Catholic Faith and Reflections

I was reading last night a short history of the Hispanic experience in the American Catholic Church.  One thing struck me.  The Hispanic way of being Catholic is very different that the Euro-American way of being Catholic.  Hispanic Catholicism took root in medieval Spain, before the Council of Trent, whereas the Euro-American Catholic experience formed via the effects of Trent.  The author of the article commented that Hispanic Catholicism, then, is a popular faith passed on my grandmothers and moms, is deeply rooted and communicated orally within the family, is convincing but not necessarily rational and emphasizes miracles, healing, the transcendent and a personal relationship with God.  This is in contrast to the Euro-American experience which emphasized Liturgy, sacrament, rational expression, a patriarchical system, and religious commitment measured by regular reception of the Sacraments.   As the number of Hispanic Catholics increase here locally, and nationally, perhaps we need to keep this in mind as we minister to and accept them into our parishes.

I’d like to share another quote today, from Cardinal George at the Bishop’s fall assembly in Baltimore, currently convened.

“We are, perhaps, at a moment when, with the grace of God, all races are safely within the American consensus.  We are not at the point, however, when Catholics, especially in public life, can be considered full partners in the American experience unless they are willing to put aside some fundamental Catholic teachings on a just and moral political order.”  Log on to:  www.usccb.org/meetings/2008Fallcns_story_0805714.shtml  for more information on the fall assembly.

I caught about 5 minutes early this morning of Fr. Corapi on Relevant Radio.  I usually do not listen to Relevant Radio except to hear what many of my fellow parishioners are listening to and thus be able to speak to them in their terms.  My interpretation was that Fr. Corapi was talking about how the priest is the central person in the identity of the Church, after Christ.  The future of the Church is some ways is dependent of a vital holy priesthood according to Fr. Corapi.  He also spoke of those in the religious life, but he didn’t mention the diaconate, at least not in the short section to which I listened.

The deacon’s configuration to Jesus the Servant, and his identity as such in the Church is something few people seem to understand and appreciate.  We have a long way to go in developing in the minds and hearts of the people who deacons are and what deacons are all about.  I do not disagree necessarily with Fr. Corapi’s comments, but would add that in the American Church at least, the presence of the deacon in our faith communities will only increase as the years progress, and a well developed understanding of diaconal identity and spirituality is imperative, for both deacons and the presbytery, not to mention the laity.  How best to do that is a question.   The future of the Church depends on this too.

Avery Dulles toward the end of 1989 presented a lecture at Fordham in which he outlined four “strategies” of the American Catholic Church:  Traditionalism, neo-conservatism, liberalism, and radicalism.  He saw value in each and warned against “internecine struggles” which he called a scandal and waste of energy.  Nearly twenty years later, I wonder whether he would have described the American Church in similar words.   If interested in the lecture,  go to www.americanmagagzine.org. 

Quite frankly, I suspect I fall into both the traditionalist and radical camps, as strange of bedfellows that may seem.  The prophetic witness of the “radical Catholics”, calling both the Church and society to change is something of great need in my view.  Adhering to the counter-cultural aspects of the traditionalists with the emphasis on good catechesis is also sorely needed in my experience.  I am afraid I would have had a difficult time had I been living in the era of Archbishop Ireland and his efforts to “Americanize” Catholicism.  In similar fashion, I am not all that sure of the “neo-conservative” efforts of today, and I have difficulty with the anger of the “liberals” who seem to direct it all at the Church (in contrast to the “radicals” who seem to use that energy and call out to both the Church and the world).