Built on Rock

On a Hessischer Rundfunk radio broadcast in 1969, Father Joseph Ratzinger first presented his, dare I say, prophecy, “From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge — a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning.”

In the course of my encounters with other Catholics, I have often heard the oldest generations lament the loss of enthusiasm for Mass attendance and ministry participation. Some blame Covid, some blame scandals. But both are just rationalizations. The reduction in the number of butts in the pews or the number of envelopes in the basket was happening gradually for a long time. We could blame feminism, or kids’ sports or businesses requiring workers on Sundays. We could blame the NFL or chores or distance and convenience. But the fact is that people make their own priorities and people make time and space for the things that matter most to them. And for more than we care to admit, those priorities aren’t church-related. 

I see the concern in the eyes of parents and grandparents, of Pastors and ministry leaders. I hear the sadness in their voices. They remember the days when a Catholic couldn’t get a parking space, much less a seat, if they weren’t early for Sunday Mass. They talk about a time when Christmas and Easter meant, standing room only- folks huddling in their best suits, even in the massive doorways. They remember when the entire congregation sang as if a chorus of the heavenly host. It was when communion lines and homilies were both ALOT longer. 

So, as with all else, let us look to our Bible for our peace and comfort. Let us remember to trust in the Lord, our God, Who told us no less than 365 times to be not afraid. He warns us in Ecclesiastes 7:10 not to be too nostalgic… not to long for days gone by or we can make mistakes in our choices for today. See, we don’t know the long game, only He does. He tells us in Isaiah 43:18-19 to stop thinking about the past and focus on the now. And, in Philippians 3:13-14, Paul reiterates the point, telling us to forget what lies behind and lean forward.

In the New Testament, throughout the ministries of Jesus and John the Baptist, we see metaphors about wheat and weeds and chaff, good and bad fish, rock and sand.  We see how a field can grow full and seem over-abundant, but not all that is harvested is desirable. The weeds must be removed, the chaff must blow away or be burned. All the fish caught in the net are not kept- they are sorted and some are removed. A good house can be built, but may or may not stand, depending on the integrity of the foundation. 

So it is with the Kingdom of God and so it is with His Church, His bride. We must not fear what we’ve seen in our depletion. We must let the winds and whims of society take away the chaff. We must let the immature, ill-prepared and inedible fish swim back out to sea. We must realize that our house of worship cannot stand on unstable ground. 

The portion that is left is the strong part. Look around. The truly faithful are still here!These are the living stones upon which our first pope told us in 1 Peter 2:4-5 that the spiritual house will be built. Rock. Rock is formed by extremes like heat and pressure. It is the sediment, the metamorphosed, unbreakable, unsinkable portion that remains. We should not regret what’s been removed, but delight in what our God in His infinite wisdom, has preserved. As the Church is called by the Father to revival, the rebuilding and resurgence, begins here. We must continue upon this newly reinforced foundation and ever strive to grow a proper heaven on earth.

The Catholic Church has seen the tides of time push and pull her, bring her down and lift her up, deplete and restore her. Ratzinger, as Pope Benedict XVI, continued- for the rest of his life- to try to prepare us for these days. Here we are once again, with the opportunity to grow and to do so on solid ground. Let us be glad and rejoice.