Oh that was beautiful. Donald Marinkovich ----- Original Message ----- From: <davem9759@juno.com> To: <croatia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 1:20 AM Subject: Re: [CROATIA] Another Croatian Roman Catholic institution to close: p lace blame where should be please > Well, this has been interesting conversation, so let me put in my 2 cents. > There was a HUGE drop of support for the church after the so-called sex > scandals came to light. Some of these cases were more than questionable, > but to avoid more bad publicity, and scandal the church paid off on a > number of cases, and offered free counseling to some of the suffering > souls. > Some of the problems we are seeing today is a result of our own > irreverence. We've become a society that wanted to be able to go to > church Sunday morning in blue jeans and tank tops. Surely the parents > that allowed their children to do so, or even argued against having to > dress up helped to foster the socio-trend which seems to have taken the > importance and value of attending church out of the paradigm. That > paradigm is that we once viewed church as significant and crucial to > family and society as we attempted to become a civilized culture. Church > was a place where we gave God his glory and received our forgiveness and > the sacrament of life - the Eucharist. With the degradation of value in > attending church because of the loss of it's significance in our lives for > personal and spiritual growth other activities became more important to us > in forming social bonds - i.e soccer games, and football games. As the > soccer mom culture grew, and the children's activities became ! > more critical to their growth and development, church became a less > necessary activity. Parent's tend to believe that their child is the star > of the game, we want our children to be successful, and somehow sports > became more important that having the values that we receive by attending > church. Soccer is todays church, and unfortunately - very few good values > other than sportsmanship are taught. Depending on the coach - the new > role model replacing the parish priest; some sportsmanship may even be > sacrificed for the sake of the game. What lesson does that teach? > Next is the church paradigm which causes people to move out of parish or > stop attending. The value placed on new members. I get my envelopes all > the time. I gave my time prolife, RCIA, ministry formation, etc.; and > when the calling came (I think it was always there) at 40 to request to > become a deacon - the old farts group that controls the Diaconate (guys in > their late 50's and 60's) said I was too young. - I wonder what Jeremiah > would have said to that. When new members join the church they are > quickly grabbed for as many groups as they can handle and soon become > burned out, and uninterested - even avoiding church to prevent being asked > for more time. I've been a lifelong Catholic at the same parish - I see > it all the time. > So how do you breathe new life into a parish that is suffering - A parish > on our west side of town was failing to meet it's bills, and attendance. > Someone came up with a brilliant idea that breathed life into it.. welcome > the minorities. First they set up Spanish language masses, and brought in > people from the other parishes to help with their needs - i.e volunteers > to help distribute clothing donations, etc. Some churches found Asian > speaking members to assist in their community. The problem was that the > church didn't reflect the community and those people didn't attend. Once > that was addressed attendance improved. My parish is in the middle of an > affluent white neighborhood, and a poor mostly minority community. The > affluent families only had one or two children ( I blame that on liberal > idealogy - birth control and abortion), while the minority families have > at least 2 -3 children. These families are working people who tend to > get looks when they come into the ch! > apel. While the parish says it is welcoming - the community of > parishioners shows otherwise. I think Christ would be ashamed! > We need to get the churches to become truly welcoming, and truly > supportive of the people who live in the community that should be able to > attend that parish. That of itself will improve things. Many latins, > asians and other groups are being welcomed into the "evangelical" or mega > rock and roll churches. We haven't as Catholics addressed that. When was > the last time you saw a "Catholic Church" add on the tv or radio. > To end this on the main point - to ask to preserve a church because it has > been historically part of a culture probably won't do anything to help the > church's bottom line and likely will result in the closure unless it can > be preserved as a shrine or basillica. The best bet is to speak of the > church's early history of helping a community of immigrants (Croatians, > etc.) and redirecting that focus to the new immigrants or minoritys in > order to improve attendance. > I find it amazing that schools are closing because of lack of support, in > this area at least only one school closed years ago because of that; now > it is being rehabilitated. Their is a large population of suburbians who > want their children in the safer "private" parochial schools, maybe from a > sense of elitism or esteem - still if it appeals to them why not address > it as a marketing tool. > > Good luck in the rest. I hope that the Croatian heritage can be > preserved. > > Dave > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CROATIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >