NW Paulist Center for Evangelization & Reconciliation

What Inactive (Dormant) Catholics have to offer

 Right up front I will say that I do not like the terms: inactive, lapsed or fallen away Catholic.  I find those terms far too judgmental and certainly connote a negative judgment.  They represent a judgment, on the part of the Church about people who, according to the Church, are not living the way it expects them to live.  Most non church-going Catholics I have met understand themselves to be Catholic; they just don’t find themselves in the pews on Sundays for a variety of reasons, from having no time for church, or the Church is simply irrelevant to their lives and needs.

Over the past few months I have been using a term at missions, retreats and workshops that seems to have some traction with people.  I have been using the term “dormant” Catholics.  My belief is that they have faith, want more faith, and want a living spirituality that speaks to their daily lives.  What needs to be done is to have someone, or a lot of some ones, fan their faith into a living flame once again.  I believe that dormant Catholics are calling for prophetic leadership in the Church.  They are calling us from maintenance to mission.  They are challenging us to be about justice and peace making, engaging in environmental activism, truly making a fundamental option for the poor and oppressed, the migrant and immigrant, the homeless, hungry and powerless.

People seek to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others whether they are religious or not.  We can be selfish or altruistic in our strivings.   The Gospel calls for altruism, meeting the needs of our neighbors without counting the cost.  The Gospel is a radical prophetic approach to all aspects of our lives.  Jesus initiated a radical hope for personal and communal transformation working from the inside -- outward to all creation.

Being Catholic ought to mean a whole lot more than sitting in a pew on Sundays, or rattling off the same five sins in confession for the past thirty-five years.  I am not saying going to mass or confession aren’t good things to do, but that they ought to lead us to a fuller and more abundant life for others and ourselves.  We ought to be able to discern growth in our lives, progress in living and a discernable difference in our secular and religious communities in which we live.  There should be more caring, healing, forgiveness and peace; and less homelessness, hunger, poverty and prejudice.

If we are going to touch and invite dormant Catholics back to being living flames of faith and hope, we need to be that for others and ourselves.   We need to be communities of faith with doors wide open in welcome, a place of sanctuary, where all can feel safe and be nourished for mission.

Fr. Michael E. Evernden, CSP

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT CAFETERIA CATHOLICS?

I describe myself as a cafeteria priest for cafeteria Catholics.  Every Catholic is a cafeteria Catholic – but only some of us admit to it.  It is the choices on other people’s trays that some take exception to, never looking at the choices on their own trays.

Historically the institutional Church has been the largest cafeteria in the world. It has to be because no one person or group could possibly choose all the things that are available for Catholics to feed their spiritual hunger.  Novenas, rosaries, all the prayers said to all the different saints, thirty-day Ignatian retreats, weekend retreats, days of recollection, forty hour devotions, benediction, exposition, liturgy of the hours, pilgrimages, fasting, abstinence, becoming a sister, brother, priest, deacon, becoming a religious priest or belonging to a religious community of which there are hundreds, lay associate, altar society, Holy Name society, Knights of Columbus, Paulist Associate, Third Order Franciscan, a Daughter of Mary and Joseph, charismatic Catholic, taking vows of silence, working for peace and justice or with the homeless, concern for the environment, Catholic Worker Movement, English speaking or Spanish, Russian, Slovak, Vietnamese, Korean, French or Portuguese speaking, Knights of Malta, this list could go on and on.  The point is that no one person, no one parish, no one group within the Church could possibly entertain or observe all the possibilities the Church has to offer; so we make choices to develop a prayer life that suits each of our diets. 

Even within the official liturgical parameters (how mass is celebrated) we make all kinds of choices; Eucharistic prayer 2 rather than 3, or 4 rather than 1, alternatives to the opening and closing prayers, forms of blessing at the end of mass, styles of music, how communion is received, languages used, bells or no bells, incense or no incense, enough devotional candles electric or real, to light up Times Square or no devotional candles at all, times of mass, places of worship from gymnasium to cathedral to sports arenas, obviously there are norms but much diversity within the norms.  Historically the Church has always recognized that one size does not fit all and it is our diversity that makes us truly Catholic, universal.  Diversity is a strength not a weakness.  This is as true in nature as it is in and among communities of faith – those who are able to adapt are the ones most fully alive and most likely have a future.

