are far from the normal Christian life of being in personal, living, and conscious contact with the Lord.
Given these common problems, what are we to do?

II. Principles and Practices

A. Clarity as to the fundamental goal of the Church – The fundamental mission of the Church is to go to all the nations, teach them what the Lord commands, and make disciples of them through Baptism and the other sacraments (cf Matt 28:20).

But making disciples and being disciples is about more than just “membership.” To become a true disciple is to have a personal, life-changing, transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. It is to witness to the power of the cross to put sin to death, to bring every grace alive, and to make of us a new creation in Christ. We cannot and should not reduce discipleship to mere membership.
The goal is to connect people with the Lord Jesus Christ so that He can save them and transform their lives in radical and powerful ways.

B. Conviction in Preaching – Those who preach, teach, and witness to others cannot simply be content to pass on formulas or to merely quote others. Priests, parents, catechists, and others must begin to be firsthand witnesses to the power of God’s Word, not only to inform, but to perform, and to transform. They must bear witness to how the Lord is doing this in their own lives.

If they are in touch with God, they ought to exhibit joy, conviction, and real change. They must be able to preach and teach with “authority,” in the richer Greek sense of the word. Exousia (authority) means more literally to preach “out of one’s own substance.” The summons is to speak from one’s own experience as a firsthand witness who can say with conviction, “Everything the Church and Scriptures have always announced is true, because in the laboratory of my own life I have tested them and found them to be true and transformative. I who speak these things to you, along with every saint, swear to you that they are true and trustworthy.”

A firsthand witness knows what he saying; he does not merely know about it. The video below from Fr. Francis Martin speaks to this practice. Preaching, teaching, and witnessing with conviction are essential components of renewal in the Church.

C. Cultivate Expectation! – Most people expect to meet, and have met, people who have changed their lives, and yet they don’t expect much from their relationship with Jesus Christ.

If ordinary people can change our lives, then why can’t the Lord Jesus Christ? Most people seem to think that having a tepid spiritual life, experiencing spiritual boredom, and having only a vague notion about the truths of faith are all normal. Really? Is that the best that the death of the Son of God can do for us? That we should be bored, lukewarm, uncertain, and mildly depressed? Of course not!

We need to lay hold of the glorious life that Jesus died to give us, to have high expectations, and to start watching our lives be transformed.

Consider the woman who came up to Jesus in the crowd thinking that if she just touched the hem of His garment she would get well. Jesus was amazed that one woman among the large crowd had actually touched Him. After she explained He said to her, “Your faith has healed you” (Luke 8:47). Who has such faith? Who has the expectation to be healed, to be delivered? King Jesus is a-listenin’ all day long!

D. Catechetical refocus – We have tended to teach the faith more as an academic subject than as a relationship. And hence we have focused on and measure success based on whether we can do things like list the seven gifts of the Spirit or the four marks of the Church. Certainly there is content that must be mastered, but without relationship to Jesus, most people lose command of the facts shortly after the test.
We need to begin with relationship. We need to get people (children and adults) excited about Jesus and joyful about what He has done. Then the motivation to learn will come naturally.

Back in the late 1960s I became a fan of Star Trek. Captain James Tiberius Kirk was all the world to me. Even though he was a fictional character, I wanted to know all about him: where he was born, what he did, and what he thought. When I discovered the actor who played Kirk, I joined the William Shatner fan club. Then I wanted to know all about Shatner: what he thought about important issues, when he was born, and what his favorite hobbies were. Fascination drew me to a mastery of all sorts of facts about Captain Kirk and William Shatner. You didn’t have to make me learn this stuff; I sought it out eagerly!

Do people think this way about Jesus? Usually not. And why not? Because we do very little to cultivate this fascination and joy. We teach more about structures, rules, and distinctions than about Jesus. Although our intellectual tradition is important and essential, without starting from a relational interest, we might as well be attempting to build on no foundation at all.

Jesus said, “Come and see” as an initiation. The details of the creed came later and were important, but relationship was first. Friendship precedes all the facts; they can come later.

Where in our catechism do we inculcate a love for, respect of, and fascination with Jesus?

