Author: Jackson Brunsting
August 4, 2019
July 27, 2019
July 21, 2019
July 7, 2019
A Twentysomething is in Your Parish
A twentysomething Catholic sits in the pews at St. Mary Immaculate week after week. Have you noticed them? They are typically inconspicuous, unassuming, and keep to themselves. They sit alone, often surrounded by empty pew space on all sides. The single twentysomething Catholic is a rare breed.
I would say more has been written about this generation leaving the Church than almost anything else in the Church outside of the abuse scandals, and rightfully so. However, I’m told the number of twentysomething Catholics is low, and we need to get them back! The problem is low attendance. Right?
What’s the Problem
While there is a problem with low Mass attendance from the twentysomethings, Mass-goers and Catholics need to focus on what we can control. Namely, how we interact with the current twentysomethings who attend Mass, and how current young adults experience the parish life. There are many articles out there about why young adults have left the Church in droves, and the countless cultural problems that come into play. But we have twentysomethings sitting in our pews! The twentysomething in your parish is the person Jesus wants us to encounter. While a problem is the lack of numbers, the real problem is the isolation twentysomethings experience from the rest of the parish.
Isolation at Mass
This isolation manifests itself very directly in how a twentysomething experiences the parish on Sundays. Now, Mass is about encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, and that should be the reason for attending. However, everyone sits in a church full of people who are told to spread the Gospel to each other. Twentysomethings usually sit alone, but they encounter less than a dozen people on a typical Sunday. Two people may hand you a songsheet, three to six people shake your hand at the sign of peace, and you shake the priest’s hand on the way out.
How are handshakes and mumbling “Peace,” a genuine encounter? This isn’t a comment on being welcoming, either. You could have the most welcoming parish in the world, and still only interact with less than a dozen people. As you encounter Christ in the Eucharist and are told, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” do we start with the strangers we’re sitting next to?
What Do We Do?
Well, start with the people sitting next to you! Unless they are intensely praying, strike up a conversation on the way out of church. Introduce yourself! The studies show over and over twentysomethings are looking for authentic friendships, but both sides don’t make the effort. Building friendships with people in your parish is hard, but everyone needs friends, especially friends who are on the same spiritual journey.
If you’re a twentysomething who has agreed with something in this post, you must make an effort too. What bothers me more than anything is people who refuse to engage in small talk, because they aren’t comfortable with small talk, claim to be too introverted to carry on conversations, or want authentic relationships but don’t want to put in the work to build them. To you twentysomethings who have used these excuses…stop it! You will never encounter Christ in someone else with these excuses.
But, if you see a twentysomething, reach out, and try to make a friend! Even if you are in different states of life, try to make a friend. You shouldn’t travel the Catholic path alone. Iron sharpens iron and we need good Catholic relationships for us to continue to grow and motivate us to grow our relationships with Christ. And if you’re older and see a twentysomething in Mass, remember you are looking at an endangered species. Be a friend, and encounter Christ in the Catholic twentysomething.
Putting the Extra in Extraordinary Ministers
When training Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (oftentimes referred to as EMs for short), there’s an old joke that any leader will tell the new ministers. It goes something along the lines of, “You may be an extraordinary person, but that’s not why you will be called an extraordinary minister.” The joke usually gets a chuckle, but points to a truth about being an Extraordinary Minister. While all of the EMs at St. Mary Immaculate are extraordinary people (we can personally vouch for them), the point is the title of Extraordinary Minister puts the emphasis on the circumstance of the minister, not the minster per se.
Ordinary Ministers
While there are Extraordinary Ministers, one must understand there are also Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. These are bishops, priests, and deacons, who have been ordained by God, to be the ordinary ministers. Back before the Second Vatican Council, the Ordinary Ministers were the only ones who could be in the sanctuary, let alone distribute Communion.
Since the council, the laity has the opportunity (when pastorally acceptable) to distribute Communion, as Extraordinary Ministers. Now, pastorally acceptable has a broad definition, but for the purposes of St. Mary Immaculate, we have Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion because the number of Mass-goers warrants it. Communion takes a long time as it is, even with the number of ministers we have from Mass to Mass.
When Do We Need Extraordinary Ministers?
But think about the purposes of having Extraordinary Ministers for other circumstances. The bishops tell us about these roles here, but there are extreme cases to need these ministers too. Certain parts of the world have an extremely small number of priests. Priests will often go to missionary lands to be able to cover large areas that the local priests can’t cover. They need help at Mass because like at St. Mary’s, Communion would take an extremely long time if left to one man. To be able to distribute Communion, they must delegate that to lay people.
And closer to home, the need to take Communion to the home bound is great. This includes taking Communion to the elderly in nursing homes and hospitals. While we have 3 priests on staff (a blessing for a parish our size), we need a large number of ministers who can take Communion to those who cannot attend Mass on Sunday due to illness or the inability to get to Mass. If we were to just have Ordinary Ministers, our priests would never sleep!
Why Extra?
So while it may appear Extraordinary Ministers are just extra, the Church sees the need in having faithful lay people assist in distributing Communion. We need Extraordinary Ministers who are not simply “there to help” or “feel special distributing Communion.” Rather, we need Extraordinary Ministers dedicated to the reverence of the Eucharist, and feel called to serve the needs of those who wish to receive the Eucharist. The focus must be on Christ, not the minister. Handling our Lord is an extreme privilege, and ministers need to take their role seriously. Because while they are not Ordinary Ministers, they are participating in a task that is extraordinary.
June 29, 2019
Spiritual Change
With Daily Mass set to move to Cana Hall for the next few weeks, it can seem like a change of scenery is a hassle or is an unwelcome change from routines to which we’ve grown accustomed. Other times, we find ourselves excited for a mix-up from the monotony. Whatever the feeling, the secret to living well in life and in a parish is being able to adapt and accept change, particularly in the spiritual life.
In reality, the only constant that exists is change (and God of course). Sadly, change can be the one thing we struggle with the most. In fact, most of us find it difficult to implement any change in our own lives because of the perceived backlash from those around us. Upsetting the balance I’ve delicately created could make people upset, is ultimately the thought that crushes us.
This happens frequently in the spiritual life. No matter how big or small the change, we are hesitant to upset the balance we’ve created. God wants to radically change us so that we can be close to Him. He calls us to this change constantly, yet we still falter. Why? Because comfort is comfortable. Sacrificing to live the life of Christ is not comfortable and requires massive changes. We see this in the Gospels, particularly as we enter Ordinary Time.
But, we have the Sacraments and we have the Mass. And most importantly, we have a community of believers that help and support us on our spiritual journey. The constant reality of a community of the faithful can help us immensely when times get difficult. So when change comes knocking, and it most definitely will, know Christ will guide us through it. The Carthusian Order’s motto is “the cross is steady, while the world is turning.” Let us strive to live this reality, that even as things change around us, we can rely on a Christ that does not change, and is steady, even as the world is not.
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