What To Do About Cultural Catholics (Part II)

In a previous installment on this blog, I discussed the phenomenon that is cultural catholicism. Like being a fan of the New York Yankees, cultural catholicism guarantees that the adherent owns some kind of lucky charm, but has no idea who is actually on the team, the batting average of even one player, or what the team record is. This all translates into that awkward moment where you introduce yourself, and "the catholic" sends the message that:

Which is very frustrating. Even more frustrating then that fundamentalist troll who says:

You see, the troll, when thought about in the proper perspective, is mostly harmless. Yet there is a relationship between the former (cultural catholic) and the latter (fundamentalist troll), and it is worth noting. A Catholic who leaves the faith because of the "apologetic insights" of a fundamentalist is almost always a cultural catholic. They "come to Jesus", repenting of their abortion supporting ways, porn stash, and/or, of course, worship of Mary. They "never knew" any of it was wrong, or as his new narrative goes, "I just never found Jesus in the Catholic Church -- too much man-made stuff" (and the small group members give him a big hug followed by cake and punch).

It's good to be here, he says.

And like Zaccheaus, they climb up in the tree, and some die there. Others leave. While some make their way back home -- like me. My journey, of course, was circuitous in a multi-generational kind of way. Although it took me probably 400 years to get back home, while in the tree myself, I heard Christ's words and I came down. 

"I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her."

If you haven't already, you should take the quiz, but either way, the point is simple: 

We must be converted.

There is no alternative. Christ built a Church, not a constitution. Politics won't solve the problem of cultural Catholicism, nor will it set straight the crooked thoughts of the fundamentalist troll. No. The absolute necessity of the new evangelization has never been more readily and obviously apparent. There is a trap, though. When we hear, "new evangelization", we generally think "proselytization". However, that is not what the Church is asking us to do. Unlike the "new proselytization", the new evangelization starts in our own hearts. It is not a foreign or even domestic mission trip. Instead, the new evangelization begins with a personal encounter with Christ, whereby we open up our entire life to Him. We can no longer just meet Him on Sunday. 

When this happens, even the dude with the hat sideways above will take notice. Notice is what we need, because over last few weeks, I think we all get the idea that our voices are mostly irrelevant. Which tells me something. It tells me that we are playing nice too much, playing politics instead of living our faith. When you live your faith, expect a response. Some will convert in the light of lived-out Truth. However, one must choose how he adjusts his eyes to the light. The history of Christianity tells us that some, when encountering The Light, lash-out, unable or unwilling to adjust to its radiance. They try to snuff it out, and for a moment or a life, it appears that they are able. 

Let me remind you:

 "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her."

In other words: bring it. Darwin has nothing on us, or rather we are the species that just won't go down, and there is nothing in our DNA -- at least under a microscope -- that will tell the difference. However, you can look into our blood to figure it out. You just have to look with different eyes. If you look more closely, with a different vantage, you will see what the world both misses and needs. 

Do you see it? For even in God's first iterations with man, he informed us that the life is in the blood. Yes, The Life is in the blood. 

Be converted to Christ. It is the only thing that will change the world. It can even change the hearts of cultural catholics and fundamentalists. 

What To Do About Cultural Catholics

This one was a real problem for me when coming into the Church. What do you do when most of your friends and family think about this guy when you mention Catholicism?

"You wanna be Catholic? I'll make you an offer..."

You could always say you think about this guy when you think of Protestantism...

"Have a sip of my kool-aid"

But both images would be epic fails, and back and forth image throw-downs won't get intra-Christian dialog anywhere. All that said, cultural Catholics still present a serious impediment to the Catholic faith -- especially for faithful, Christ-loving, Protestants considering Catholicism. Because nothing makes the Catholic Church more attractive than:

Not so much. But while Mass isn't week-in-and-week-out populated with "cultural Catholics" (that's what Easter and Christmas are for), there are still thousands and thousands of people in almost any densely populated location who will eagerly admit "I'm Catholic!" when asked about their religious affiliation simply because they were baptized 2-5 decades ago. In fact, some Protestants (Evangelicals) love to call this group of Catholics "devout", especially when they "save them" on airplanes. For example:

Evangelical: "Did you feel that turbulence?"