E. Come on, Testify! – Catholics are terrible at testimony and witness. What is your story? How did you meet Jesus? What has He done in your life? What is He doing in your life now? Have your children ever heard you say that you love Jesus? Do they know what He has done for you? Do parishioners ever hear their priests testify? Arguments and proof have their place, but without personal testimony and conviction, these truths remain abstractions.
There may come a time when, through argument, you are actually get someone to “buy in.” But then comes the tough question: “Well, that’s all good news, but how do I know it’s true?” And that is when you have to be able to answer, convincingly, “Look at me!” It’s not enough to state the facts and to quote others. You have to know what you’re talking about, and relate it personally and convincingly to others.

The bottom line is that we have to be converted, and having experienced conversion, go forth as those who know the Lord, not just know about Him.

26 Replies to “Why Do So Many Miss Experiencing Jesus in Our Parishes and How Can We Change This?”

  1. Don’t judge people by their appearance at Mass, but judge them justly and mercifully in the Tribunal of Penance and Mercy. Be as merciful and just to others as God is merciful and just to us in Confession.

    As God kindles and grows your love, so share what you’ve learned with others to kindle and grow their love too, that you might cooperate with the Lord in their salvation, since Jesus worked with human hands.

  2. ‘The bottom line is that we have to be converted, and having experienced conversion, go forth as those who know the Lord, not just know about Him.’ Having been converted and continuously being converted, I testified. Yes, we did testified and we went forth and we voted for pro-life politicians despite our qualms that their conflicted personalities are contrary to our own values and we told them, no, we scolded them about our faith in GOD and in our national values. We will continue to testify if they do not act on their promises and boy oh boy oh boy, did not the deplorables got united and screamed in silence and spoke their hearts out. For we want a GOD-fearing nation that nurtures its disadvantaged and its unborn persons. We abhor these so-called progressive intellectuals, politicians, media and academes and Hollywood personalities, the chattering class who ram their unpalatable ideologies down our throats. May GOD be lifted high. YHWH MEKADDISHKEM

    1. This deplorable Catholic voted for a God-fearing nation.DJ TRUMP!!!!! I’m a college educated white man! So I’m the greatest threat to civilization. I”m homophobic racist sexist and islamohobic. oh and xenophobic too!

      Lets pray our Bishops and Priests be added to those numbers of deplorables. You know how there was a Wikileaks that the traitor, John Podesta was found to create misleading, fake catholic groups (which had something called a “pope francis voting guide”)? He said he hoped to split the faithful from the Magisterium and ignite a “catholic spring.’ The reprobate.

      Maybe there should be a Catholic Brexit where we are purged from all these Bishops who seem to to care NOTHING for life or for speaking up for the gospel and the Church. Tim Kaine should be excommunicated. There is no other way about it. If Tim Kaine is a Catholic, then being cathlic MEANS NOTHING

      When do the bishops take responsibility for the pathetic job they have done in the past 50 years? DC just voted for euthanizing their elderly. What did Wherl do about it? Sure, he will trot himself out and give the boilerplate “dignity of life” speech or write a editorial in the paper he has written 50 times. Then he goes back to his winning smile and his appearances.

      But are bishops evangelizing the faithful? What makes a catholic different than anyone else? Catholics could dominate the culture, but we are indistinguishable from the culture. THATS THE BISHOPS FAULT.

      Look at the weak “voters guides” we get. Vote your conscience, we are told.” Ok, I hate Donald Trump, my conscience tells me to vote for Hilary. Form your conscience we are told. “Ok, how?” Well, its very complicated you see theres life, and thas important but therese racism and immagration too and those are important…. Blah blah. No clarity. No leadership.

      The bishops say, “read the parties platforms” No one does that. THey need to teach these priests. I heard Catholcs were bussed to the polls in the 50s in New York to stop abortion candidates and ballots. Where are those bishops?

      I heard Bishop Morlino on EWTN give the most circular meaningless ramble as to how Catholics should vote.

      Bishops, priests, everyone is scared. Scared to stand up to the sexual revolution in a real way. Scared to be Catholics, my parents were.

      Stop the Left! Maybe its time for a lil’ Bishop Brexit, huh? Oh, and if I hear the word “encounter” again, I’m gonna plotz.

  3. I believer there are two aspects of this. The first is that catechesis needs to be thorough and clear. It DOES need to be somewhat academic. Often people don’t have a clue as to what the Church teaches except in very broad, “thou shall not’s,” and they certainly don’t know these days how to defend what they believe. What is needed is a return to a catechesis like “Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine,” originally written by Rev. Michael Sheehan, DD that was pretty much the standard textbook for catechisis of high school and college students in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Since it included apologetics it addressed some of the key arguments against Catholic teaching, and how to respond. Catholics are being slaughtered out there like sheep by wolves for want of sound teaching.

