Let Us Go
Up to the House of the Lord
OCTOBER 2010
The past few weeks the Bulletin has contained figures for the Catholic population or the number of priests and religious. These figures are from The CARA Report, a publication of the Center for Applies Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. An article in the most recent report included figures and analysis on Black Catholics in the United States. I thought you might find the information interesting so I share some of it here.
A 2007 Pew Foundation study reports that 4% of Catholics in the United States identify themselves as Black. This translates to about 3.5 million Black Catholics. More analysis of the study reveals the following about Black Catholics.
83% were raised Catholic and 17% converted to Catholicism after being raised in another faith.
96% say their religion is somewhat or “very” important in their lives (70% “very” important).
42% also self-identify their ethnicity as Hispanic, compared to only 4% of Black Protestants.
46% are married and 82% of these Catholics have a Catholic spouse.
65% describe their political views as “moderate” (33%) to conservative (24%) or very conservative (8%).
39% have attended college.
25% make $50,000 or more per year.
A significant number of African Americans were raised Catholic and subsequently left the faith. Overall for adult Catholics the retention rate is 68%. But among African Americans who were raised Catholic, 57% remain Catholics as adults. Where do these former Catholics go? 64% identify with another Christian faith while 30% say they are “nothing in particular” or agnostic or atheist. This result is different from the overall pattern among adult Catholics who are less likely to adopt another Christian faith and more likely to be “nothing in particular.”
So, some food for thought. You can read the whole report “A Portrait of Black Catholics in the United States,” by Mark Gray on 1964, the CARA research blog, at http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com.
Have a great week.
Fr. Bob
Pastor
October 3, 2010
My column this week covers several topics. All of them concern our life as Church, the people of God. The Church is not heaven yet so there is always the need to work with God’s grace to improve our prayer and service.
Bishop Terry Steib has just announced the beginning of a process to draft a Pastoral Plan for the Diocese. The current needs of the Diocese, financial realities, and a vision of the future are all components of a plan. While much of the plan will focus on diocesan ministries, i.e. Catholic Charities, education, he believes more coordination with parishes in diocesan efforts should be part of the plan. The Bishop wants to hear from us. Soon a survey will be available, on-line and in print, for parishioners to contribute to the planning process. In addition every parish is urged to develop a parish pastoral plan. Alleluia, St. Augustine just completed one!
You have probably heard the Church worldwide is introducing changes in the language used in the prayers and responses at mass. No, we are not returning to all Latin masses but texts in use for the past 30-40 years have been revised and updated. Actually these changes will not be implemented until Advent 2011. In preparation all parishes of the Diocese are offering a series of discussions on liturgy. The discussions will not focus on the actual text changes --- that discussion will happen next Fall --- but on the meaning and history of the rites and texts used at mass. Next Sunday we will announce when these sessions will be offered at St. Augustine.
More immediately, our parish has been searching for a new director of music ministry. This person, in a part-time role, will coordinate and direct music for all the liturgies of the parish with particular attention to the 11 am gospel choir. It is not an easy position to fill. After reviewing applications and doing interviews we are now having candidates audition with our choirs and musicians. We all need to be patient and charitable during this process. We need to trust the Holy Spirit!
Peace.
Have a great week.
Fr. Bob
Pastor
October 10, 2010
October is Respect Life Month so I thought it might be a good time to review some of our basic Catholic teachings on this important article of our faith. The Catholic Church has a long and consistent teaching tradition for its own members and to share with society.
It is a basic tenet of our faith, shared with people of other faiths, that human life is a gift of God. Law, medicine, economics may have their own definitions but they are inadequate if they do not include life as gift of God. We believe human life is good and that individual humans are good and can seek, know, and do what is right and true.
Some principles follow: 1.) Each human person has a physical life that is of highest importance and must be developed and protected. But our physical life is not an absolute value. What is an absolute value is our soul or relationship with God. The tradition of the martyrs witnesses to this principle. Martyrs are those who regarded their soul or relationship to God as so important they would lose their physical life rather than jeopardize that relationship. 2.) Each human person has free will and can make moral decisions and assume responsibility for their actions. Moral decision making is to be guided by an informed (scripture, church teaching, sound human learning) conscience. 3.) Humans are social beings. We interact with other humans, society, and the environment. We are shaped by community and we in turn shape community.