When I look out at our Sunday Eucharistic gathering it is very evident that one size does not fit all:  happily married, unhappily married, divorced, separated, gay and lesbian, single dads, single moms, large families and small ones, families financially ruined and prosperous families, death and birth, mentally, physically or spiritually challenged people, light-hearted and depressed people, happy, sad, hopeful and dower ones, cancer, fears and phobias, young and very old, citizens and aliens, housed and homeless, sated and hungry – no one homily, no one prayer style will fit the variety and diversity present in even a small community of faith.

The Church will become a community of faith rooted in Jesus only in so far as we can recognize our diversity, our strengths and weaknesses, our common brokenness; when, ultimately we recognize that we are all in this together – not bemoaning the choices on someone else’s tray, or bemoaning what is on our own.  [For more articles go to:  http://tinyurl.com/ye5qnzj]

Fr. Michael E. Evernden, CSP 

UNDERGOING GOD...

 Lately I have had this urge to buy something, nothing I need, nothing I have been planning to buy, nothing in particular, I just buy something so I can feel in control.  Anyone who has acted on this urge knows that the feeling of control is only that, just a feeling and a very fleeting one at that.  The Advent season is one of waiting and expectation, or I ought to say waiting WITH expectation.  Waiting with expectation is a key element in the spiritual life and in the life of anyone interested in Evangelization.
    Waiting with, or without, expectation is not a popular discipline in our society and is quickly overrun by our well-honed discipline of impatience.  However to sink into the spirit of Advent, into a spirituality of Evangelization one needs to develop a keen discipline of expectant waiting – hope-filled waiting.
    The central characters in the Advent stories are people in waiting; generations of prophets who longed for the holy moment, shepherds tending their flocks, Joseph and Mary searching and waiting for a place to stay the night, a most Holy Night.  Joseph and Mary were steeped in the stories, life and traditions of their faith.  They were people who not only understood but were willing to stand-under, to stand-in the mystery of what was happening in their lives.  They were not pushovers but people who questioned and pondered – took on God’s messengers, the angels, they kept their sense of wonder and awe; and were willing, as the author James Allison says, “to undergo God.”  
    I can imagine Mary sitting in her mother’s lap, listening to the same stories in the Hebrew Scriptures that we read and listen to, taking them to heart, pondering them.  Joseph is described as a “good and upright man” steeped in the traditions of his ancestors, open to the promptings that came to him in visions and dreams.  After all the questioning and pondering Mary finally says, “be it done unto me according to Your Word.”  Mary allows the living Word of God to be done unto her; she is willing to “undergo God.”  Mary was so open, so willing to undergo the Word that she literally gives birth to The Word made Flesh.
    Even George Frideric Handel understood that we are done unto when he wrote The Messiah; “…for unto us a child is born…unto us a child is given…” God is constantly doing unto us; in the people, places, events in our joys and sorrows, in our abilities and disabilities, in our strengths and weaknesses God is continually doing unto us.
    A spirituality of Evangelization is all about waiting, pondering going to places of quiet and solitude where we can hear God’s Word, how the Word is inviting us to be open and be willing to undergo God.  Then this spirituality leads us out with a sense of wonder and awe, calling us to be awake and alert to all that is placed in our path.  This is our individual path and it is the path of a community of faith devoted to the evangelizing mission of Jesus Christ.  As such a community of faith we look at even the smallest things we do as opportunities to welcome and attract others into the circle of our life and mission.
    In this Advent season of quiet and holy nights we need to reflect on how we, individually and collectively, as a community of faith can ponder the Word and find the strength to allow ourselves to be done unto, to stand under and in the Mystery and allow the Word to be done unto us – giving birth to the Word Made Flesh.

Peace, Fr. Michael Evernden, CSP

How to be a Reconciling Parish

This coming spring, April 30 and May 1, at St. Francis Catholic Community in Sherwood Oregon, the Paulist Fathers are hosting a Workshop on how to be a more reconciling parish.  This is one of three seminars being held by the Paulist National Office of Reconciliation Ministries headed by Fr. Tom Kane, CSP based in Boston, MA,

SUMMARY OF RECONCILIATION WORKSHOPS
April 30 - May 1, 2009

The reconciliation skills-building workshops will focus on three areas:
•    Program Development: How to create a reconciliation program that
meets the needs of the local community. The focus is on: listening
skills, needs assessment, planning and evaluation for programs that
address individuals, groups and cultures that have different faith
concepts, life styles and life situations. Additionally, there is a
focus on managing differences and developing mutuality and respect.
•    Leadership and Collaborative Ministry: The focus is on: styles of
collaborative ministerial leadership, and recruitment and supervision
of volunteers.
•    Working Effectively with Groups: The focus is on the formation and
facilitation of groups, and on the stages of group development.