    Secondly, what is needed is speaking from the heart. That means that when someone is preaching or teaching, they need to speak from their own personal and real relationship with God and Jesus. I believe that is why you, Msgr. Pope, are so effective in your blog. You combine solid theology with speaking from your own deep, personal relationship with God, and it shows.

    When John the Baptist says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” I imagine him standing off to the side with a group of followers as Jesus walked by, and John, looking at Him, spoke with an awe, a softness, a knowledge and hope and as someone who knew Jesus personally and admired Him. Those with John saw the look on his face and heard the tone of his voice and followed his gaze. They didn’t know Jesus, but were interested because of John’s words and attitude.

    If we are speaking of Jesus to others, we have to have that too, or they won’t see what is worth looking at in Jesus. And we have to tell them if they speak to Him in prayer and seek Him in prayer, they will indeed find Him, and He will indeed come to them and make a home with them, and they will know Him themselves.

    How do we do that? By teaching them how to pray from the heart, to pray with scripture, to seek a really alive Jesus, to actually believe He is real, now and today.

    If we don’t believe that ourselves, if we don’t live this ourselves, if we don’t say to people “When you suddenly understand something you never understood before related to God, THAT is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.” or “When you hear something in Scripture that strikes you as new though you’ve heard it 1000 times, THAT is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.” and “When you cry out to Jesus from your heart, either in pain or in joy, and you feel a deep peace and reassurance, THAT is God touching you.” then we fail them. We must give them the tools to understand God present in their lives, and how to recognize Him.

  4. I am a convert to the Church. A few years ago I tried to make a list of what was happening at Mass. Then I realized that when we sang “Holy, Holy, Holy,…”, and then knelt, we were getting close to a miracle. When the priest picked up the host, it was a piece of bread. What he brought down was the Precious Body of Christ. A miracle. The Holy Spirit had come down and transformed that piece of bread. Once I realized this is what was going on, my perspective of Mass changed radically. I get to partake of the Body of Christ. Decades earlier, as a Protestant, I had memorized the 15th Chapter of the Gospel of John. Now so much makes so much more sense. If you think being Catholic is sometimes confusing, be grateful you’re not Protestant.

    At the same time, reading some of the works of Father Michael Gaitley has helped. Education is really important to understanding what is going on.

  5. The Church needs to come back to the community, and the community needs to come back to the Church. Back in my grandparents time, and when I was young, life centered around the Church. When my grandfather and his family came to the US from Russia, they settled in North Dakota, but the people who came built the Church first, and lived in it until they could build homes for each other. The Church was their life! I was born and raised on the west coast where people have a tendency to worship nature instead of going to Church on Sundays, but also when they do go to Church, they shake hands with the sign of peace and then try to run each other over in the parking lot getting out of there as early as possible; and if they are good Catholics that is their one contact with the Church and Prayer all week. The Church is no longer a community. Mass Baptisms are impersonal, people hardly know the other members in the parish, and if a person falls away, no one even bothers to ask how they are, or if they are alive. Also with the economy, many don’t feel as if they can afford to be a member of a parish, as they are always asking for money, and there’s embarrassment at not being able to contribute. The biggest thing is that Vatican II lost a lot of Catholics when the doctrine and laws of the Church kept changing. A person’s faith should be a rock, one they can fall back on, or if they are developing it, a constant in their lives. I grew up as Vatican II was being implemented and to be honest, after 11 years of Catholic school, I am more confused than ever. Even today some people can eat meat on Friday’s during Lent, and some don’t. People also Church shop to hear what it is they want to hear, because the Catholic Church isn’t uniform. That has hurt the Church more than anything. With Catholic Schools closing in part of the country there should be more education and doctrine taught during the sermons. I am ashamed too that I am even saying this is that a few people in my extended family aren’t feeling “entertained” during Mass. They feel this way because they don’t understand and truly know the Mass. It always amazed me that on the East Coast of the U.S., they celebrate the feast of the Saints; they are grand events in the neighborhoods that welcome non-Catholics, Catholics and fallen away Catholics. It’s educational with Church tours, but also it’s a parish project for all to become involved in via operations and planning, but also this allows for the church to assist their budgets for the year, but also anchors the Parish within the neighborhood. After years, the community and parishioners look forward to it. I have often wondered why we never see poor people at Church, and there are tells; there needs to be a place for them within a parish, even if they can’t contribute financially if they can help out. Instead of giving them a turkey at thanksgiving, there should be community outreach to welcome them into the Parish all year long. I heard it all the time growing up; many complain about it, but I realize the importance of it, but I guess community and a sense of the Church being the center of one’s life is where I see Christ missing within the Parish community. Being a Catholic needs to be more than 1 hour per week. Christ works through all of us in different ways, and there is more than one way to celebrate as Christians. However, many Catholics going to Church today don’t understand the true miracle that happens during Mass, and the reason for the Mass. Gimmicks aren’t going to help, modernizing isn’t going to help, the Church needs to be the one solid in people’s lives that they can fall back on. The Church needs to make a stronger representation in the community. Oh yes, and Catholic Schools have become private schools for the rich, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, and not for Catholics in the parish to attend any more. Maybe there needs to be some reflection about why Catholic schools started to begin with. That has a tendency to alienate Catholics, as if they aren’t good enough. Maybe I could have summed all this up as Community; the Church needs to go back to being a community once again. It needs to be our home; and our houses a place where we sleep. I realize my comments don’t have a lot to do with the Mass, but the Church should be our central focal point in life, the place we gather, and there should be a love of the Church/Parish instead of just developing a love of the Mass; I believe then more will attend Mass, and when they’re there they will be more excited about going to Mass.

