The apostles and early Christians sought to convert a pagan world. St. Athanasius had to combat the Arian heresies - arguing about the human and divine nature of God. The counter-reformation saints like St. Teresa of Avila and Francis de Sales worked hard to preach the fullness of the Gospel and live robust Catholic lives in a time when Catholic teaching and practice were under attack. Therese of Lisieux taught us her “Little Way” at a time when people doubted the depths of God’s mercy.
It is important to understand the unique moment in the history of the world and the Church that we are living in. We need to respond appropriately to answer the questions the world has about the faith.
For the last several centuries, we have lived in an era that is often described as “Christendom” - a time when the social, political, economic and even moral constructs of society had their roots in a Christian culture. In these times it’s easy to see the influence of the Church on the culture - we see great catholic institutions - like hospitals, schools or social services that are designed to live the Gospel values - raising up the lowly, protecting the innocent, serving the least of society. Civil laws often reflected Catholic values on things like marriage, life-issues and morality.
The way our parishes operate was built for this previous era and worked well in it. Our modes of parish life, catechesis and catholic education assume that the family unit and the Gospel is in the very air we breathe.
Without getting into a deep analysis of how we got here, I think it’s safe to say that we are living in a period where something has changed. A radical shift has happened over the past several decades and our culture seems to be trying to become self-reliant rather than reliant on God.
If the world is changing, we must also change - not to change the timeless and unchanging truths of the faith, or the structures that are built into the very nature of the Church; but rather, how we speak those truths to a culture that no longer wants to hear them - to a world consumed with busyness and noise that doesn’t often slow down enough to recognize God’s presence among us.
The questions that today’s world seems to be asking are: Why should I believe in God? What difference does believing in Jesus make? How does faith impact my understanding of the human person, body and soul?
As a Church, we can’t stand idly by with our doors open and wonder why no one is coming to us. We must respond to the desires, questions and needs of today’s society. We must go out to the world, beyond the borders of our parish property to proclaim the love of God in our words and our actions. We have to go out and make the invitations.
St. Paul lived among the people he wanted to evangelize. He knew them. He loved them. He met them where they were at. He knew the Gospel was what they needed more than anything and couldn’t help but share it with conviction.
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us1.”
We must be attentive to the Holy Spirit and prepare new strategies for a new apostolic age, being especially attentive to the opportunities and challenges that come with sharing our faith in our modern world.
In every age of challenge in the Church, the Holy Spirit seems to raise up saints who were built to answer the questions the culture is asking - men and women of apostolic zeal who won’t rest until the whole world hears of the goodness of God.
God wants to raise up saints for this age too. Today's saints will need to be men and women of conviction - that urgently believe that Jesus matters, that God has a plan for each of our lives that is better than our own and that we love others enough to make sacrifices in our own lives so that others may truly live.
References:
EG 27 - Missionary Conversion
EN 24
1 Thes 2:8
Fulton Sheen, 1974 “we are at the end of Christendeom…” (from the Intro to From Christdendom to Apostolic Mission )
All Things New is meant to enable a vibrant Catholic presence in every square mile of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for the next century. You are a part of that Catholic presence.
We recognize that merging parishes and closing schools won't help the archdiocese evangelize in and of itself. An intentional reformatting of the Catholic landscape allows for new POSSIBILITIES to be explored that could have a much greater effect on our mission to bring Jesus Christ to the people.
Without change, the archdiocese won't have the capacity to do new things. The availability of former parish grounds, for example, can provide a rich infrastructure of OPPORTUNITY for what "could be."
Let’s engage with the Holy Spirit and begin to create NEW LIFE.
“Look to the future with commitment to a New Evangelization, one that is new in its ardor, new in its methods, and new in its expression” (St. John Paul II, Address to the Latin American Bishops)
Show the trends in infographics throughout this section (pull stats from slides hyperlinked here)
o Our Catholic population continues to decline and age.
o Our priests are aging and as a result, their number is declining. (Projected Active Diocesan Priests)
o Mass attendance and sacramental participation continue to decline. (Sacramental trends)
o Fewer children attend Catholic Schools and Religious Education (PSR).
o Weekly Sunday Mass attendance is shrinking.
o Our resources are finite and need to be realigned.