THE PRESENTERS

Patricia Dunn, L.I.C.S.W. is a licensed social worker with decades of
experience in therapy provision, management of religious and human
service agencies, and consultation to faith communities and religious
congregations. She has worked for the Paulist Leadership and Renewal
Project, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston, Weston
Jesuit School of Theology, the Veteran’s Administration, and a variety
of health, mental health, and addiction treatment agencies, as well as
taught at St. Mary’s Seminary.

James Gorman, Ph.D. has over twenty years experience in mental health
and social service agencies and been a consultant for over ten years
to faith communities, religious congregations and spirituality
programs. He has worked for the Paulist Leadership and Renewal
Project, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston, the
Massachusetts Departments of Mental Health and Social Services, as
well as taught at St. Mary’s Seminary, Boston College School of Social
Work and Episcopal Divinity School.

A REFLECTION BY A RECENT CONVERT:

DOES GOD TALK WITH US?

When I realized that God does, indeed, “talk” to people, it was one of those things I looked forward to. Perhaps I was expecting a loud voice of Biblical proportion, one that would somehow echo throughout my apartment (without disturbing the neighbors of course), or if I was lucky, perhaps a burning bush of some kind (hopefully one outside in an area where it would not catch the entire neighborhood on fire). I’ve always loved the old movie “The Ten Commandments” and the unmistakable voice of God in that movie.

What I have discovered is a much gentler, but no less firm and authoritative voice.

For the second time within the year I was laid off from a job; however, this time it was a job I enjoyed with good people as owners of a very small company. Life didn’t seem very fair at the time, and I did my share of whining and asking “why me”?

The difference is that I actually had health insurance with this job, and since it was going to run out at the end of October, kept getting one of those “nudges” that I should do something about getting a physical since I had not had one in about five years. Every time I would let it go out of my consciousness it would return and nag me. (I am not really saying that God is a nag but perhaps it’s a tool He uses with those of us who do not listen well).

I made my appointment for my physical, which was thorough, and then my doctor quizzed me about a red mark on my chest and one on my right temple. The one on my chest, I am ashamed to say, had been there way over a year and was fairly large, and the one on my temple was simply one of those annoying dry splotches of skin. The doctor referred me to a dermatologist as he didn’t like the look of the one on my chest. He asked that the appointment be the very next day, so tuning in to his urgency, I asked him what he thought it was. After pausing and taking a deep breath, he said the one on my chest was very probably a cancer that needed to be dealt with immediately. I hung my head when he asked how long it had been there.

The next day was my appointment with the dermatologist. It was an early appointment, and he quickly did a biopsy of the two sites I knew about plus one other on my back. It was then the bad news came as he indicated the one on my chest was definitely cancer of a more serious nature than the one on my temple and that he was expediting the test results.

True to his word, the test results came in the next morning and he called me. It was Wednesday morning, the 14th of October at 9:00 a.m. The biopsies were all positive, and the one on my chest showed a melanoma. He scheduled me for surgery at 7:30 the next morning.

My RCIA meeting was that evening, and since I always look forward to it, got lost in the conversation and teaching. There was a cold chill of fear that kept entering my heart, and when Barbara included me in the closing prayer, I was grateful. I didn’t want to go home right away, so stayed a few minutes in the chapel alone and said a prayer too.

Wednesday night was difficult. I could not sleep, and even my precious kitty Ra could not purr comfort into me, although he certainly tried.

At 2:00 a.m.  I was still restless, but since the moon always enters my bedroom window about that time of very early morning, felt a bit better. In the culture in which I was raised, moon energy is always considered “grandmother” energy and brings with it a gentle compassion and wisdom. My resurrection crucifix is on the wall above my closet, and moonlight lit it beautifully.

Crying is not something I do easily, but much to my surprise I found Ra licking my tears and patting my face. I had not even realized I was crying. It was then I distinctly heard a voice saying “You are not alone.” …  It wasn’t Ra. A couple of minutes later, I was sound asleep.

