Bringing in the Fish
In my last post, I focused on the need to change Catholic Culture. In a nutshell, that means changing our identity as Catholics from basically just going to Mass to becoming disciples, people who are in love with Jesus, who follow Him in every aspect of their lives and are zealous in inviting others to join our parishes.
Just recently, I came across a fantastic article by Fr. James Mallon on the subject of renewing Catholic parishes. Fr. Mallon’s commentary, entitled “Becoming a Church That Fishes,” is very illuminating. The entire article can be found on The Word Among Us at wau.org/archives/article/becoming_a_church_that_fishes.
Fr. Mallon emphasizes some of the points I made in the last blog on Catholic culture. He writes: “Just 20% of Catholics in the United States go to church weekly. Of that 20%, what subset do more than simply go to Mass? Very few. Most Catholics have no experience of Catholicism besides weekly worship at Mass.” He lists five areas that a vibrant parish should foster, of which the Mass is only one. The others are 1) commitment to evangelizing, 2) discipleship, 3) the experience of community and 4) a passion for serving.
Fr. Mallon discovered that evangelization is necessary for people’s hearts to be set on fire, which happens when people truly encounter Jesus and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. He used the Alpha program to create the encounter with Jesus and to invite new people to the parish. He helped build a parish which brought in the fish.
If we just stop to think logically for a bit, it becomes obvious that the sacraments are not really going to have much impact if the person receiving the sacrament does not have a deep relationship with Jesus. This is why our focus on the externals of sacraments in normal Catholic life is not accomplishing very much and why so many people leave the Catholic Church.
One interesting aspect of Fr. Mallon’s experience and recommendations is that his parish got rid of classrooms and age-based sacraments. The sacraments were made available to someone when that person was ready. This was not a function of their age or a date on the parish calendar but on an evaluation with the person of their formation and desire, of how they were living their Christian life and what was the next step.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the Eucharist and have missed it very much the last few months. At the same time, however, I love the fact that during this time, many Catholics have been making a frequent Act of Spiritual Communion, and saying these words:
“My Jesus…I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul…Come spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.”
For Catholics to be saying these words and really meaning them might be one of the best things that can happen in our Church. We should keep saying them in some form or other even after we are able to return to the church for Mass. When we do that, the Eucharist will have the life-changing impact that Jesus gave His life for it to have. And we’ll start bringing in more fish.