Illness, aging, and death are realities of our physical life. Because life is a gift of highest importance we use all the systems of healthcare and modern medicine to preserve life against these realities. But we must accept them as part of life and in the light of our faith. As Christian we do not believe death is the end of the human person but rather the transition to new life, the risen life of Jesus Christ. Our Catholic tradition teaches that it is not always necessary to use all medicines and technology to prolong physical life when they no longer are beneficial to the person or impose a disproportionate burden.
We never take direct action to end a life ---- that would be euthanasia --- but sometimes we allow someone to die --- nature or a incurable disease taking it course --- when treatment is no longer of benefit. In these situations we continue to care for the patient --- hospice, pain medication --- although we no longer hope for a cure. Respecting life also means respecting death. We can do this with our faith in the risen Lord.
We will return to this subject or related topics in future columns. Have a good week.
Fr. Bob
Pastor
October 17, 2010
A month ago I shared with you my story of growing up, schooling, and beginning a career. So now I will offer Part II of the story.
I left off as I was working as an assistant city attorney in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My responsibilities included advising the city departments that promoted affordable housing in the city and fostered community development. Community development was everything from neighborhood renovation to new business parks. I saw it as very important work to improve people’s individual and social lives. I also experienced how difficult the work could be, how it required long-term determination. Real faith was needed. This realization led me to consider the work of the Church in sustaining faith and how I might serve in the Church. Many hours with a spiritual director focused my attention on the priesthood as a way to serve. The Paulist Fathers seemed to be a good community to join with their emphasis on faith promotion. I had many questions but eventually I had to go forward in faith leaving the questions to be answered down the road. Seminary helped me answer many questions but then raised new ones. I found the experience to be a good way to approach life, with the questions being as important as the answers. So I continued until I was ordained a priest in May, 1984.
My first assignment was a parish in Minneapolis where I was also the director of an adult education program. It was a great experience where I learned a lot. After that I spent many years in campus ministry at UCLA, University of Texas, Ohio State, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. I served for years as the General Treasurer and Counsel for the Paulist Fathers in New York City. I returned to adult education when I was director of the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids. Then before coming to Memphis I was back in parish work at Old St. Mary’s in Chicago while also being chaplain at Northwestern University. So it has been a long, winding journey with many good stops along the way. And over the years I have found my questions being replaced by the questions of the people I have served. It has been a great privilege and interesting experience to hear people’s stories, questions, and hopes. People have continued to renew my faith.
Have a great week.
Fr. Bob
Pastor
October 24, 2010
Tuesday is Election Day. You may have voted early. I did since I will be out of town. But do vote! It is really an act of faith. I will share some memories and offer a faith perspective on the election process.
My parents didn’t always agree on political candidates and issues. The dinner table could be a lively political forum. We kids listened. We sensed this was adult talk but talk we were intended to overhear. On election day as they would head off to the polls my father would quip “Your mother and I are going to cancel each other’s vote.” But they always voted.
My other memory is more recent. Election Day 2008 I was living in Chicago. The atmosphere in the city that day and the next was super-charged. I was in Grant Park that evening. (No, that was not my shoulder Oprah Winfrey was crying on.) But the moment for me happened that morning as I was waiting to cross a downtown street. There was a young man, undoubtedly one of the many college students in the area, who was on his cell phone (what else is new). I overheard him talking “Hey mom, guess what? I just voted!” I have no idea who he voted for, and in a way it didn’t matter but that he voted and I suspect for the first time. The experience helped renew my faith in the democratic process.
This year I need to remember that experience in the midst of the negativity and rancor that marks current politicking. We might get a bit cynical and disgusted with some of the political activities. We need to keep faith.
For Catholic-Christians voting is a moral action. It is a moral duty. Jesus told us to love our neighbor. We don’t do that in the abstract. Loving our neighbor requires concrete, practice action affecting structures of society and appropriate allocation of rights and responsibilities of citizens. We vote for officials and policies to best achieve practical love. We may differ in our assessment of such and elections are to help us resolve those differences.
Jesus also calls us into community, the Body of Christ. Voting calls us into community, the election process helping us decide what our society should be in the future. The act of voting is our participation in a national ritual. Voting is our confirmation we are all in this together. Then, unlike some nations where unsatisfactory election results lead to revolutions or military coups, we as a people accept election results and move forward with our public life.
So let us vote. Let us believe in our electoral process even as we pray for our nation.
Fr. Bob
Pastor
October 31, 2010
