Is Catholic What You Do, Or Who You Are?

( Another class paper, presented in December of 2010; the assignment limited me to 1500 words... the topic- How can apologetics increase lay participation in the liturgy?)

A young man genuflects before entering the pew- but the tabernacle is at his back. A young woman eats breakfast in her car in the church parking lot minutes before Mass begins. A young family consistently misses Mass because the daughter plays club volleyball on the weekends. Unfortunately, these are all common occurrences in Catholic churches. Catholics have lost the meaning behind the postures and rituals of the liturgy and in the process have lost an appreciation for the entire experience of liturgy. Apologetics can contribute to bringing Catholics to a full, active and conscious participation in the liturgy.

Liturgy is the work of the people. In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL), the fathers of the Second Vatican Council expressed the ideal that, “Christ’s faithful…should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred service conscious of what they are doing with devotion and full involvement.” (48) Paragraph 30 of CSL encourages the faithful to participate in “acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons and songs, as well as by actions, gestures and bearing” in addition to sacred silence.

These are not enough, however. The actions, gestures, and postures are externals and the faithful often go through the motions without any consideration for the meaning behind them either because they have forgotten or were never properly catechized in the first place. They are no different than a child who is repeatedly told to look both ways before crossing the street. The child does exactly as he has always been taught and carefully looks both ways- then darts in front of an oncoming vehicle. Mother never told him WHY he was looking: observe if cars are coming, then make a judgment about whether it is safe to proceed across the street. In much the same way, this generation has been taught what to do but not the meaning behind those actions. With the loss of a sense of purpose behind the actions and gestures of the liturgy something more is lost: the ability to enter deeply into the liturgy.

Part of the beauty of Catholicism is that it engages the entire human being. When a 7^th grader asked if he liked his job, the priest answered, “This isn’t my job. It isn’t what I do. It is who I am.” In much the same way, Catholics must grow to understand that being Catholic is less about what they do and more about why they do it.  In turn they will grow in their understanding that their Catholic faith should involve every part of their lives. Even with the sincerest of intentions, lack of understanding of the liturgy deprives the faithful of the richness of the liturgy and opens the door for well-meaning Protestants to mislead them about the liturgy and their Catholic faith. But how does one reach the average Catholic? A small column in the parish bulletin can offer bite-size catechetics on the liturgy.  That would reach those who actually attend Mass, but how many would actually read it?  A parish mission or educational series is another possibility. The drawback of these lies in asking people to return to church during the week, adding another event to the jam-packed schedules of 21^st century America.  Also, the people most likely to attend such sessions are the ones already actively engaged in both their parish and their faith. How does one educate the marginal Catholic who manages to get to Mass, but is otherwise not engaged in her faith? One priest facing a crisis in his community developed a solution. In the February 1995 issue of This Rock (online at http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9502fea1.asp), Fr. Edward Petty describes how his parish dealt with the aggressive arrival of a Fundamentalist sect bent on luring the predominantly Catholic town to their ecclesial community. Fr. Petty lamented that many of his parishioners were Catholic merely because their grandparents were Catholic. They were cultural Catholics lacking any understanding of what they believed or why. This, he felt, made them “ripe for the picking” by the Fundamentalists who were ready to harvest.

The CSL states that “preaching should draw its content mainly from scriptural and liturgical sources” (35.2). With the consent of his archbishop, however, Fr. Petty and his associate began a homily series wonderfully timed to coincide with both Lent and a door to door campaign by Bible college students from the fundamentalist group. As the homilies progressed through the Lenten season, they covered anti-Catholicism in the United States, the origin of the Bible, proper use of scripture and common accusations and arguments used to lead Catholics away from their faith. The priests heavily pirated and admittedly plagiarized well known apologetic works, with the retroactive blessing of the authors. The parish secretaries churned out over 500 copies of each homily in tract form by the Wednesday following the weekend liturgies.  Members gave these to fallen away family, friends…and the Bible college students knocking at their doors.

One of the most remarkable things about the whole situation happened in the 5^th week of Lent when the parish held their annual 40 hours celebration. They pulled out all the stops for adoration and included longer homilies on the Eucharist. Rather than a blip on the parish schedule, the 40 hours devotion became what it should always be- a celebration of the centrality of the Eucharist in the Christian life. The 1400 seat church was filled to capacity all three nights for the evening services. What an amazing way to take the parish into Holy Week! With the help of their priests, guided from the pulpit, the people learned what they had either forgotten or never knew: God gave us His best when He gave us the Eucharist.

That Midwest parish of 5000 had 75% plus Mass attendance at the time Fr. Petty wrote the article.  The Fundamentalist community had all but disappeared, gaining not one member from the ranks of the town’s Catholics. That says so much, doesn’t it? These were average Catholics, no different than those filling the pews of most Catholic churches today. Had their pastor not been proactive, they easily could have been led away from the one true Church of Jesus Christ by the flashy preaching, contemporary music and warm fuzzy Jesus offered by the Fundamentalists. Their pastor literally shepherded them, guiding them into understanding and appreciation for their Catholic faith. He taught them the background behind the actions and beliefs they had taken for granted for so long. He challenged them to take it to heart, to truly enter into the mystery….and they rose to the challenge.

The Catholic Church as a whole cannot afford to ignore what Fr. Petty encountered and how he reacted. While preaching must remain faithful to the directives established by the Magisterium in her wisdom and authority, there is no reason apologetics cannot be judiciously introduced into Catholic preaching.  It is the most effective way of remedially catechizing the average Catholic and can, as shown by Fr. Petty’s experience, successfully engage the parish. As taught by St. Augustine, fundamental understanding of Catholic teaching leads to a better capacity to believe. Together, they give the faithful the foundation they need to fully enter into the liturgy which in turn will lead to a deeper and more rewarding faith life, one that is not a succession of rote and meaningless actions, but the experience of the presence of Jesus Christ it is meant to be.