Hey man, good to see you writing here! Yeah, I agree with you. Weird thing is, the product the Church can offer is amazing, and very well suited for every human being. Of course that doesn't mean every individual parish is offering that. So what would your 30 second commercial be for the Church in today's world?
I increasingly hear from young people from various Christian backgrounds that their parent's church simply doesn't have relevance in their lives. You spell out well why that's the case.
I agree that parents need to first build lives independent of these institutions and then they'll have a chance to bring the kids along with them.
(I'm arriving here via your comment on Crankfield's LinkedIn post.)
In terms of infrastructure, there's at least one big category of material life and decision-making that your list initially neglects: geographical compactness / ~Catholic neighborhoods.
It is not that every parishioner needs to live on the same street or in a Catholic compound, but if otherwise intentional Catholics are optimizing housing choices around something other than living out the Faith, there will continue to be tremendous inefficiencies and losses from these decisions.
Burning logs placed close together continue to burn hotter and more completely. A log isolated to itself may burn out without completing combustion.
If otherwise intentional Catholics in the upper middle class exclusively choose gated communities they do a disservice to less privileged Catholics who have no easy access to those neighborhoods and thus cannot as easily share community life with them.
If otherwise intentional Catholics choose 3,000 sq. ft. houses and 5 acre lots a 40 minute drive to their parish when they could choose 1,200 sq. ft. houses on postage stamp lots 5 minutes from their parish, they make it less likely that they will corporately participate in ecclesial life. They also make it less likely that they will run into a diversity of neighbors to whom they can share the Good News of Jesus.
Yes, I didn't go into that, but it is something that I'm actively thinking about. I know of a few communities that are doing this, but not many. The hurdles to this are just too significant for us to start there.
We need to start with easier infrastructure to build. Businesses, schools..etc. The neighborhoods can only come when Catholics have disposable income and geographical flexibility.
Marcellino, what follows could be a column of itself. I'll be as brief as I can. One can't argue with what you have described. I wish to point out the following:
1) The 2nd Vatican Council (1965) listed M&F life as its "first problem of special urgency" (Gaudium et spes, 47); and, that parents role in "the transmission of faith is so essential that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it" (Educationis gravmissimus, 3)
2) Pope John Paul II (1981) echoed the urgency, and directed the Church's leaders (i.e. bishops and pastors) to “follow the family, accompanying it step by step in the different stages of its formation and development (Familiaris consortio, 65).”
3) In the same Exhortation, he defined the ecclesial mission of M&F life in 4 tasks (FC 17 ff), which is an
excellent, concrete description how the OTHER Vocation and Sacrament at the Service of Communion (CCC 1534) can be lived out. But engaged couples and young parents need to be taught this with an engaging methodology - during marriage preparation and infant baptism preparation, and the next 3 sacraments, as per FC 65.
The opportunity to renew, restore, and equip couples and parents as pastors of the domestic church is hiding in plain sight. Ever since the Council, for the most part, the Church has colluded with lukewarm faith by permitting couples and parents to drop out of their own faith formation and drop off their children at “CCD” (or Catholic schools) for someone else to teach and form them in the faith. The Church has tried to do FOR the family, what it should do WITH the family. It cannot adquately compensate for its own rescuing of parents from their baptism promises.
So while I cannot argue with your article, I can assert that the core problem is that the foundation is cracked. And instead of trying harder, as JP deGance points out in his chasing smoke vs the fire analogy (focusing on youth rather than the family), we need to work differently, more foundational, something more organic. I believe Pope Francis' Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life may provide the best path, but the resistance will likely be greater than it was to the RCIA.
As the cynical 7 Last Words of the Church states: We've never done it that way before. St. John Paul presciently saw the crisis we are in. Our leaders have failed to respond. Meanwhile our youth and adults spend more hours on screens in one day than they spend in a week in catechesis and/or Sunday mass. Forty years later, deGance is concerned that this is our last chance. I hope he's wrong.
I agree with all of this. Focus on youth is definitely not what I'm advocating.
But I also think that looking at this without taking into consideration the economic factors effecting parents lives will result in more misses.
What parents need is not more formation (though that's important)
They need an ALTERNATIVE to the current model of family life.
- School
- Work
- Media
- Community
Currently, every mechanism by which we try to deliver formation fails because we're trying to deliver it in a classroom at a parish for a couple of hours for maybe a few weeks.
Forget about the quality of that class. It doesn't even matter. When you map that time spend over to how much time families are SOAKING in toxic, anti faith culture at school and in media, it's obvious why everyone is loosing their faith.
I suspect as long as most work is still "9 to 5," with exceptions, churches will organize their various services accordingly. Parents have to fit lots of stuff into their calendars, though if they have the courage and insight into the need for more interactive family time, as well as down time, there might be room for domestic faith based activities. Greg and Lisa Popcak founded Catholic HOM with that as one of their missions [https://www.catholichom.com/]. I just read an article on Abigail Shrier's latest where she details the problems with SEL in schools [Social-Emotional Learning]. Another example of how what were traditional family socialization tasks have been taken over by "experts."
I suppose I will go to my grave advocating for a revolution in parish infrastructure. I doubt I'll live to see it. JP deGance, in effect, seems to be parachuting into parishes with effective tools. Though he has to face the same structure and mentality which you describe, Communio is having success because the quality of what is being deliverd is impactful.
I'd be happy if a new infrastructure did more effective marriage and infant baptism preparation. Those are the foundational sacraments of little Catholic family trees. Without good root systems, the trees are at risk. Then, as per FC 65, accompany the couples/parents and families at least through the next 3 Sacraments with quality formation - at home and in community. That is not limited to a classroom model if parental pastoral leadership is cultivated. St. John Paul gave us the four Tasks, which they can learn as their mission as couples, as disciple-makers at the promises of baptism, renewed and enhanced at the next 3 sacramental intersections. That approach is organic and developmental, and was called partnership in the USCCB manual A Family Perspective in Church and Society. But alas, it was never adapted. It's easier to just try harder. It's prescient insights continue to amaze me to this day. Regardless, press on! There are lots of good remedial initiatives going on. Hopefully, God's got this!
For me (27, single, feel called to marriage & family life) I've pretty much settled that I need to be able to support a household on my income. How that's going to happen is why I'm feeling the pressure to figure out how I'll hit that six-figures mark.
An arrangement where both parents work full time is so less-than-ideal, you're right to suggest that we have to build ways around it. I know you suggested the mommalancer- but I must bring up the value of the SAHM (stay at home mom).
The incalculable contribution of these domestic-economic powerhouses has been variously overlooked and decried for decades in the name of a feminist movement which is fundamentally anti-family. A friend of mine did a nice write-up on the value of domestic labor. It doesn't add value to the quarterly balance sheet, but it certainly adds value and at the same time does wonders for the hollowing of society that we are currently living in.
I agree with you on the social media front. I will say, a friend and I are in the process of building what we're hoping to be the largest Catholic-owned business directory out there. Hopefully that has a chance of pitching in, even a little, to promoting Catholic-value-aligned business.
Hey man, good to see you writing here! Yeah, I agree with you. Weird thing is, the product the Church can offer is amazing, and very well suited for every human being. Of course that doesn't mean every individual parish is offering that. So what would your 30 second commercial be for the Church in today's world?
Have you tuned into New Polity's stuff at all? Would be curious as to your take on their thoughts. Getting a lot of similar vibes here.
I haven’t, but I’ve always respected his work.
What episode are you thinking of? I’d love to check it out.
Definitely hard to narrow it down to a single podcast episode that captures this. I particularly enjoyed the Good Money series though.
The About page on their website sums up the general thoughts quite well: https://newpolity.com/about
After that, I'd start with the following podcast episodes:
* Creation is Political
* The Political Christ
* Liberalism and Libertarianism Are Not Catholic
* Socialism is not Catholic
* Nationalism is not Catholic
then move to Good Money:
* Two Rules for Money
* Teach a Man to Fish
Ha. I have so many things to say about his political beliefs.
I increasingly hear from young people from various Christian backgrounds that their parent's church simply doesn't have relevance in their lives. You spell out well why that's the case.
I agree that parents need to first build lives independent of these institutions and then they'll have a chance to bring the kids along with them.
That’s the only way
(I'm arriving here via your comment on Crankfield's LinkedIn post.)
In terms of infrastructure, there's at least one big category of material life and decision-making that your list initially neglects: geographical compactness / ~Catholic neighborhoods.
It is not that every parishioner needs to live on the same street or in a Catholic compound, but if otherwise intentional Catholics are optimizing housing choices around something other than living out the Faith, there will continue to be tremendous inefficiencies and losses from these decisions.
Burning logs placed close together continue to burn hotter and more completely. A log isolated to itself may burn out without completing combustion.
If otherwise intentional Catholics in the upper middle class exclusively choose gated communities they do a disservice to less privileged Catholics who have no easy access to those neighborhoods and thus cannot as easily share community life with them.
If otherwise intentional Catholics choose 3,000 sq. ft. houses and 5 acre lots a 40 minute drive to their parish when they could choose 1,200 sq. ft. houses on postage stamp lots 5 minutes from their parish, they make it less likely that they will corporately participate in ecclesial life. They also make it less likely that they will run into a diversity of neighbors to whom they can share the Good News of Jesus.
Yes, I didn't go into that, but it is something that I'm actively thinking about. I know of a few communities that are doing this, but not many. The hurdles to this are just too significant for us to start there.
We need to start with easier infrastructure to build. Businesses, schools..etc. The neighborhoods can only come when Catholics have disposable income and geographical flexibility.
Marcellino, what follows could be a column of itself. I'll be as brief as I can. One can't argue with what you have described. I wish to point out the following:
1) The 2nd Vatican Council (1965) listed M&F life as its "first problem of special urgency" (Gaudium et spes, 47); and, that parents role in "the transmission of faith is so essential that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it" (Educationis gravmissimus, 3)
2) Pope John Paul II (1981) echoed the urgency, and directed the Church's leaders (i.e. bishops and pastors) to “follow the family, accompanying it step by step in the different stages of its formation and development (Familiaris consortio, 65).”
