Vocations, vocations, vocations?! – The Brady Bunch Syndrome of the Catholic Church AND Can An Tablet Really Spread The Word of God? Tweets, Posts, and a Certain Blog Returning After a Long Semester.
01/20/2012
Hi everybody! Happy and Blessed New Year! Hope all is well on your end. Been a very long time since my last post and I think it’s about time I pick this up again (give my mind a little more stretching than just reading theological tomes…AKA homework!). For anybody wondering what I have been doing and what happened to me, I have just started my second semester at Catholic University of America and am still working as a productions assistant for Carmel Clarion Communications. Best way to explain the hiatus is down to three reasons: schools started and I had to figure out how to be a student all over again (VERY different with a 30 minutes Metro commute involved—undergrad sure did spoil me!). Also, work started and I had to really learn balance of a work, career (yes, that would be school, and God help me one day a doctorate) and a social life. And I have no internet at home! The third issue should be fixed in the coming weeks and I hope that with a semester under my belt, I can return to maybe once-a-week posting on the blog.
Good news from the family front: my parent’s new residence will officially be sunny California! They leave today for the new digs and I am praying for the best for them on this new part of their adventure. I ask the same from you guys and know I’m praying for you all. On the music front, a part I hope to add in this time around, giving spots to songs I have just started listening to that work with a Catholic perspective. Switchfoot has come out with a new album which again never fails to impress. Great for hopeless romantics (guilty), lovers of alt-rock (guilty) or people looking for good Christian music with smart lyrics and while looking for God, doesn’t use Jesus in every other sentence (GUILTY). Also, the Christmas season was very good for new music and I think with the Grammy’s coming up, I would like to see Adele win big (‘21’ blew my mind!). Finally, David Crowder Band has composed their ‘final CD’, which just came out. It’s incredible. Just take some time and listen to it straight through, it’s more of a continuous work than a selection of songs, and funny enough sounds like it was based off the genre where composers wrote masses for various occasions. I wonder if they are Catholic, and if not if they’d like to come hang out at CUA for a little bit. LOL. It’s a good work and a true praise of God (in my humble opinion). Ok, enough of the culture and personal stuff. On to hopefully what makes this a Catholic blog!
So last week was National Week for Vocations. I honestly had no idea when I walked into Mass on Sunday…until I looked at the readings. Old Testament was the call of Samuel by God (1 Sam 3:3b-10, 19), New Testament was about our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20) and the Gospel reading was John the Baptist’s profession of Jesus as ‘Lamb of God’ in the Gospel of John (John 1:35-42). The Psalm was Psalm 40, my favorite psalm, so I was very excited when I sat down to get to hear it set to music in Mass. When looking then to the readings, I thought to myself “Well, here comes the ‘go be a priest’ talk.” I wasn’t trying to be impolite, but the readings made it kind of obvious lol. Well, needless to say, when the deacon of our church got up to read the Gospel and stayed to give the homily, he did a very nice job. It was about family, friendship, personal vocation and yes, for some people, celibacy. But his message was that each person has a vocation to love. This vocation takes many forms and is something explored every day, even if you know what you’re supposed to do. Most of all, it was a call that involved God and only through God does one understand how they are meant to effect this world. I thought it was a wonderful and faithful instruction and a great chance for me and many others to refocus on our own callings, present and future.
But I wonder if this kind of discussion on vocation Sundays is often the majority or minority of cases. Back in Philly, usually it was an invitation for men to the priesthood. Two issues there: where is the place of women in the context of such a discussion (ie: their vocation—as single lay, religious, or married) and where is the role of a personal vocation in all of this (as plumber or sculptor or academic as well as a lay single or married etc, etc.). Almost every week was a prayer for more priests in the Prayer of the Faithful (collection of petitions prayed by the community to God after the Profession of Faith or the Creed), which is fine. Lord knows we need more. But what about saying prayers for good mothers and fathers, who in turn can bring good faithful families? Not nearly as often. I wonder if there is still, in spite of much being written about vocations being about a personal and communal relationship with God, that the priest shortage has not scared us into what I call a perpetual “Brady Bunch Syndrome.” Ok, if you don’t get the reference from the title (and ya, it’s a stretch), it’s from the episodes that involve the line “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, its always about Marsha!”. I think we have turned looking for an increase in seminary population into the big brother of each person living their Baptismal call. And that’s a problem.
Over the past few weeks, the Pope has brought up again and again our culture of relativism in the United States and in the world as he has addressed world leaders and local bishops. We should, as a church, be paying attention to that. While much good comes from modern culture, there is much the Church cannot stand behind: abortion, secularism, ignoring the plight of the poor. Instead of placing blame, we are called, each Catholic, to embrace the culture in dialogue and present the truth (one of the many reasons for this blog). The Church in order to survive must be willing to address pertinent issues as well as provide good example of what a life in Christ can look like. That’s not just the role of priests, but also of the college student with a final in seven hours, the single mom with four kids and the grandma who has found the quiet of the later days of life. I hope we as a Church can continue to encourage each other to be this to the world. The farther and farther our culture moves from a something similar to the call of the Gospel to a bigger, badder version of its present self, the better chance we have of Catholicism becoming closer to the kinds of communities we had in the times of the first believers. But that involves encouragement from all of us. So as another week for vocations passes by, I pray that we might continue to spread the love of God to each and every person we meet and encourage each other in our walks with Christ.
On the other side of the title, much has also been said by the Pope and various Church leaders about the New Evangelization over the past few weeks. It’s funny how in a time where culture seems to be moving away from Catholic values we get so many new avenues to express our beliefs. Very recently, I have started to pay more attention to Catholic blogs, newspapers and tweets, as much as the scholarly work that I get to read every day. I think here is a real opportunity for all types of Catholics to share their lives and how God works for them to the world. So I guess my second part is simple: if you got some time, start a blog or a Twitter or something, but let’s get involved! Let’s show people who we are and what it means to believe in a God who Loves!
Ok that’s it for me. Hopefully should be at NYC in a little bit and should be in Rhinecliff not long after. Should be a great weekend with a lot of laughs! God Bless y’all! See you at the March for Life! Keep smiling and keep praying!
Pax
Chris
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