    1. Well said, sister! Bishop Brexit anyone? Assualt heaven with prays that bishops actually believe in God! hows that for a start?

  6. Thanks for this thought-provoking article which, in fact, must be read by every catholic, including preachers, teachers, priests and nuns. One must be a living witness to Lord Jesus Christ.

  7. How wonderful, Mgr. Charles, to read your words of exhortation to witness the joy and happiness we have (or ‘should’ have) in our relationship with Jesus. Without which we will never excite and encourage others to come to know Him.
    I would like to share a small bit of ‘witness’ here with you and your other readers of how I feel about my personal relationship with Jesus my King!
    I was baptised as an adult way back in 1965 on the Feast of Christ The King. It was a truly exciting, joyful and remarkably cleansing experience – something I shall never forget and hope that I may be able to express it to my Lord on the day I come face to face with Him.
    Around 1997 – 1999, I experienced some very dark and troubling times, where among other things, I strayed away from God and would have become totally estranged unless my King came to search for me – like the lost sheep that I was. It was an even more joyous experience to return to the fold, knowing that, like the prodigal son, the Father accepted me back, warts and all, with total forgiveness and mercy.
    As a result of all that had happened, I wanted to express my joy and thankfulness to God my Father and to His Son, The King, and so I decided to write a poem to celebrate my 34th year, 1999, as a baptised Christian and member of the church.
    Poor though it may be, here it is, and I hope that above all, it goes some small way to express the joy and thankfulness – and peace – I feel as a child of God and His Son, Christ My King!

    CHRIST THE KING – MY BAPTISMAL BIRTHDAY

    CHRIST the King is born within –
    Old Adam died – released from sin;
    Satan fallen – God’s love to win
    my soul, the world and all its kin.

    Christ vilified, crucified, slain;
    Christ the victor – raised again!
    God’s true son – given for us,
    riven for us,
    Driven away the dark of sin and pain.

    God the Father – Abba, Pater,
    God the Son – Heaven’s King,
    God the Spirit – life’s imparter,
    Divine, Thine – MINE!
    CHRIST MY KING

    I pray that others will come to truly ‘know’ Him in a very personal way, as I do. And – maybe you will all say a prayer for me on the 50th Anniversary of my baptism, on The Feast of Christ The King on Sunday 20th November this year.
    Thank you for allowing me to witness here – and God bless all.

    1. Thanks, Ray! God bless you too! I’ll set a reminder to pray for you for the 20th. 50 years closer to salvation than at your baptism!

  8. I have not read her book but have talked to people who have and what concerns me is the idea that we need to bring people to Jesus before we bring them to the Church. It implies a separation. Jesus Christ and His Church are One and the Same. St. Joan of Arc said…..

    “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they’re just one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.”

