Calling all parents and grandparents for some serious help. I often share wisdom. I'm asking you to help me for a future bulletin article.
As Catholics we hold a certain set of timeless values, love the Lord our God with all of our strength and our neighbors as ourselves. We should show preference for the poor, the weak, and the excluded. We should care for prisoners and the ill because in them we see the face of Jesus.
These deep held, and challenging to embrace calls, run in conflict with our shared American culture. Buy this item to be happy, go on this trip and all of your dreams will come true. I’m going to Disneyland! Buy this toy before you can watch this short video of a family shadow promoting a toy for some faceless corporation.
The consumerism of our culture can seep into our faith experience. While ideally preparing for the sacraments, and receiving faith formation should help families become more deeply involved in our faith community, it is very easy to fall into a consumerist pattern. We pay for formation, we check the boxes, we have the celebration, and we go back to our busy lives more or less unchanged and untouched. There are more or less positive to ambivalent feelings about the experience but on to the next till the next thing comes up.
This is great for building a brand, good for upholding traditions, but catastrophic for the American Church. By 2044, we’ll only have 144 eligible pastors for over 200 parishes. Parish communities won’t have donors to keep the electric on, and most importantly we won’t have the volunteers to offer the robust but still less strong than they could be ministries that define our communities.
So, my sage friends and neighbors, how do you address the dangers of consumerism with your children? How do you encourage them to be upstanding Christians more concerned about their neighbor than their next want? Most importantly, how do you help make sure that our faith will continue to be proclaimed long into the future? I seriously need to know! I’m praying for you, please pray for me.
God Bless and have a safe week.