Nov

11

The Maccabees - a Nut or a Rock Group?

November 11, 2007 |

I went to Catholic elementary school for 4th-6th grades.  It was then onto a Catholic high school.  And then a Catholic college.  I had always gone to Mass on a rather frequent basis.  My parents cared about my Catholic upbringing.

And I’m ashamed to admit that my catechist training (i.e. my education on the basics, truths and details of our faith) was poor - ignorantly poor.  Today’s reading illustrates how poor it was.

Today’s first reading is from the 2nd Book of Maccabees.  Up until three years ago, I didn’t know there was a 2nd Book of Maccabees - I didn’t know there was a 1st Book of Maccabees.  I didn’t know that the Catholic Bible has six books that Protestant bibles do not - Wisdom, the two Maccabees, Sirach, Judith and Tobit.  I had never really read the Bible and had never really paid attention to where the Mass readings were coming from.

Up until three years ago, I would read today’s gospel (Luke 20) about the seven brothers and the widow and I would simply say “huh?” and move on.   I knew that Mary was important but I really couldn’t have told you why.  I had a Rosary but didn’t know how to pray it.  I had never been to an Eucharistic Adoration.  I rarely paid attention to the Eucharistic Prayer and was rather indifferent when receiving communion.  My daily prayer consisted of a similar series of petitions to God while I was driving to work.

Confession? - well, just say it was embarrassing when I finally started to go again and couldn’t remember how long it had been since I had been last - and I couldn’t recall how to say an act of contrition.  I got shamed one day when a friend of mine started saying the Angelus at noon and I had NO idea how to say the prayer.  I never followed Pope John Paul II or what the Church was actually teaching.  I had a passing awareness of the crisis in the Church, but really didn’t pay too much attention to it. 

Yet, there was stuff I knew.  I fasted on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday - abstained on Lenten Fridays.  I went to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.  I have always known that God has a plan for me, that Christ will always grant me mercy and salvation, and the Holy Spirit is always with me.  I tried to live a moral life and to make the right choices.  There was no question that my wife and I were going to get married in the Church and raise our children in the Church.  We actually took pre-Cana relatively seriously.

But, I still remember that one moment when I couldn’t tell a Protestant friend why his view of his faith was different from my view of mine.  Why was I a Catholic?  My only explanation was that we each were born into our respective faiths and it was what it was.

And the turning point came three years ago this month when I was stuck on a tarmac in Philly and fished a book out of my carry-on that I had been meaning to read.  It was a book about the development of President Bush’s faith.  Say what you will about his policy decisions,  no one better question his Christian faith.  He makes his decisions on the basis of what he believes God expects of him.  He is humble and he is focused on his service to his fellow man.

In any case, this book discussed his growth from party-boy to a life rich in faith and service.  His spiritual advisor was none other than the Rev. Graham.  At some point in his early 40s, the President was advised to read the Bible - really read the Bible.  And the President did so.  Cover to cover.  And his life was transformed.

So, after reading about this incredible step he took, something just hit me - spiritually, physically, emotionally.  The next day I went out and bought a study bible.  And then I found a reading plan on some website.  And twelve months later, I was done reading - the Bible - cover-to-cover.  And this year-long journey just sparked my interest for more - and more - and more. 

Learning about my faith has become a full-out, all-consuming yearning.  And the more I have learned, the more I have wanted to learn more.

And now, three years later, I know that I am finally starting to get it - starting to get our faith.  Why we are Catholic?  What we believe?  Why we believe?

And three years on, my prayers now mean something.  I not only know how to say the Rosary but I say it almost every day.  I am excited in receiving the Eucharist and I feel the Body and Blood of Christ truly filling me after communion.  I try to stop in a church at least 10-15 minutes every day - and I find that I need these moments more and more.  I know the basic prayers,   I say the Angelus at noon, a prayer before meals, a morning offering, a night prayer.  I’m learning from the spiritual leaders of the Church.  I can actually find my way through the Catechism.  I attend a weekday Mass at least once a week and really pay attention throughout Mass.  I’m more active in my parish - more focused in my charitable giving and service.

And I find my life is so much better - so much more meaningful.  I have a clarity, peace, and perspective that at times are still so foreign to me - so different than who I used to be.  My marriage is better - I am a better parent - I am a better person - I am a better servant of Christ.

But I have an incredibly profound sense of regret that I didn’t pick up on all of this knowledge earlier.  It would have made my life a heck of a lot easier.

Why didn’t I learn this stuff in Catholic grade school, Catholic high school, Catholic college?  Why didn’t I learn this stuff at Church.  Why were basic prayers, traditions, doctrines, and truths so foreign to me?

Why was my cathechist training so lacking?

My generation (i.e. those who were in school in the ’70s and ’80s) were done a great disservice.  We really were not taught why we are Catholic - and why being Catholic is vital to our lives and what defines us.  Why being Catholic is vital to our families, communities, nation and world.

My generation has to make up for lost time.  We must get the cathechist training we missed.  Either by self-guided study or otherwise, we must learn the things that our Catholic ancestors knew intuitively.  If for no other reason, we must know these things so we can pass them onto our children and hopefully even become better Catholics ourselves.

I want my generation to get to a point where we know the story of the Maccabees, we can read St. Paul without getting lost, and we can read about Christ’s exchange with the Sadducees concerning the seven brothers without the complete confused look in our eyes.  And I want my generation to get to a point where the Church is our second home and a very real part of our personal identity.

We must reclaim the rich heritage of our faith that is rightfully ours.  We must learn why we are Catholics - and why it’s important that we are.


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