HOW THE CHURCH BETRAYED THE YOUNG
I heard a discussion the other day. It was about why so many young people do not come to Church. The difficulties of keeping First Communicants coming to Church and the difficulties experienced in Confirmation. Those who spoke had tried everything but nothing worked. There seems to be no way forward.
I remember being present one Saturday morning at the local school listening to the new catechism that was being brought in. It was called 'Here I Am' and there was no doubt that because it was in the Spirit of Vatican II era it just had to be successful. Only those living in the past would dare to question this. So i questioned it. Knowing that whatever I said would be appreciated by some parents but ignored by the teachers I restricted myself to pointing out that there was no mention of the Blessed Sacrament and added "If you do not mention or teach the true Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament you will destroy the faith of the children" And of course at that time the Real Presence had also bern omitted from the First Holy Communion programme. "The children are too young to understand" was the reply if you dared to ask. So the greatest treasure in the Catholic Church was put into the background as quite unimportant. What followed was even worse. Love and Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was attacked inside the Church itself. We received as a Community we were told so when you receive the host you are not to go giving private love and devotion for that is meaningless until you rejoin the Community. To top this one parish tried to stop devotion by claiming that Jesus told us to chew and they gave us a new host which we could chew. This host would break in peoples hands and was quickly removed. But the stupidity of the people who would reason this way was outweighed by their lack of Faith in the Real Presence. In the Assyrian Church people prostrate themselves before receiving the Sacrament but in the UK altar rails were broken down and the people force to stand.
Of course the first person that was attacked by the new scholars was Our Mother Mary. It was at Vatican II that a Jesuit stood up and demanded that a document on Our Lady be thrown out since THIS WOULD PUT THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT BACK 10 YEARS. What an insult to Jesus and his Mother. No surprise then that this was followed by an attack on the standing of Mary in the parishes Devotions to Mary and the Rosary was stopped except for a few Catholics who struggled on. Almost unnoticed came the attack on the Authority given to the Church by Jesus Himself. Every priest is infallible in his own right or some believe they are. The Church no longer is a militant Church spreading the truth that the Spirit wants us to spread. No, we must not claim to have the truth it would hurt the feelings of Protestants.
Which brings me back to the beginning. How do we get the children back into the Church? Why do the children not want to be part of the Church? The answer is all about loving the Church. I have been part of the Church since my early youth since I loved the Church. I loved the Blessed Sacrament, I loved our Mother Mary, I loved the Rosary, I loved the lives of many of the saints. I loved the great treasures that young people are being denied. Were I a young person now I doubt if the Church would attract me. And there is a saying that if you do not have love then how can you pass it on? You cannot give what you do not have. The Church was created by Jesus to build his Kingdom on earth. To be holy by striving for holiness, by obeying the Commandments to show our love for God. Jesus said "If you love me keep my Commandments" So anyone who sees the Commandments as 'just rules' has already sinned against the Jesus of Scripture.
We lost thousands of young people to the reformers but there are signs that the Faith is returning. I think we owe this to a great extent to the immigration from Europe and the Southern Continents that started in the late nineties. Many of them did not experience the destruction of the Spirit of Vatican II and did not experience the zeal of the 'experts' of the Spirit of Vatican II. In the Diocese of Portsmouth we have a bishop who is keen to restore theCatholic Faith. Keep him in your prayers.
I remember being present one Saturday morning at the local school listening to the new catechism that was being brought in. It was called 'Here I Am' and there was no doubt that because it was in the Spirit of Vatican II era it just had to be successful. Only those living in the past would dare to question this. So i questioned it. Knowing that whatever I said would be appreciated by some parents but ignored by the teachers I restricted myself to pointing out that there was no mention of the Blessed Sacrament and added "If you do not mention or teach the true Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament you will destroy the faith of the children" And of course at that time the Real Presence had also bern omitted from the First Holy Communion programme. "The children are too young to understand" was the reply if you dared to ask. So the greatest treasure in the Catholic Church was put into the background as quite unimportant. What followed was even worse. Love and Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was attacked inside the Church itself. We received as a Community we were told so when you receive the host you are not to go giving private love and devotion for that is meaningless until you rejoin the Community. To top this one parish tried to stop devotion by claiming that Jesus told us to chew and they gave us a new host which we could chew. This host would break in peoples hands and was quickly removed. But the stupidity of the people who would reason this way was outweighed by their lack of Faith in the Real Presence. In the Assyrian Church people prostrate themselves before receiving the Sacrament but in the UK altar rails were broken down and the people force to stand.
Of course the first person that was attacked by the new scholars was Our Mother Mary. It was at Vatican II that a Jesuit stood up and demanded that a document on Our Lady be thrown out since THIS WOULD PUT THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT BACK 10 YEARS. What an insult to Jesus and his Mother. No surprise then that this was followed by an attack on the standing of Mary in the parishes Devotions to Mary and the Rosary was stopped except for a few Catholics who struggled on. Almost unnoticed came the attack on the Authority given to the Church by Jesus Himself. Every priest is infallible in his own right or some believe they are. The Church no longer is a militant Church spreading the truth that the Spirit wants us to spread. No, we must not claim to have the truth it would hurt the feelings of Protestants.
Which brings me back to the beginning. How do we get the children back into the Church? Why do the children not want to be part of the Church? The answer is all about loving the Church. I have been part of the Church since my early youth since I loved the Church. I loved the Blessed Sacrament, I loved our Mother Mary, I loved the Rosary, I loved the lives of many of the saints. I loved the great treasures that young people are being denied. Were I a young person now I doubt if the Church would attract me. And there is a saying that if you do not have love then how can you pass it on? You cannot give what you do not have. The Church was created by Jesus to build his Kingdom on earth. To be holy by striving for holiness, by obeying the Commandments to show our love for God. Jesus said "If you love me keep my Commandments" So anyone who sees the Commandments as 'just rules' has already sinned against the Jesus of Scripture.
We lost thousands of young people to the reformers but there are signs that the Faith is returning. I think we owe this to a great extent to the immigration from Europe and the Southern Continents that started in the late nineties. Many of them did not experience the destruction of the Spirit of Vatican II and did not experience the zeal of the 'experts' of the Spirit of Vatican II. In the Diocese of Portsmouth we have a bishop who is keen to restore theCatholic Faith. Keep him in your prayers.
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