If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... (Main Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Sunday, July 15, 2012, 20:26 (310 days ago)

I had been thinking about this since reading Anthony Ruff's comments on the PrayTell blog [LINK] that Mary drew our attention to earlier even before I came to choose a commentary from John Chuchman today...

What if?

What if the exit out of the pews continues until there are only somewhere between 1 and 5% participating regularly? (My sense is that it is a very real possibility given the evidence of recent decades.) Equally though I sense there is a significant population in the world that still wants to identify as "Catholic", and not purely for tribal or identity reasons.

For as long as I can remember the accepted measure as to whether Catholicism was meeting its objectives was how many people were regularly attending the Eucharist. We are told the Eucharist is "the source and summit of our faith" [Lumen Gentium #11, CCC #1324] but self-evidently it would seem a lot of people remain to be convinced these days — and the numbers who remain to be convinced seem to be growing.

I have a confession to make. I've been thinking about this for quite a few years now. I'm not convinced either! It's a cute slogan but it is a slogan a bit like "the family that prays together stays together". These kind of slogans "roll off the tongue easily" but what do they actually mean; do they contain solid wisdom; or are they just part of our "institutional propaganda"?

On a more positive note I've also been wondering what I would classify as "the source and summit" of my faith, or beliefs? Perhaps it is the Liturgy of the Word? What I think attracts me most to Catholicism and Jesus Christ is not some "magic" that I obtain from swallowing the consecrated host or wine but somehow "integrating into my life" a certain "way" of processing or navigating life. I am no longer enamoured of the literalness of the Gospel stories — the "Oh, Wow, Jesus performed this or that miracle, or defied gravity by 'ascending' into heaven, or walked through walls and walked on water" but I find myself more and more interested in Jesus as some manifestation of this "spirit" that suffuses creation, who is some embodiment of perhaps "Divine wisdom" and certainly "the wisdom of the ages" who provides some sort of compass or guide by which we might navigate the challenges that we find confronting us in our journey's today.

Assume for a moment I am correct in my assessment: how would you measure if you're "on the right track" — or how would you measure if the Community, or the Institution, is "on the right track" in achieving the objective? Is it measured accurately by how many people rock up to church on Sunday? Or does it require some new measuring stick?

Do any of the rest of you have thoughts on this?

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Complete thread:

If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-15, 20:26
- Christianity: a religion whose unique achievement is precisely to demystify the Sacred - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-15, 21:58
- If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - georgeh, 2012-07-15, 22:40
  - If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-16, 01:08
    - If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - clommer, 2012-07-16, 01:26
- If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Debb, 2012-07-16, 06:27
- This is my body - TonySee, 2012-07-16, 06:52
  - This is my body - petrus2, 2012-07-16, 07:19
- If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Rayner, 2012-07-16, 08:20
  - If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Francis, 2012-07-16, 08:58
  - If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - Ynot, 2012-07-16, 09:06
    - Francis, may I ask after Mary, please? nt - Bill Dowsley, 2012-07-16, 09:17
      - Francis, may I ask after Mary, please? nt - Francis, 2012-07-16, 20:17
    - One place where the church is growing, but for how much longer? - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-16, 10:05
    - If Mass going and Eucharist ceases to be important for most people... - georgeh, 2012-07-16, 11:26
  - Thanks for your responses. Some further observations/questions to those responses... - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-16, 09:28
    - Another response - Jerome345, 2012-07-16, 13:37
      - Another response - Brian Coyne, 2012-07-16, 16:08
        And another response - liturgy in the old days wasn't much good either. - Enda, 2012-07-16, 16:21
        "When I was fourteen it picked up a bit because I could watch some of the convent girls.. - Bill Dowsley, 2012-07-16, 16:40
        And another response - liturgy in the old days wasn't much good either. - judith, 2012-07-16, 16:42
- Response to John Chuchman from Tom Draney in NY... - Letter to the Editor, 2012-07-18, 02:19

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