Catholic Lite

Growing in faith through Catholic schools

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.

             How Catholic would you say you are?  On a scale of one to ten – where one is zero % Catholic, and ten is a Super Catholic – where would you rank yourself?  In March, 2013, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of U.S. Catholics.  They found that only 27% of Catholics considered themselves “strong Catholics,” roughly one out of four.  That means that 73% of us consider ourselves “Catholic Lite,” meaning that most Catholics don’t know their faith, or have stopped practicing their faith, or are C.E.O. Catholics (Christmas and Easter Only), or have even started attending Protestant churches.  One Episcopalian friend jokes that his faith is “Catholic Lite.”  But joining another denomination is no answer for a weak faith because they experience the same struggles Catholics do.

 Consider these humorous examples.   A teacher asked students to bring an item to class that represented their religious beliefs.  A Catholic student brought a crucifix.  A Jewish student brought a Menora.  A Baptist student brought a CorningWare dish.  Or, take this example.  A Southern Baptist and a Methodist crash-landed on a desert island and they were the only ones there.  The Methodist got real worried and said, “I don’t think they’ll ever find us.  We didn’t have a chance to radio where we are.  They’ll never find us.”  The Baptist was just the picture of peace.  The Methodist asked, “How can you be so confident they are going to find us?”   The Baptist said, “Well, I make $400,000 a year and I tithe every Sunday.  My preacher is going to find me.”   Since we don’t have any rich Catholics here at I.C., I don’t have to worry if you crash on a desert island.  In other words, all Christians struggle in their faith, no one is a perfect 10.  Some Catholics struggle with abortion, others accept contraception, others question homosexuality, some oppose the Church’s teaching about immigration, others don’t like celibacy for priests (ahem!), etc.  We’re all Catholic Lite trying to get closer to becoming a perfect 10.  I had a teacher in high school who never gave any students 100% on a test, even when they answered every question correctly.  He explained, “Nobody is perfect; only God is.”

             Our readings today show us this phenomenon of imperfect faith is nothing new.  Isaiah prophesies way back in 740 B.C. speaking for God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”  To make it clear how far apart human and divine thinking is, Isaiah proposes this staggering image: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”  The difference between God and us is the difference between Bo Derek in the movie “Perfect 10” and Pee Wee Herman.  Get the picture?  In the gospel, Jesus tells a parable where laborers who work only a few hours are paid the SAME amount as those who work all day.  Then, Jesus draws the conclusion: “Thus the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”  We’ve heard that line so often, I doubt we truly feel its full force.  Our scales of justice are the opposite; we rather think, “First come, first serve,” that seems a lot more fair.  If Jesus taught this principle in the London School of Economics, he would have been thrown out on his ear.  What’s my point?  Jesus teaches that God’s thinking is radically different from ours.  Even though we may believe in God, we have a long way to go to think like God; our faith is still Catholic Lite.

 There are lots of ways to grow in the faith, but I am convinced the best beginning we can make in our faith is to attend a Catholic school.  The gap between heaven and earth may be huge, but Catholic schools go a long way to bridge that gap.  For 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, students breathe a very Christian air.  They pray when school starts and at meals, they see statues of Jesus and the saints as if they walked the hallways with them (and they do!), they attend Mass, they kneel and confess their sins.  Of course, they take religious education classes, but as Scott Hahn likes to say, “The Catholic faith is as much ‘caught’ as it is ‘taught’.”  In the halls and classrooms, the playgrounds and cafeterias, children learn their faith almost by “osmosis.”  They begin to think more like God and less like human beings; they begin to believe that maybe Jesus was right and the “the last should be first and the first should be last.”  Last year, Immaculate Conception School was nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School, but do you know what I consider the biggest compliment?  When I hear about public school teachers who LOVE to get students from a Catholic school because of how well behaved and studious and hard-working, and mostly how Christian they are.  Our students have started to walk along that bridge between heaven and earth.  One Catholic school’s motto was: “We prepare out students not just for Harvard, but for heaven.”  Every Catholic school does that.  The best cure for Catholic Lite is a Catholic school, because it moves students into that top 25% who consider themselves “strong Catholics.”

             Because I love Catholic schools so much, I’m doing something I’ve never done before: publishing a book of my homilies.  Some people have asked if I’m going to write a second one.  I say: “You know, that’s like asking a woman who’s just had a baby when she’s going to have another one!”  You better duck!  So, no, I’m not writing a second book, so be sure to buy this one!  I’m donating the proceeds to our school endowment fund, so our school will be around for years and years.  Why?  Because like Isaiah said: “God’s ways are above our ways as the heavens are above the earth.”  Catholic schools bridge that gap between heaven and earth and teach children not only how to get to Harvard but also how to get to heaven.  I hope you’ll join me in this effort and come to the book signing Sunday evening in the Galvin Center.  The best cure for a Catholic Lite is a Catholic school.

Praised be Jesus Christ!