Column
CLERGY CORNER
Outreach must bridge gulf between religion, faith
By the Rev. Peter Andrews
Some weeks ago, Thomas Tobin, bishop of the Diocese of Providence, announced that this would be a year of evangelization for the Catholic church in Rhode Island. The intent is to reach out to those who have drifted away over the years, and offer an invitation to return.
There would be many reasons for folks to have moved away from full participation in the life of the Catholic church, and when one ponders them, one might wonder what need be done by those of us “in charge” to facilitate such a return. After all, why invite people to come back to something if the original reasons for leaving still remain?
I find myself looking deeply into this issue of late, simply because I have always seen my role as priest, in part anyway, as that of inviting people to a fuller participation in the life of Christ. I believe such a life can be lived well within my own tradition, human as it is, frail as it can be, and certainly in need of constant conversion toward holiness. I also believe that any person in leadership in any church of any denomination would feel the same. And how it pains me to see some leave for reasons that could so easily be avoided if there were only more effort in working together on an underlying issue or concern that may seem irreconcilable between the church and a person’s lived experience.
Too often have I myself gone the easy route of expressing a teaching of the church or some rule that is meant to challenge me and others to see some deeper reality in faith as a black-and-white issue. It is too easy sometimes to just say “no” to some situation that does not fit all criteria of life, instead of focusing on how we might be able to work a “yes” out of an imperfect situation. I think of potential godparents that at the time of their presentation to me did not meet all the requirements, but by the time they would actually take up the awesome responsibility of influencing another in faith, could have been ready to do so, with patience and work on both our parts. Or the couple who seeks to be married in the church, but is hesitant about all that this simple request would entail.
Have I been as patient in explaining why the church teaches what it does about the sanctity and permanence of marriage, the need for the marriage to be open to children, etc., or is it easier and more expedient to just line out what is required of the couple and leave it at that?
What I realize, after all these years in priesthood, is that for many of us there is a disconnect between our faith and our religion, and am convinced that it is not only a Catholic phenomenon. There are many who truly have a relationship with God, who do not express it through participation in any particular denominational code or membership. And there are those who espouse a religious affiliation, without the depth of faith in God or whomever, that is visible and lived. For me, this is due in a large part to misunderstandings and poor formation in their own religious “practice,” seeing more the inadequacies of a particular religious affiliation in speaking to their lived experience than a real connection and assistance.
I am convinced that there is a real need for evangelization in our churches these days. With this said, I also am convinced that there is much work that need to be done to get things ready for those who will accept any invitation to see whether or not we may be the answer to their search for faith and a fuller religious expression. Such work can be done along the way through an open dialogue with those who have wandered as we address the real issues facing people today, and what may be offered to, for and by them in this process. There cannot be a closed attitude on the part of myself and the church, nor on the part of those who may come seeking guidance and answer as to whether they want to come back, or for that matter, enter for the first time. There needs to be a concerted effort to explain more fully and in fully understandable terms, that sometimes “no” is just a challenge to a larger “yes” — that there might just be reason to believe that what I think I need or want in the immediacy of life should give way to something far more permanent and meaningful.
A life of faith, fully lived and in which we fully participate, will lead us to only one place: a real and profound relationship with our God, our Creator. Our churches have stood and stand today as a guiding force for that journey of life, as we come to know God through the wisdom and experience gained by real people and real life over countless generations before us. When we are able to see ourselves as visible agents of that which is yet unseen, then we will be able to say we have done what we were called to do. It is that upon which I will focus my efforts, thoughts, and prayer this year, as I too am invited to return “home,” to where I need to be as priest, and as one who invites others to live more clearly what I myself am willing live.
The Rev. Peter J. Andrews leads St. Theresa and St. Christopher Roman Catholic Churches in Tiverton. For more information, log on to sstandctiverton.org. The Clergy Corner, written by various clergy in Newport County, appears each week in The Daily News.
Outreach must bridge gulf between religion, faith
By the Rev. Peter Andrews
Some weeks ago, Thomas Tobin, bishop of the Diocese of Providence, announced that this would be a year of evangelization for the Catholic church in Rhode Island. The intent is to reach out to those who have drifted away over the years, and offer an invitation to return.
There would be many reasons for folks to have moved away from full participation in the life of the Catholic church, and when one ponders them, one might wonder what need be done by those of us “in charge” to facilitate such a return. After all, why invite people to come back to something if the original reasons for leaving still remain?
I find myself looking deeply into this issue of late, simply because I have always seen my role as priest, in part anyway, as that of inviting people to a fuller participation in the life of Christ. I believe such a life can be lived well within my own tradition, human as it is, frail as it can be, and certainly in need of constant conversion toward holiness. I also believe that any person in leadership in any church of any denomination would feel the same. And how it pains me to see some leave for reasons that could so easily be avoided if there were only more effort in working together on an underlying issue or concern that may seem irreconcilable between the church and a person’s lived experience.
Too often have I myself gone the easy route of expressing a teaching of the church or some rule that is meant to challenge me and others to see some deeper reality in faith as a black-and-white issue. It is too easy sometimes to just say “no” to some situation that does not fit all criteria of life, instead of focusing on how we might be able to work a “yes” out of an imperfect situation. I think of potential godparents that at the time of their presentation to me did not meet all the requirements, but by the time they would actually take up the awesome responsibility of influencing another in faith, could have been ready to do so, with patience and work on both our parts. Or the couple who seeks to be married in the church, but is hesitant about all that this simple request would entail.
Have I been as patient in explaining why the church teaches what it does about the sanctity and permanence of marriage, the need for the marriage to be open to children, etc., or is it easier and more expedient to just line out what is required of the couple and leave it at that?
What I realize, after all these years in priesthood, is that for many of us there is a disconnect between our faith and our religion, and am convinced that it is not only a Catholic phenomenon. There are many who truly have a relationship with God, who do not express it through participation in any particular denominational code or membership. And there are those who espouse a religious affiliation, without the depth of faith in God or whomever, that is visible and lived. For me, this is due in a large part to misunderstandings and poor formation in their own religious “practice,” seeing more the inadequacies of a particular religious affiliation in speaking to their lived experience than a real connection and assistance.
I am convinced that there is a real need for evangelization in our churches these days. With this said, I also am convinced that there is much work that need to be done to get things ready for those who will accept any invitation to see whether or not we may be the answer to their search for faith and a fuller religious expression. Such work can be done along the way through an open dialogue with those who have wandered as we address the real issues facing people today, and what may be offered to, for and by them in this process. There cannot be a closed attitude on the part of myself and the church, nor on the part of those who may come seeking guidance and answer as to whether they want to come back, or for that matter, enter for the first time. There needs to be a concerted effort to explain more fully and in fully understandable terms, that sometimes “no” is just a challenge to a larger “yes” — that there might just be reason to believe that what I think I need or want in the immediacy of life should give way to something far more permanent and meaningful.
A life of faith, fully lived and in which we fully participate, will lead us to only one place: a real and profound relationship with our God, our Creator. Our churches have stood and stand today as a guiding force for that journey of life, as we come to know God through the wisdom and experience gained by real people and real life over countless generations before us. When we are able to see ourselves as visible agents of that which is yet unseen, then we will be able to say we have done what we were called to do. It is that upon which I will focus my efforts, thoughts, and prayer this year, as I too am invited to return “home,” to where I need to be as priest, and as one who invites others to live more clearly what I myself am willing live.
The Rev. Peter J. Andrews leads St. Theresa and St. Christopher Roman Catholic Churches in Tiverton. For more information, log on to sstandctiverton.org. The Clergy Corner, written by various clergy in Newport County, appears each week in The Daily News.