Furthermore…

I heard a presentation* on Catholic radio by a priest who had been pretty much a ‘wild child’ most of his younger years and then came to a powerful conversion experience. I tuned into the program a little late, but what I heard was, to me,  rollicking funny. In particular Father told of a number of encounters with little gatherings of  ‘Filipino women’ who always seemed to be praying the Rosary in the church where he was finding salvation.  They would brusquely tell him such things as that he would make a good priest – at a point in his life when he didn’t yet know exactly what being a priest might mean. Or they would tell him things about how to practice his Catholicism well, things that meant almost nothing to him.

I had such a good time laughing as I listened to his story that I immediately ordered a copy from the radio network, thinking I would share it with some of the many good-natured ‘Filipino women’ I know at my parish.

But on listening to the entire program after I received my copy in the mail I decided that the early part which I had missed was such strong stuff that I’d never pass it along to my pious Filipina friends.   I suspect that they would be so taken aback by the lurid details of the wild life he led before his conversion that they’d totally miss the humor in it and, beyond that, they’d see me as a purveyor of dirty junk besmirching, to a degree, their own and their country’s exceptional Catholic piety. They’ll have to find it somehow themselves.

*Putting on the Mind of Christ #243, air date November 26, 2006. Fr. Donald Calloway: Conversion Story.  Ave Maria Radio. 79min, 50sec. CD-713.

Pretty soon I and another catechist will be trying to teach rudiments of Catholicism to 5th graders who will assemble after Sunday Mass. We have been provided with hefty books full of course material and advice on how to proceed. But the book is a product of the ‘visual literacy’ generation, having all sorts of things scrambled together  on pages crammed with splashy colors and antic photographs and drawings. I’m sure we’ll manage fairly well; my partner has some allied experience at another parish to draw upon.

But I have a few objectives I want to achieve with the kids during our year together. I want to lead them somehow to improving their prayer lives. I’m going to ask them to find existing prayers for helping with their studying and learning, andyhe  other things important in their lives, such as more intentionally loving their parents and the other people in their lives. And I want to encourage each of them toward picking out a ‘life verse’ of their very own.  If they already have done so, all the better.  Furthermore…  I want to interest them, to a degree greater than is at present the case with them, in what takes place during the Mass.  There’s a lot about the Mass in the splashy book,  so this should be a done deal .

On my way home from church I came to a corner with a flimsy sign asking GOT LOVE? in big letters. Then underneath it gave a singles website.  Seemed like a strange vision, coming from church. I thought: Well, I’ve got God’s love, more or less. But that’s not in their ballpark. Then I thought Well, I’ve got something akin to love for a certain lady I admire from a distance.  Again, not their idea of love.

An old Army buddy did a lot of dating out of single clubs, so I have a little bit of an idea of how that stuff goes.  ‘Love’ doesn’t seem like the right word. Maybe ’struggle’ is closer.   Or ‘hope’.   But I suppose a certain amount of it turns out as love.

Yesterday I went to a nearby parish to attend the dedication of a statue shipped here to Florida from the Philippines honoring Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, under another title, Our Lady of Antipolo. Rosary, outdoor procession, and Mass made up the service, which was well attended, including a fine Philippine-American presence. A 125-year old image of this representation of Mary may be seen at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. D.C., which is an exact reproduction of the original brought to the Philippines from Mexico in the year 1626. The statue I saw yesterday at St. Maximillian Kolbe Parish in Port Charlotte is distinguished from the original and the one in Washington by being of a uniform goldtone finish, not in multicolored garb as are the others, such as the one shown.

I was at Mass some years ago in a downtown Chicago church when at one point a man stood up and started to address the congregation about his needy family and their dire straits. Quickly three of four big fellows arrived and escorted him briskly from his pew to the back of the church. What transpired back there or from then on I can’t say. Could it be that he was unfamiliar with the sacredness of the Mass and saw it merely as a gathering of folks, such as he might address in a school hall? I’m inclined to think that there certain channels that he could have followed in order to get help from the church, although not likely too immediately. Maybe he was informed of the ‘proper’ way to ask for help – I hope so.

Last night I was at a charismatic prayer group I have gratefully attended a few times. Toward the end one of the members had a heavy burden, and we all gathered around to pray for it being removed from the person. I wanted to suggest we say a Hail Mary, which I remembered reading is particularly effective against such problems as the one we were praying against. But the others started praying as in tongues, so I joined in after a fashion, saying the Hail Mary but in a kind of garbled, unrecognizable way, so that it blended in with the other wordless voices satisfactorily. My “prayer” over, the others were still continuing. So I repeated mine, and again, and again. I’m not aware of having the tongues gift, or inclination: the nearest I come is an emotional ‘ooooh’ and ‘ohhhhh” once in a while as the others do it, and maybe a somewhat reserved ‘Yes Lord’ once in a while. It’s not much, but it’s all that I’ve got.

