St. Albert parish in Weymouth, Mass., returned to a regular schedule this past weekend. It was the first parish to begin a sit-in protest against closing orders from the archdiocese and Archbishop O’Malley relented in re-opening it.
It all sounds very nice. The people say they have grown closer to one another and are a much tighter-knit community. They also say that their faith is stronger. But when you read deeper you begin to wonder what that deeper faith entails. In what is their faith invested? Is it the parish? Each other? A personal relationship with the Holy Trinity through the sacraments? In Christ’s Church, whether universal or local, in the form of the archdiocese? All these are necessary parts of the Catholic faith, but I get the sense that the latter parts are lacking.
It will also be interesting to see how long this current fervor lasts. The pews are full now, but when the sit-ins are a fading memory and the “us against them” impetus is gone, will the faith remain strong? It will only if there is a strong foundation built on the Christ, the sacraments, Mary, and the Church.
The faith at St. Albert’s will remain strong if they are preached the unabashed Word of God from the pulpit at every Mass. If they get the Retirement Countdown Homily, they will leave. We need to pray for their priest that he will preach effectively, and for the congregation that they will listen effectively.
Obeidence is a necessary part of the Catholic Church. You might try reading Paul’s Epistles, Acts of the Apostles, and the Gospels for that matter. Obedience to the apostles and their successors is a key element of the teaching.
Then read the early Church fathers and everything written since then. Obedience has always been taught as key to the Christian life.
“Faith in Jesus is allthat is required.”
That’s the trick, isn’t it? Faith in Jesus requires obedience to the Church, frequent reception of the sacraments, devotion to Mary, and so on.
Your bitterness at the failings of certain men has confused you regarding the nature of the Church.
I saw everything I needed to know about the St. Albert parish when I saw the guitar player ‘performing’ during a service…
I’ll be so glad when the hippies/boomers have passed on (I myself am a boomer).
“Correct, obedience to the scripture, to Jesusuthor>
tonychillmv@mac.com
4.154.234.243
2005-07-10 17:55:16
2005-07-10 21:55:16
ThomasCoolberth raises an excellent question that I don’t believe can be answered save by seeing how the parishioners at St. Albert respond to a dose of orthodoxy. I would think that they deserve this opportunity before anyone would presume that they are any less devoted to their faith than anyone else on the basis of their efforts to reverse what they saw as an unjust decision to close their church.