    I think we have to be careful in not putting forth the protestant notion of a ‘personal relationship with Jesus’. Without the Church then it becomes a search for a personal Jesus. A true personal relationship with Jesus must include the Church that He founded, the Catholic Church and the Sacraments He instituted for us (I will be with you always) and the doctrine (If you love me you will obey my commandments).

    I also have heard the derisive label given to faithful Catholics as ‘pray, pay and obey’ Catholics as an implication that they don’t have this ‘relationship’ with Jesus. If I’m not mistaken we are commanded to do all three in Scripture, no?

  9. It all starts with the priest, I have attended mass in different churches and if the priest does not appear to be interested in his own Homily, the congregation looks bored and stares at their watches. The other element is that many priests lift themselves into celebrity status and are not connected to the congregation…

  10. The biggest problem is that we have evangelized as intellectual giants acting as spiritual dwarfs. If you remove the Holy Spirit from all Church functions 95 % would still continue. That my friend is the real problem. The Church has focused so much on the Gifts found in Isaiah 11 while completely ignoring the power gifts that St Paul speaks about in his letter to the Church in Corinth, insulting The Holy Spirit. These gifts had to be so important that they came to us at Pentecost and were seen and heard by the people who gathered around the Apostles. The Apostles needed to see them to believe that Our Lord was truly alive and then the used them. They saw the gifts in action but today we deny those gifts and we have a dead church and I say this with much sadness. The intellectual giants impede the actions of The Holy Spirit. Do you think they will ever reach people this way ??? They don’t even smile when they greet you and some don’t even acknowledge you exist. We are a Church divided, will we ever be one as Jesus wants us to be? Never loose hope but do change the way you evangelize and the way you teach. Peace and God’s blessings to all.

    1. If you don’t have wisdom or fortitude, I don’t see what good tongues or prophecy will do you. And of course knowledge is in both lists. Personally, I have gifts from both lists and would love to have more. Catholics are both/and people; this is one of those places where we can experience the Catholic point of view.

    2. Well, the church is divided thats for sure. If Tim Kaine is a Catholic, then the church is divided.

  11. I’ve been quilty of being bored and disengaged at Mass most of my life. When Pope Francis came to America and stated the four most Americans he admired the most were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorthy Day, and Thomas Merton. I had no idea who Dorthy Day and Thomas Merton were. When I researched their names and found out who they were and what they did, they taught me what real teaching, witnessing and conviction means. I just finished reading Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain. As Catholics we know so little of Friars living a
    Monastery life, dedicating everything they do to God. After reading about the life of Thomas Merton, I’ve have started praying every day and working on living a Catholic life with Conviction.

  12. Personally I think there are too many distractions in the mass to prevent people from experiencing Jesus. It’s has become like a highschool graduation ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance. The chior director and organist change the music to the Gloria and other prayers to such an abstraction you can’t concentrate on the prayer much less follow the music. Parishioners struggle between participating in the mass and becoming a member of an audience so they just lose interest. You have two separate parishioners and the deacon taking turns at the lectern giving the readings between the featured chior singer of the day standing at the podium raising one arm up to get the attention of the congregation while they take center stage leading everyone in flowery repsonses before the preist ever gets around to giving the homily. Then you have about eigth people come up to the altar following the consecration to assist presenting the host and wine to the parishioners. I doubt Jesus had that many distractions when He fed the multitudes. They need to drain the swamp. It is not that complicated. We have had this discussion many times over the years to the point we are flogging a dead horse.

  13. I had better try submitting this again. I did so yesterday, but, as it hasn’t shown up, I wonder if I got the ‘captcha’ correct. So – here goes again!

    How wonderful, Mgr. Charles, to read your words of exhortation to witness the joy and happiness we have (or ‘should’ have) in our relationship with Jesus. Without which we will never excite and encourage others to come to know Him.
    I would like to share a small bit of ‘witness’ here with you and your other readers of how I feel about my personal relationship with Jesus my King!
    I was baptised as an adult way back in 1965 on the Feast of Christ The King. It was a truly exciting, joyful and remarkably cleansing experience – something I shall never forget and hope that I may be able to express it to my Lord on the day I come face to face with Him.
    Around 1997 – 1999, I experienced some very dark and troubling times, where among other things, I strayed away from God and would have become totally estranged unless my King came to search for me – like the lost sheep that I was. It was an even more joyous experience to return to the fold, knowing that, like the prodigal son, the Father accepted me back, warts and all, with total forgiveness and mercy.
    As a result of all that had happened, I wanted to express my joy and thankfulness to God my Father and to His Son, The King, and so I decided to write a poem to celebrate my 34th year, 1999, as a baptised Christian and member of the church.
    Poor though it may be, here it is, and I hope that above all, it goes some small way to express the joy and thankfulness – and peace – I feel as a child of God and His Son, Christ My King!