Thursday morning arrived very quickly, and felt almost like a “fast forward” movie. The six very large hypodermic needles looked less than inviting, but my choice was to not have a general anesthetic. The doctor’s smile was encouraging. I watched him walk over to the corner, and turn his back to everyone in the room. He stayed there a period of time, and then walked over to me. I asked him what he was doing, and he paused, almost as if he did not want to answer me. I was surprised at his answer, which was that although it’s something that offends some people, and he certainly did not want to offend me, he was saying a prayer.

The surgery took a while, and the only way I could not become terrified, was to ask the doctor exactly what and why he was doing certain things. It was an education. About an hour-and-a-half into the surgery, he placed tissue samples in a small container, and asked that they be tested. Turns out these were margin samples cut around the actual tumor and its tentacles. He then began a lengthy stitching process with a look of confidence. When I asked about the tissue samples he said that they would test the margins immediately while he was still in surgery in case he needed to “dig around more.” I told him I really enjoyed the exacting medical terminology. He smiled.

15 minutes later we received the news that the margins were clear. There was a collective sigh of relief from the doctor, the nurse, and me. For the second time within 24 hours I cried, but this time it was without fear, and with a lot of gratitude.

My second surgery was the following Tuesday with a different surgeon. Although it was not as serious as the first one, I was nervous. The doctor was concerned about my blood pressure (guess nervousness shows up whether you think you’re hiding it or not!) Her demeanor was very relaxed, and she suggested I take something to relax me, and sent me to the pharmacy which was in the same building. One valium and two vicodin later, even gazing at the needles didn’t bother me very much. Within 15 minutes my blood pressure was normal and I was oblivious.

The surgery was a success and they did get all the cancerous tissue. The tiny one on my back was just frozen off.

For one of the few times in my life, I decided to comply with the doctors’ recommendation to elevate my head, not look down, rest, not drive, rest, not lift anything over ten pounds, and rest some more. The rest has been a good reflection time for me, and a time to slowly realize events as they occurred. If I had not taken this job (and I almost did not), if I had not had health insurance, if I had not given in to the nagging push to get a physical because of being laid off, who knows what would have happened. I do know I would NOT have gone to the doctor without a mental push.

So, instead of whining about not having a job, I am just plain grateful for unemployment compensation. Do the scars bother me? Maybe a little, but more than anything they remind me that I am alive. They are also a reminder that perhaps I need to slow down and truly listen. God does speak and does guide us; we just need to be receptive enough to realize when He is talking ….. and listen.

Star Studonivic, 10.28.09

AWAKENING FAITH SEMINAR DRAWS 50.  Our presenter was Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP, first consultor of the Paulist Fathers and President of the National Paulist Center for Evangelization in Washington DC.

Parishioners of St. Anthony's Parish in Forest Grove Oregon

gather for parish retreat facilitated by Fr. Michael E. Evernden, CSP

 Hecker's Tomb click to see video

MEANING BENEATH THE SURFACE, by Fr. Michael E. Evernden, CSP

She peers, silently, from beneath the grass.  Who is she: lover, friend, a professional model, or passing acquaintance?  Truth is, no one knows so we are left with our imaginations. Vincent van Gogh, in Paris, painted the canvas at right, titled “Patch of Grass” around 1887.  This unknown woman was discovered through a new X-ray scanning process.

    It is well known that about one third of van Gogh’s early paintings concealed other compositions under them.  Once again we are left to our imaginations as to why.  Perhaps canvases were too costly for a young artist, or maybe he didn’t think all that much of his early work.  Or maybe, just maybe, van Gogh somehow knew that in future ages someone would discover his hidden treasure.  It is said that art imitates life and I would like to add that art reflects the spirituality of the age.  Art, be it painting, pottery, poetry or photography is a spiritual activity.  There is a story behind every painting, ever shard of pottery or line of poetry and there are many more stories that flow from art: shared, discussed and meditated upon.
    Our holy scriptures, The Bible, is not a history book, not a book of laws and decrees, not an autobiography or biography; it is first and foremost God’s inspired work of art:  images, stories, word-photographs, poetry, epistles and gospels that speak of our living relationship with God from the very beginning to this present day.  To read the bible literally would be to simply look at a “Patch of Grass” and never see the hidden treasure, the woman peering silently beneath the surface.   Good art invites the viewer in, welcomes the viewer and says stay awhile and wait for further revelations.
    This word of welcome happens each time we open up to a page of scripture.  There is hidden treasure, treasure that has yet to be discovered, and will only be discovered, when we open our spirit to The Word set before us.  A word, a sentence, a phrase will speak personally to our present circumstance and offer us clues as to how we ought to proceed.  God’s living Word of art will: console, challenge, forgive, admonish and heal depending upon our needs and circumstances.
    The scriptures are a lot more about how God has painted a canvas of love and hope for us than it is about our setbacks and failures to embrace God’s vision of unconditional love for us.  Our egos still Edge God Out, we strive for the illusion of power and control, we create wars between nations and among our own family members – even within our very selves; and still God loves us unconditionally and is just waiting for us to view His (Her) painting and find there our true selves, the ultimate hidden treasure, peering silently beneath the pages, lines and poetry of our most Holy Scripture work of art.

