Back in business as a parish

Back in business as a parish

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.

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