CrossCurrents A Catholic Reflects on Faith in Our Times
Bernard
F. Swain, Ph.D. www.CrossCurrents.us
The Active Ingredients
About a week before Ash Wednesday I was
in a wine bar and overheard a mother
and daughter talking about the upcoming season of Lent. It was clear that
neither one was a regular churchgoer, but both were planning to observe the
season in their own way. After a
couple of minutes, the discussion basically boiled down to Òwho was giving up
what for Lent.Ó
I have been thinking a lot about that
conversation all through Lent, because it struck me at the time – and it
still strikes me – that these women possessed a fairly superficial notion
of what it meant to be a Catholic, typified by the idea of Ògiving up
somethingÓ for Lent.
Later, when I wrote two CrossCurrents pieces on Benedict XVIÕs new Encyclical letter, ÒGod
is Love,Ó I was struck even more by
the gap between BenedictÕs ÒBack to BasicsÓ focus on the core elements of
Catholicism, and the typical grasp of Catholic tradition that I see among many
parishioners.
When I got into Church work in the early 1970s,
both the Vatican and the U.S. Bishops had established a policy that the
formation the faith formation of adults should become the number one
educational priority throughout the Church, especially in parishes.
In most places – in fact in almost
all parishes – that new priority never took hold. Instead, the bulk of parish resources
(time, talent, treasure) continued to focus on the education of school age
children. Thirty years later, a lot of middle-aged Catholics are hobbling along
with a teen-agerÕs faith.
Looking back, I can see that this was a
huge failure of leadership at all levels. The result is, I think, that the
great opportunity that came from Vatican Council II (1962 – 1965) was
lost.
What was that opportunity? It was the
chance, for the first time in hundreds of years, to sort out the accumulated
details of Catholic tradition.
After nearly twenty centuries, after 50
generations, the recipe for Catholic identity had become more and more
complicated. In fact, it had
reached the point where many Catholics could no longer tell the active ingredients from the inactive ones.
You know what I mean. In any list of
ingredients, you find some that really make the recipe work, whether itÕs food,
or medicine, or even the key players on a sports team or theater group or band.
Then there are often other ingredients added in, things that make the food more
nutritious, or the medicine better tasting, or the team or band more well-rounded.
But these other ingredients are not what make the recipe actually work. ThatÕs
why, on medicine bottles, you see one list for Òactive ingredientsÕ and another
for ÒinactiveÓ ingredients.
Catholicism is like that too. Over the
years, it has acquired hundreds and hundreds of elements which humanize,
personalize, or even customize Catholicism to fit particular nationalities,
personalities, or periods. That helps to explain how Catholicism became the
global tradition is today (still the closest thing the world has to a truly
global religion). It works in Europe, in the western hemisphere, in Africa, and
even in Asia. And thatÕs because it has lots of added ingredients to appeal to
all kinds of people.
But there is a downside for a tradition
that accumulates so many detailed elements. After a while, people can lose track of the traditionÕs
core—of what is really essential and what is not. They may grow up being
trained to recognize the ingredients of their tradition – but they may
still be unable to tell the active
ingredients from the inactive
ones.
Recently for example, when I asked a group
of parishioners to identify the founding documents of Catholicism, many people
said Òthe Ten Commandments.Ó Now, the Ten Commandments are a significant
element in Christian tradition, but they belong to the Old Testament, not to
the Gospels. They existed long before Christianity; properly speaking, they are
not a Christian ingredient at all, except by inheritance. By nature and origin,
the Ten Commandments are part of the Jewish religion. And both Jesus and Saint
Paul made it quite clear that they were not the key to the Good News that Jesus
preached. It is striking too that, in his encyclical ÒGod is Love,Ó Pope Benedict was able to devote 30 single-spaced
pages to describe the core of our faith and never even mention the Ten Commandments!
At another recent event, I heard Father
Brian Hehir (the former social policy adviser to the U.S. Bishops) summarize Catholic
social doctrine. He made the point that a major contribution of Vatican II was
to clarify the three ÒpillarsÓ of Catholic tradition and identity.
Before Vatican II, it was quite clear that
Catholic life was supposed to be built around both Sacred Scripture (which of
course includes things like the Ten Commandments) and the Sacraments (since the
Eucharist is the central act of parish life, and the other sacraments form the
major milestones of family life).
But Vatican II clarified that Catholicism
also depends, for its very nature, on its commitment to Service. This includes
both the direct service of charity (following the example of the Good
Samaritan) and the ChurchÕs role in the Òfight for justiceÓ in an unjust world.
Father HehirÕs remarks reminded me that Òthe
3 SsÓ – Scripture, Sacrament, and Service – are the main active
ingredients, the basics, the ABCs, of Catholic life. His remarks also reminded
me that Pope BenedictÕs encyclical said the very same thing.
This contrasts pretty sharply with what
happens too often in parish life. Any parish priest will tell you about
parishioners who think nothing of skipping Mass on Ash Wednesday but go out of
their way to get the ashes, or parishioners who never show up at Sunday mass until
its Palm Sunday – and thatÕs because they want the Palms!
These are many of the same Catholics
wonder what to give up for Lent; Catholics who miss the Blessing of the Throats;
Catholics who might be surprised and upset to learn that Limbo has been dropped
from Catholic teaching; Catholics who tend to see Catholicism as a set of rules;
Catholics who not only do not know the content of Catholic social doctrine, but
in fact are not aware that there is such a thing!
I remember such Catholics from my childhood,
when church would be filled with people fingering their beads during mass, reciting
the Rosary, – as if a popular devotion like the Rosary was an appropriate
replacement for the central ritual of Catholic life.
Sometimes I wonder, after 35 years of working
in Catholic parishes, how far we have come – or not.
In my more pessimistic moments, I am
tempted to think that the average Catholic still doesnÕt understand the recipe
of their own faith. I fear that, for too many Catholics, the little ingredients,
which should be merely the additives that sweeten Catholic life, are more
important than the active ingredients.
As we move to the end of Lent, toward the
end of the journey through the desert that leads to the Cross, let me make a
request of you, dear reader: Take some time to reflect on your own faith. What does it means to you to be a Catholic? What are the main, the active ingredients in the recipe of
your faith?
© Bernard F. Swain PhD 2006
Send Your Comments and Questions to bfswain@juno.com
Dr. SwainÕs
opinions do not represent the views of this parish or any other official body.
Bernie Swain has
devoted more than 30 years to adult spiritual formation in dioceses in the US,
Canada, and France. Since 1991 he has maintained a private practice as trainer,
teacher, and consultant to leaders in parishes and other religious
organizations. He holds degrees in theology and political science from Holy
Cross, Harvard, The University of Paris, and The University of Chicago.
His writings include Liberating
Leadership (Harper & Row,
1986) and more than 200 articles in periodicals such as The National Catholic
Reporter, Commonweal, The Miami Herald, The Catholic Free Press, The Pilot,
Harvard Theological Review, and
Liturgy.
A lifelong layperson,
he lives in Boston with his wife and three children. Visit his website at:
CrossCurrents: The weekly subscription service for parish websites and individuals. For moreInformation for you or your parish, contact bfswain@juno.com or 617-282-0183