Many of you have probably read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's award-winning book, "The First Circle," which was smuggled out of Soviet Russia decades ago. You may not be aware that this version of the great novel was not the one Solzhenitsyn himself wanted to have published. He had actually was not finished editing that book when a "samizdat" or underground copy emerged and was published first in Europe.
It has taken all these years, but recently Solzhenitsyn's true version was released and now after his death has finally been translated into English with the proper title, "In the First Circle." . This novel is a breath-taking glimpse into the dark world of the atheistic Hell that was the Soviet Union. (Hence the title's use of Dante's circles of Hell).
While the Gulag Archipelego is rightly considered the indispensible description of penal life under Communism, it is after all, not a novel, and thus lacks the narrative flow and suspense of the novelist's genius. Solzhenitsyn is a profoundly Christian writer whose ability to see evil and describe it from the perspective of faith in Christ is unparalleled.
Punxsatawney Phil just forecast six more weeks of winter this morning; filling some of these cold evenings curled up with one of the 20th century's greatest writers would be time well spent.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A Course with No Name... or Some Musings on Catholic Parishes Today
Thinking about the future of parish life can be a most challenging proposition! In much of the USA, demographic patterns have presented serious dilemmas to bishops and pastors and lay leadership alike. In many cities of the industrial heartland, we have beautiful church edifices occupying land where once large numbers of immigrant Catholic families lived; yet these folks have largely dispersed -to the suburbs in some cases, but to distant towns in even more cases.
Then we have surging Catholic populations in areas of the Sun Belt that once harbored few if any Catholics and who have quickly outgrown existing an even recently built facilities. Often the larger distances between clusters of folks make parish life more complicated. The tightly-grouped, large ethnic parishes have dwindled to a precious few. No longer is the parish the fulcrum of life for families who once worshipped, but also played, socialized and studied among fellow parishioners.
Another issue confronting all of us who work with and care deeply about our parishes is the "age factor." Because older Catholics give more regularly that younger generations on the whole, even parishes with growing populations do not see a concomitant increase in their collections because new arrivals are less likely to use envelopes as consistently as those who have departed the "Church Militant." I have a couple of priest friends with whom I share the slightly irreverent term, "burying an envelope," when describing the death of older, long-time parishioners with a history of committed stewardship -stewardship that will likely not be replaced.
I've painted a rather sobering portrait it seems. However, to quote a famous general who once was surrounded by enemy forces, "Great! We've got then just where we want them!"
No, I haven't taken leave of my senses, but I do believe that great dilemmas promise great opportunities. Perhaps the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the handful of the most popular saints, is most instructive. We do well to recall the circumstances he faced when Our Lord said to him, "rebuild my Church." This came at a time when wars were rampant, the plague was wreaking havoc with the population and when corruption and worldly concerns infected much of the clerical leadership. His era was at least as complicated as our own. Yet he placed his faith in God above his fears and doubts and founded the Franciscan Order, one of the mendicant orders that transformed the Church -and that renewed Church transformed the world. (Read the works of Thomas Woods and George Crocker about the indispensability of the Church to what we call Western Civilization.)
We have Christ's assurance that the Church will prevail against the gates of Hell. That does not mean, of course, that the Church in America will always be here! We need to collectively take up the challenges we face in our time, just as Francis did in his. We each need to think about how we can take concrete steps to help the Church in America last for the ages. Just as with Saint Francis, the first step is transformation of self. Just as in volunteering, others will follow where a leader will go. We must accept that the future is also in our hands, not just the bishop's or our pastor's. In the movie "Thirteen Days," which told the story of the Cuban missile crisis, there is a scene in which General Curtis LeMay outlines the strategic situation for the president, then says smugly, 'Mr. President, you're in quite a fix." President Kennedy turns to him and says, "In case you haven't noticed General Lemay, you're in it with me!" That's how I feel when I hear fellow Catholics mention how this bishop or that pastor needs to do something!