CALLED TO BE MYSTICS

    Recently in the Portland Oregon Catholic Sentinel Fr. Ron Rolheiser wrote an article on the need for every Catholic to develop a mystical spirituality.  We often relegate mysticism to the isolation of a mountain monastery or to a very few saint-like people who have the time and energy to climb, let alone read, Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain.  Quoting Karl Rahner he made the point that “there would soon come a time when each of us will either be a mystic or a non-believer.
    Those of us who grew up in the 1950’s, and maybe early 1960’s make up the last generation who’s faith was supported by family, neighborhood and the local parish church and school.  We can all hearken back, remembering our favorite aspect of that era of our faith lives.  There are a few diehards who muse that we can somehow turn back the clock to the ‘good old days,” or at least pretend by resuscitating old rites, sodalities and other once flourishing parish groups.  The reality is that our society, as we know it today, will not and cannot support such wishful -- whimsical thinking.
    There is a game going on whose goal is to try and fit our faith into our society, to fit our faith values into the values of our society; to demand that our culture exhibit our faith values.  The truth is that our society, as complex and complicated as it is, is far too small to contain the Wisdom of the Scriptures, and the traditions of our faith communities.  Truth is we cannot legislate morality, justice, equality, peace, justice or care for the environment.  Society at large, and especially society at the local and individual level, must be converted toward and into these qualities that will insure a future for us all.
    This does not mean that we should not work, labor and pray for legislative justice for all or work to reform and renew institutions, governmental and Church policies that simply don’t work or are unjust and injurious to our life on this planet; it means that something much more transformative is needed.  Each and everyone one of us must be converted from the inside out, we must anchor our lives in God’s divine and unbounded love for us so that we can love others, even those who wish us harm.  In other words we each need to have a mystical conversion, steeped in prayer, the ingestion of the Holy Wisdom of Scripture, and grounded in communities of faith whose aim in nothing less than the renewal of the face of the earth and the implementation of the living Realm of God in our midst.
    We can no long afford to simply go through the motions, say our prayers or satisfy ourselves with perfectly executed liturgies and feel good about ourselves.  Our prayer must come from a deep inner groaning that results in a new birth of active involvement in what needs to be done to transform the face of the earth.  It means that we need to take inventory; to cease participating in unjust institutions, cease doing harm to planet earth or any person or creature under Heaven in thought word or deed.  We need to cease reading the Scriptures and begin living them, to cease just going to Mass and become what we celebrate – bread for the world in thought, word and deed.  Nothing less than the Gospel is required of us.
    For this task we need each other more than ever before we need to become mystics, we need to pray and be transfigured -- converted together into the very Realm of God alive in our midst.
Peace, Michael E. Evernden, CSP

St. Rita's Retreat Center outside of Medford Oregon, site of a retreat/workshop for diocesan religious education teachers

Session Two, Giving Voice to the Word in Prayer and Sacrament in the main meeting room.

Lunch in the dinning room/libruary

SILENCE... 

If there is no silence beyond and within the words of doctrine, there is no religion, only religious ideology. For religion goes beyond words and actions, and attains to the ultimate truth in silence. When this silence is lacking, where there are only the "many words" and not the One Word, then there is much bustle and activity, but no peace, no deep thought, no understanding, no inner quiet. Where there is no peace, there is no light. The mind that is hyper-active seems to itself to be awake and productive, but it is dreaming. Only in silence and solitude, in the quiet of worship, the reverent peace of prayer, the adoration in which the entire ego-self silences and abases itself in the presence of the Invisible God, only in these "activities" which are "non-actions" does the spirit truly awake from the dream of a multifarious and confused existence.

Thomas Merton. Honorable Reader: Reflections on My Work. Edited by Robert E. Daggy (New York: Crossroad, 1989): 115.]
Thought for the Day

If you want a spiritual life, you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.

Thomas Merton. Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1958): 56.