    CHRIST THE KING – MY BAPTISMAL BIRTHDAY

    CHRIST the King is born within –
    Old Adam died – released from sin;
    Satan fallen – God’s love to win
    my soul, the world and all its kin.

    Christ vilified, crucified, slain;
    Christ the victor – raised again!
    God’s true son – given for us,
    riven for us,
    Driven away the dark of sin and pain.

    God the Father – Abba, Pater,
    God the Son – Heaven’s King,
    God the Spirit – life’s imparter,
    Divine, Thine – MINE!
    CHRIST MY KING

    I pray that others will come to truly ‘know’ Him in a very personal way, as I do. And – maybe you will all say a prayer for me on the 50th Anniversary of my baptism, on The Feast of Christ The King on the Sunday 20th November this year.
    Thank you for allowing me to witness here – and God bless all.

    1. John, don’t feel badly about a non-posted comment. I cannot get a single reply posted. I interpret this as God’s way of humbling my prideful spirit. I accept His will.

  14. The simplicity of the Gospel is often obfuscated

    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

  15. The Mass and liturgy has been turned into a children’s game. I am just irked and bored by the 1960s banality of the average Catholic parish . We are all caught in an imposed and manufactured nightmare. Anyone who says it is seen as a class traitor. Continuity is trustworthy but invention and making it up is a forgery.

  16. Ditto many like Barbara, Robertlifelongcatholic and especially John Fisher

    This subject always reminds me of when I was growing up with my 6 brothers and 3 sisters. We would stuff socks and sock puppets, seal the doors and windows and in the pitch black smack the heck outta each other until we couldn’t function we were laughing so hard.

    Until 1900 years ago we never had to figure “how to get people to meet Christ” and any such conversation would be met with a raised eyebrow. Quite simply the Parish was our life, but no more. When we had a question the priest was the answer and spoke with authority on WHY the church taught what it taught, not just rules and regulations. Now that the priest is nothing more than an entertainer and something to be manipulated by all the various “committees” there is no lack of authorities with conflicting opinions running amok. This begs the question: when these good people cross the various thresholds that Weddell highlights, what is going to keep them learning about Christ and His church? Many of the people face tremendous hardships becoming catholic only to find this free flowing Summer of Love attitude from 95% of the flock, priests and bishops. Bishops don’t back their priests and are mostly gone from the scene; most diocese never see or know what their bishop is doing. As for those who do have the knowledge and desire,
    the very people who should be the light of any parish, they are vilified as trads or legalists avoided and scandalized. Funny how when a real problem arises everyone wants their opinion and take on the catholic perspective…and they become a regular plain old good catholic. And if a good priest such as yourself gives a real sermon it’s worthy of a YouTube post they are so rare.

    Good people love their Catholic faith because it brings them life, makes sense and is the greatest possession they are gifted with. They can’t help but live it. But until this silly round robin is broken the only ones that will continue are those stout and strong enough for whatever reason to endure and ignore all this insane childishness. We’re all stuck in a sock party and it’s harder to laugh now.

  17. I’m a hundred percent on board with the thrust of this article. (I don’t claim to be able to do it but I accept what Mgr Pope says about doing it.) There is one thing, however, that I would like to check on. Mgr refers to annual confession as a ‘norm’. Now, yesterday I was reading Karl Keating’s book ‘What Catholics Really Believe’. He says that the precept is that those who are conscious of mortal sin need to go to Confession. However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
    2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.”) requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community gathers together on the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord.
    The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.”) ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.
    On the other hand, Dr Ed Peters, a Canon lawyer, states:
    2. Confess your sins at least once a year.
    Commentary: Catholics above the age of discretion, generally held to be about seven years of age, are required to confess their grave sins to a priest, even one of a different rite, at least once per year, at any time during the year (1983 CIC 989, 991). Strictly speaking, persons free of grave sin are not required to make an annual confession, but all Catholics are strongly encouraged to bring even their venial sins to confession (1983 CIC 988)

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