Yes, some of the ways and methods we built parish families with in the "glory days" of post-war America are lost to us. But we've got other and potentially powerful mechanisms to rebuild our foundations. We can utilize, for instance, the emerging technology of the past decade and a half to communicate more fully and more often to our people the life-changing, ever- ancient, ever-new faith of our fathers. Francis was not a clergyman. Nor did he wait for a clergyman to act. Instead he chose to act in simple ways and to believe that with God all things are possible. I won't claim for an instant that I've got all the solutions, but I would urge us all to follow in the footsteps of the this simple man who saw opportunity and clasped it tightly to his faith. We have been given much. Now is our chance to hand on something as our legacy. In subsequent posts I'll be sharing some thoughts on some specific issues alluded to here, but in the meantime I welcome your comments and thoughts!
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult, and left untried."
G.K. Chesterton
Then we have surging Catholic populations in areas of the Sun Belt that once harbored few if any Catholics and who have quickly outgrown existing an even recently built facilities. Often the larger distances between clusters of folks make parish life more complicated. The tightly-grouped, large ethnic parishes have dwindled to a precious few. No longer is the parish the fulcrum of life for families who once worshipped, but also played, socialized and studied among fellow parishioners.
Another issue confronting all of us who work with and care deeply about our parishes is the "age factor." Because older Catholics give more regularly that younger generations on the whole, even parishes with growing populations do not see a concomitant increase in their collections because new arrivals are less likely to use envelopes as consistently as those who have departed the "Church Militant." I have a couple of priest friends with whom I share the slightly irreverent term, "burying an envelope," when describing the death of older, long-time parishioners with a history of committed stewardship -stewardship that will likely not be replaced.
I've painted a rather sobering portrait it seems. However, to quote a famous general who once was surrounded by enemy forces, "Great! We've got then just where we want them!"
No, I haven't taken leave of my senses, but I do believe that great dilemmas promise great opportunities. Perhaps the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the handful of the most popular saints, is most instructive. We do well to recall the circumstances he faced when Our Lord said to him, "rebuild my Church." This came at a time when wars were rampant, the plague was wreaking havoc with the population and when corruption and worldly concerns infected much of the clerical leadership. His era was at least as complicated as our own. Yet he placed his faith in God above his fears and doubts and founded the Franciscan Order, one of the mendicant orders that transformed the Church -and that renewed Church transformed the world. (Read the works of Thomas Woods and George Crocker about the indispensability of the Church to what we call Western Civilization.)
We have Christ's assurance that the Church will prevail against the gates of Hell. That does not mean, of course, that the Church in America will always be here! We need to collectively take up the challenges we face in our time, just as Francis did in his. We each need to think about how we can take concrete steps to help the Church in America last for the ages. Just as with Saint Francis, the first step is transformation of self. Just as in volunteering, others will follow where a leader will go. We must accept that the future is also in our hands, not just the bishop's or our pastor's. In the movie "Thirteen Days," which told the story of the Cuban missile crisis, there is a scene in which General Curtis LeMay outlines the strategic situation for the president, then says smugly, 'Mr. President, you're in quite a fix." President Kennedy turns to him and says, "In case you haven't noticed General Lemay, you're in it with me!" That's how I feel when I hear fellow Catholics mention how this bishop or that pastor needs to do something!
Yes, some of the ways and methods we built parish families with in the "glory days" of post-war America are lost to us. But we've got other and potentially powerful mechanisms to rebuild our foundations. We can utilize, for instance, the emerging technology of the past decade and a half to communicate more fully and more often to our people the life-changing, ever- ancient, ever-new faith of our fathers. Francis was not a clergyman. Nor did he wait for a clergyman to act. Instead he chose to act in simple ways and to believe that with God all things are possible. I won't claim for an instant that I've got all the solutions, but I would urge us all to follow in the footsteps of the this simple man who saw opportunity and clasped it tightly to his faith. We have been given much. Now is our chance to hand on something as our legacy. In subsequent posts I'll be sharing some thoughts on some specific issues alluded to here, but in the meantime I welcome your comments and thoughts!
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult, and left untried."
G.K. Chesterton
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