Faithless
12-09-2006, 05:53 PM
Whatever happened to following that old Sting song:
If you love somebody, set them free
You can't control an independent heart
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches, so many souls
Everything we see we want to possess
According to this article: "... in the past few decades there has been an explosion of single Catholics living alone."
...
The Church has been slow to adapt to this new reality. For better or worse, native-born American Catholics tend to be highly introverted in our religious life.
...
Thus, some Catholics are drawn to evangelical Christianity in particular for its strong focus on fellowship and community.
I think situations like this can be resolved by not going to those churches dominated by old farts who like to sing boring old hymns all the time. Join that church that says to go out and have hot sex, people.
A church where nobody knows your name (http://www.religionandspirituality.com/christianity/view.php?StoryID=20061203-104902-9379r)
Column: Catholicism and Culture | Elise Ehrhard | ReligionAndSpirituality.com | December 4, 2006
In 1960, the great Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor sent a letter to a young convert in which she described the parish she attended as a young woman, "I went to St. Mary's as it was right around the corner and I could be there practically every morning. I went there three years and never knew a soul in that congregation or any of the priests, but it was not necessary. As soon as I went in the door I was at home."
As an unmarried woman who never joined a religious order, Flannery O'Connor was a rarity in her era. Catholics historically found fellowship either in religious orders or in marriage and family. Parents could come together in the Catholic schools and share their faith through the raising of their children. For single men and women, religious sisterhoods and brotherhoods provided spiritual communities where individuals transformed the world together through prayer and work.
But in the past few decades there has been an explosion of single Catholics living alone. In an era of postmodern relativism, it is harder for single Catholics, particularly women who fill most of the pews, to find soulmates who share their values.
The Church has been slow to adapt to this new reality. For better or worse, native-born American Catholics tend to be highly introverted in our religious life. This may be due in part to the major influence of the Irish in the building of the American Catholic Church and the spread of Catholicism throughout the country. As a woman of Irish heritage, I can say that we do not act cuddly or emotional in public. All attempts at hugs are properly greeted with a little sarcasm. Of course, this may a global Catholic phenomena. After all, it took a whole Vatican Council to get parishioners to turn around and shake each others' hands.
The offshoot of such a cultural/social conditioning is that you can practice the faith your whole life with nobody but God noticing. If I stopped going to Mass on Sundays and ditched practicing Catholicism altogether, nobody would bat an eye. I could flatter myself and think that somebody in a pew might ask, "Hey, where'd the redhead go?" but I doubt it. When evangelical Christians or people of other faiths describe the social networks that they gain or lose if they leave or join a church, I have no idea what they are talking about. The practice of the Catholic faith in America is often a solitary thing.
Thus, some Catholics are drawn to evangelical Christianity in particular for its strong focus on fellowship and community. As Catholic convert Mark Shea noted on his popular blog Catholic and Enjoying It (http://www.markshea.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_markshea_archive.html#11636174455221917 9) , "Very often people leave the Catholic communion for reasons that have nothing to do with theology. Usually it has to do with our abominably bad way of simply finding a place for people to attach socially. You can go to a parish for years and remain utterly unknown to your pewmates."
...
If you love somebody, set them free
You can't control an independent heart
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches, so many souls
Everything we see we want to possess
According to this article: "... in the past few decades there has been an explosion of single Catholics living alone."
...
The Church has been slow to adapt to this new reality. For better or worse, native-born American Catholics tend to be highly introverted in our religious life.
...
Thus, some Catholics are drawn to evangelical Christianity in particular for its strong focus on fellowship and community.
I think situations like this can be resolved by not going to those churches dominated by old farts who like to sing boring old hymns all the time. Join that church that says to go out and have hot sex, people.
A church where nobody knows your name (http://www.religionandspirituality.com/christianity/view.php?StoryID=20061203-104902-9379r)
Column: Catholicism and Culture | Elise Ehrhard | ReligionAndSpirituality.com | December 4, 2006
In 1960, the great Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor sent a letter to a young convert in which she described the parish she attended as a young woman, "I went to St. Mary's as it was right around the corner and I could be there practically every morning. I went there three years and never knew a soul in that congregation or any of the priests, but it was not necessary. As soon as I went in the door I was at home."
As an unmarried woman who never joined a religious order, Flannery O'Connor was a rarity in her era. Catholics historically found fellowship either in religious orders or in marriage and family. Parents could come together in the Catholic schools and share their faith through the raising of their children. For single men and women, religious sisterhoods and brotherhoods provided spiritual communities where individuals transformed the world together through prayer and work.
But in the past few decades there has been an explosion of single Catholics living alone. In an era of postmodern relativism, it is harder for single Catholics, particularly women who fill most of the pews, to find soulmates who share their values.
The Church has been slow to adapt to this new reality. For better or worse, native-born American Catholics tend to be highly introverted in our religious life. This may be due in part to the major influence of the Irish in the building of the American Catholic Church and the spread of Catholicism throughout the country. As a woman of Irish heritage, I can say that we do not act cuddly or emotional in public. All attempts at hugs are properly greeted with a little sarcasm. Of course, this may a global Catholic phenomena. After all, it took a whole Vatican Council to get parishioners to turn around and shake each others' hands.
The offshoot of such a cultural/social conditioning is that you can practice the faith your whole life with nobody but God noticing. If I stopped going to Mass on Sundays and ditched practicing Catholicism altogether, nobody would bat an eye. I could flatter myself and think that somebody in a pew might ask, "Hey, where'd the redhead go?" but I doubt it. When evangelical Christians or people of other faiths describe the social networks that they gain or lose if they leave or join a church, I have no idea what they are talking about. The practice of the Catholic faith in America is often a solitary thing.
Thus, some Catholics are drawn to evangelical Christianity in particular for its strong focus on fellowship and community. As Catholic convert Mark Shea noted on his popular blog Catholic and Enjoying It (http://www.markshea.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_markshea_archive.html#11636174455221917 9) , "Very often people leave the Catholic communion for reasons that have nothing to do with theology. Usually it has to do with our abominably bad way of simply finding a place for people to attach socially. You can go to a parish for years and remain utterly unknown to your pewmates."
...