3) In the same Exhortation, he defined the ecclesial mission of M&F life in 4 tasks (FC 17 ff), which is an
excellent, concrete description how the OTHER Vocation and Sacrament at the Service of Communion (CCC 1534) can be lived out. But engaged couples and young parents need to be taught this with an engaging methodology - during marriage preparation and infant baptism preparation, and the next 3 sacraments, as per FC 65.
The opportunity to renew, restore, and equip couples and parents as pastors of the domestic church is hiding in plain sight. Ever since the Council, for the most part, the Church has colluded with lukewarm faith by permitting couples and parents to drop out of their own faith formation and drop off their children at “CCD” (or Catholic schools) for someone else to teach and form them in the faith. The Church has tried to do FOR the family, what it should do WITH the family. It cannot adquately compensate for its own rescuing of parents from their baptism promises.
So while I cannot argue with your article, I can assert that the core problem is that the foundation is cracked. And instead of trying harder, as JP deGance points out in his chasing smoke vs the fire analogy (focusing on youth rather than the family), we need to work differently, more foundational, something more organic. I believe Pope Francis' Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life may provide the best path, but the resistance will likely be greater than it was to the RCIA.
As the cynical 7 Last Words of the Church states: We've never done it that way before. St. John Paul presciently saw the crisis we are in. Our leaders have failed to respond. Meanwhile our youth and adults spend more hours on screens in one day than they spend in a week in catechesis and/or Sunday mass. Forty years later, deGance is concerned that this is our last chance. I hope he's wrong.
I agree with all of this. Focus on youth is definitely not what I'm advocating.
But I also think that looking at this without taking into consideration the economic factors effecting parents lives will result in more misses.
What parents need is not more formation (though that's important)
They need an ALTERNATIVE to the current model of family life.
- School
- Work
- Media
- Community
Currently, every mechanism by which we try to deliver formation fails because we're trying to deliver it in a classroom at a parish for a couple of hours for maybe a few weeks.
Forget about the quality of that class. It doesn't even matter. When you map that time spend over to how much time families are SOAKING in toxic, anti faith culture at school and in media, it's obvious why everyone is loosing their faith.
I suspect as long as most work is still "9 to 5," with exceptions, churches will organize their various services accordingly. Parents have to fit lots of stuff into their calendars, though if they have the courage and insight into the need for more interactive family time, as well as down time, there might be room for domestic faith based activities. Greg and Lisa Popcak founded Catholic HOM with that as one of their missions [https://www.catholichom.com/]. I just read an article on Abigail Shrier's latest where she details the problems with SEL in schools [Social-Emotional Learning]. Another example of how what were traditional family socialization tasks have been taken over by "experts."
I suppose I will go to my grave advocating for a revolution in parish infrastructure. I doubt I'll live to see it. JP deGance, in effect, seems to be parachuting into parishes with effective tools. Though he has to face the same structure and mentality which you describe, Communio is having success because the quality of what is being deliverd is impactful.
I'd be happy if a new infrastructure did more effective marriage and infant baptism preparation. Those are the foundational sacraments of little Catholic family trees. Without good root systems, the trees are at risk. Then, as per FC 65, accompany the couples/parents and families at least through the next 3 Sacraments with quality formation - at home and in community. That is not limited to a classroom model if parental pastoral leadership is cultivated. St. John Paul gave us the four Tasks, which they can learn as their mission as couples, as disciple-makers at the promises of baptism, renewed and enhanced at the next 3 sacramental intersections. That approach is organic and developmental, and was called partnership in the USCCB manual A Family Perspective in Church and Society. But alas, it was never adapted. It's easier to just try harder. It's prescient insights continue to amaze me to this day. Regardless, press on! There are lots of good remedial initiatives going on. Hopefully, God's got this!
For me (27, single, feel called to marriage & family life) I've pretty much settled that I need to be able to support a household on my income. How that's going to happen is why I'm feeling the pressure to figure out how I'll hit that six-figures mark.
An arrangement where both parents work full time is so less-than-ideal, you're right to suggest that we have to build ways around it. I know you suggested the mommalancer- but I must bring up the value of the SAHM (stay at home mom).
The incalculable contribution of these domestic-economic powerhouses has been variously overlooked and decried for decades in the name of a feminist movement which is fundamentally anti-family. A friend of mine did a nice write-up on the value of domestic labor. It doesn't add value to the quarterly balance sheet, but it certainly adds value and at the same time does wonders for the hollowing of society that we are currently living in.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-141633873?r=28gypt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A superb article! Could you elaborate more on what the values-aligned X look like? What doe a values-aligned gym look like? Or sports team?
If I knew the answer to that I'd be building them. I may do so and I'll keep you updated.
I don't think we ever get Catholic or values aligned social media to work. Just my two cents there.
I agree with you on the social media front. I will say, a friend and I are in the process of building what we're hoping to be the largest Catholic-owned business directory out there. Hopefully that has a chance of pitching in, even a little, to promoting Catholic-value-aligned business.
That's awesome. We should chat sometime. Email me: marcellino@sherwoodfellowsdotcom