May
9
The Catholic Telegraph
May 9, 2008 |
How many of the faithful actually read their diocesan newspaper?
In Cincinnati, we have The Catholic Telegraph and it can be a good, quick, high-quality read (except for the periodic, politically-leaning newsbrief from the Catholic News Service). It’s a great way to learn something about our faith and keep up with what’s going on with folks in other parishes in the Archdiocese.
And then there are times that you come across something that should be shocking but isn’t. Father John Dietzen is a retired priest who writes a Q&A style column, ”Question Box,” that is syndicated by CNS for diocesan newspapers. This week’s “Question Box” has two questions that should disturb anyone who has taught catechism in the past forty years -
Question #1 - “Because a family member was received into the Catholic faith this past Holy Week, I attended the Holy Thursday evening Mass and the Easter Vigil Mass for the first time. I have to say I was awed they were so beautiful. When I was growing up we never heard about them. Maybe we never even had them in our parish. When did they start?“
Question #2 - “Someone recently asked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In my 15 years as a Catholic, I don’t remember hearing of them. What are they, and where could one find information about them? Are they in the Bible?”
For Question #1, Father Dietzen is very understated (and way too kind) in his answer and responds that ”[f]ar from new, the sacred triduum ceremonies . . . are ancient.” Father describes that the Easter Triduum liturgies fell into disuse over the years and the liturgies as we know them didn’t come about until 1955 when the Easter Triduum was reignited by Pope Pius XII.
But the fact the Triduum liturgies were ignored for so long doesn’t take away from the fact that they became a centerpiece of our liturgical worship more than 53 years ago. How can anyone not know that something rather big is going on at their church during Holy Week - unless they are stopping by for Mass maybe once or twice a year? It sounds like someone needs to get to Mass more often.
As for Question #2, Father Dietzen gives a great answer - providing a good overview of the reasons for the gifts and describing the gifts as outlined in Isaiah and by St. Paul. But isn’t it sad, that like Question #1, the question even needed to be asked in the first place and that Father Dietzen even found the need to answer it? The doctrine of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is one of the foundations of our faith that should be found in any prayer book and catechism book. How can anyone go through any type of Catholic education without learning about the Gifts?
But I need to answer the question myself - I couldn’t have told you what the Gifts of the Holy Spirit were until a couple of years ago, when it became quite evident to me just how lacking was my religious formation and that I needed to do something about it. And what also concerns me about Question #2 is that the writer indicates that they’ve been a Catholic for 15 years. It’s a safe assumption that the writer is a convert and was received into the faith in the late ’80s or early ’90s. Shouldn’t the Gifts of the Holy Spirit have been covered in any basic RCIA program?
I’ve often lamented my lack of catechism training despite my many years spent in Catholic schools. I sometimes even feel that my generation was robbed of a major and life-defining part of our heritage. It really is just sad that too many of my generation wouldn’t know enough to even ask the above questions much less know their answers.
In any case, with it being close to Pentecost, let’s focus on something Father Dietzen wrote about the Holy Spirit. He gives a great summation of the Holy Paraclete -
“The wind, or Spirit, of God which hovered over the ‘initial chaos of creation’ (Genesis 1:2, 8:1) still hovers over the world to help it become what the Creator and our Savior intended it to be.”
Amen.