The subject of the state of the faith in different countries came up during one of the exchanges of comments within the Multiply Catholic Friends group which I visit. A lady from Poland, a schoolteacher in a public school, painted a bleak picture, especially as she contrasted the state there with what appears to exist in the Philippines. A correspondent from the Philippines spoke of how churches there are nearly filled, attendance is high, and not only at Sunday Mass, but also at Daily Mass and at other services.
In Poland, “the latest statistics about Sunday mass attendance … said that 30 % go to mass regularly. It varied in some regions. There were some that had 25 % and others that had 45%. In Warsaw region it is about 30% but in Lodz … it is less than that.”
It reaches into the schools: “When asked during a catholic religion class (that we have at school!) who was to church last Sunday, out of 20 kids just 3 or 4 , sometimes 5 raise their hands.”
Regarding her own parish: “The problem with my parish church is that the priests cannot attract kids into the church. There is no special mass for kids on Sunday unlike in some other parishes. There is also almost no link between the parish and the school.”
More generally, “the mentality of the people … is changing. We cannot have any obligatory masses. And parents now place great importance on education for their kids. Apart from school, they send them to numerous extra paid classes such as language courses, music lessons, various sports, drama etc and care very little about their religious education.
“I live in Warsaw region, which is much worse about it than some other parts of Poland as you can see the rat race starting very early here. Not whole Poland is that secular yet, but the trend is increasing. Still plenty of people stick to faith on the great feast days (Easter, Christmas, Corpus Christi) but more because of tradition than their personal involvement.”
I imagine Polish-American people returning for a visit will be struck by the new state of affairs regarding the faith. It is closer, they might conclude, to what obtains in America now.

This morning after Mass I stepped into the line of people waiting to go to confession. The man ahead of me I recognized as a talkative acquaintance, so I was a bit afraid he would start a conversation, but minutes passed in silence, as I ruminated about what to say inside the confessional.

About the time my friend was the next up, however, he said a few things about the interior of the church. Then he started whispering things to me about Obama, his policies, and abortion. The next thing I knew the little lady on my other side began berating the whisperer for being critical of Obama. She was dark complexioned and had something of a Caribbean accent. Her assumption seemed to be that the man’s criticism was based on Obama’s racial identity. They didn’t exactly dialog, but things kept being said, mostly by the lady,as she averred that she was sick of all the judging of Obama after only three months, that everyone is equal in God’s eyes, that Jesus died on the cross for all people, and other similar statements.

I’d glance at her from time to time, uncomfortable at having partisan interchanges in the confession line, but trying to show some attention and sympathy, agreeing with what I could agree with, but she only looked straight ahead as she continued commenting, the other person now in the confessional. It was a little difficult to understand, but it seemed she was stating that perhaps he, perhaps both of us would report her. I realized that with the two of us white guys going into see the white priest ahead of her, she well might wonder if we would “report” her. I know I didn’t.

Yesterday we had a parish form to fill out to provide feedback on how we perceive our Faith Enrichment Group – what are the positives, what are the negatives, that sort of thing. One of the members took on the task of the last minute filling out of the questionnaire, thinking that after the meeting as we sat around socializing we could all contribute our various ideas and responses.
But as it happened most of the group seemed to be largely unaware or unconcerned about recording any answers, caught up as they were in animated conversations about other matters. So the questionnaire only contains what the one member filling out the form and the person sitting next to her were able to cobble together drawing upon their own ideas and a few little bits of what could be gotten from the others by trying to occasionally interrupt their other conversations.
I can’t help but think that all over the world similar fiasco’s take place, perhaps in the form of overburdened secretaries performing last minute substitutions for what their boss should have done, or projects being delayed because needed contributions have not been submitted, or have been submitted in incomplete or unacceptable form.

In a recent prayer group meeting as we waited during a silent time for the Holy Spirit to give us something to share, one of us spoke out with the reminder that through Jesus we can receive whatever we want from the Father. First I thought of anyone’s ordinary wants, such as a new car, a Rolex watch, a promotion or raise, and such. Then I got to thinking about another way of understanding want, as a lack, more specifically, a lack of what God intends for us. Such a usage would be “My book is ready for publication, all it wants is a final proof reading.” So God will give us anything we want when we ask in Jesus’ name, that is, anything we lack that will bring us closer to Him.”