Cultural Catholic: "What?"

Evangelical: "Did you just feel the plane dip?"

Cultural Catholic: "Yeah, so what?"

Evangelical: "If this plane went down in a ball of flame, and your body was turned into a piece of burnt toast, sprinkled about like fish food on top of the ocean, would you be with Jesus tonight?"

Cultural Catholic: "What?"

Evangelical: "Are you sure of your salvation? If you died right now, had a cardiac arrest, a brain aneurysm, a genetic defect that flared up, a hemorrhoid that hemorrhaged and caused you to lose too much blood, a"

Cultural Catholic: "Dude, what is your point?"

Evangelical: "Are you Catholic?"

Cultural Catholic: "Yes!"

Evangelical: "Then repeat after me, Jesus come into my heart..."

They are literally waiting on the wings. Then when the evangelical goes to his Bible study the next week, he will report, "Guys, I just want you to know that I recently converted a devout Catholic on a plane ride from Tucson. Can you believe he didn't know where he would be if he died from a massive hemorrhoidal hemorrhage. So sad."

And you know what? Our evangelical buddy is right! Cultural Catholics are sad. They hurt the body of Christ and bring shame to the Apostolic faith. However, I have two reasons why I can put up with them:

1. Religion creates culture

Culture is simply a set of behaviors codified by a certain group of people to maintain that which is good. Guess what? People think their religion is good; therefore, they codify behaviors which they hope will imbibe their particular religious sentiment in future generations. In many instances this can be a good thing, but it can devolve into a mere 'going through the motions'. We could call this small-t "tradition". In this way, this type of religious behavior can simply be an expression of cultural identity. "I'm Catholic" can be understand as a placeholder for "I'm Irish, not ________" or "I'm from Brazil, not ________". Such sentiment is not so much an expression of a religious attitude as it is of a cultural disposition that is religious in character.

So for starters, there are cultural Catholics because Catholicism is a bonafide religion that's been around the block for a while, and oh yeah, by the way, built all of western civilization.

Full Stop.

"But, Brent, didn't Jesus say he would rather us be cold or hot and not luke warm?"

A: Yes, but...

2. Jesus also said the Church would have tares

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also....The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”- Matthew 13:24-30

Rule-to-live-by #1: If you would get in trouble wearing a piece of clothing to school, you shouldn't wear it to Mass.

Rule-to-live-by #2: If a dress is inappropriate for a PTA meeting, it is inappropriate for Mass.

Rule-to-live-by #3: When you pass the altar, you should show a little more respect than you would your 6th grade math teacher's desk.

Rule-to-live-by #4: The Eucharist is not a snack, and genuflecting is not a curtsey.

These random sagacious sound-bites brought to you by "Tares: At A Local Parish Near You!"

But you never know, a weed might not be a weed after all.

These flowers are often mistaken for "weeds"

By that last statement, I'm in no way implying that Catholicism is a free-for-all. I'm just saying that sometimes in the midst of all the noise, the clutter, and tares, there is a real soul really trying to reach God. That's the beauty of the Catholic faith. She's Noah's Ark, and we're all on board. The annoying barking sound won't stop until we get to heaven.

So, if you are considering Catholicism, don't be discouraged by the bad parish or the cultural Catholics. I imagine by now, you have already been taken in by the beautiful fruit of the Catholic faith as lived through the lives of her Saints. None compare to that fruit. There are also faithful Catholics everywhere who are striving by the help of God's grace to be saints. Join us! In addition, just remind yourself that it is nice to know when someone is in dissent from the Church since "the Church" in Catholic parlance -- unlike Protestantism -- is not just "that group for which you agree to agree" until of course you disagree and then go find "the Church" that agrees with you. You know, I'm talking about when Church shopping makes sense. To put it another way, obvious dissent that disgusts you is better than innocuous denominationalism.

Anyways, I thought I would leave you with this nice video. If you don't know Pomplamoose, now you do and now your life is better. I thought the mafia theme was appropriate considering the topic of this post because everyone knows that the mafia are "devout" Catholics.

Peace to you on your journey.

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