I attended a meeting the other day. It was a gathering of the heads of the different ministries for one of the two parishes I work for. The focus of the meeting was to present--and brainstorm--ideas on how we can, as a parish, increase participation in the different ministries of service that the parish currently has. We are looking for a way to increase the stewardship of time and talent in the parish. A lot of good ideas were discussed. We discussed having a ministry fair, a "Ministry Sunday" once a month where one of the ministries of the parish is highlighted, ministry nights for the parents of the Early Childhood Center and Religious Education, and many other good ideas. At the end of the meeting some time was set aside, as with all discussions about stewardship, for a discussion on money. Overall, it was a productive meeting. We came up with many ideas to try to increase the participation of time, talent, and, of course, treasure from the parishioners of the parish.
As I was sitting there, listening to what the parish stewardship committee head was presenting, I started thinking that we have it all backwards--that we, as a Church in the U.S. (not just this parish, but many parishes) oftentimes have it backwards. There is such a focus on service and on social justice--almost too much of a focus. Don't get me wrong. It is important to serve. There are many wonderful ministries at the parishes I work for, and all parishes, that do great work at supporting the church, it's parishioners, and those in the community around the parish. We need that. It is a necessary, and important, part of our Catholic faith. But, we have it backwards. We focus so much on service that we forget something very important. We are, first and foremost, a community of faith. We are so busy nurturing the corporal needs of our parishes and communities that we oftentimes neglect the spiritual needs.
We are losing Catholics. Many are leaving the Catholic Church to go to other Christian churches. Some just stop going to church altogether. I believe that most lost Catholics still sit in our pews, coming back week after week to fulfill their Sunday obligation. We can talk until we are blue in the face, coming up with idea after idea on how to get these lost Catholics to participate with more time, talent, and treasure. We can put on the greatest festival that money can buy to try to highlight the different ministries and increase participation in those ministries. But those lost Catholics, the ones that are filling up our pews week after week, won't participate. They won't participate because they don't care.
Why don't they care? They don't care because they are not engaged in their faith. They don't understand the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus. They don't understand how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. They have no passion for their faith.
People give to their passions. They give of their time. They give of their talent. They give of their treasure. Look at a parent who has a child with autism. That parent becomes passionate about the cause for finding a cure for autism. Or a husband who lost his wife to breast cancer. He becomes passionate about the fight to find a cure. These people are passionate about these causes because they are personally affected by them. If we, as a Church, take time to nurture a personal faith relationship with Christ then Catholics will give of their time, talent, and yes, treasure.
In addition to not caring because they are not engaged in their faith, there is another reason why these lost Catholics don't give of their time, talent, and treasure. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that about 40% of Catholics filling the pews across the U.S. are walking around with empty cups. They have nothing to give. Another 50% of Catholics have half full cups. They have a little bit to give but are unwilling to give anything for fear of losing what little they have.
I have found in my own job of serving the youth of two parishes that if I have a half full cup or an empty cup that I am ineffective as a youth minister. I cannot give to the youth what I do not have. Unless I have an overflowing cup, I cannot be a good servant to anyone--my wife, my kids, or the parishes I serve.
How does one obtain an overflowing cup? There is only one way to fill a cup to overflowing, and that is through a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Unless and until we spend time every day with Jesus in prayer and dialogue we will never fill our cups.
I said earlier that we, as a Church in the U.S., oftentimes have it backwards. Instead of focusing on service, instead of focusing on increasing participation in these ministries of service, we need to first focus on faith formation. We need to help these lost Catholics in the pews to understand their faith. Remember, it was not until the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in the upper room that they were able to go out and serve. The same holds true for the Church today. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to descend upon our parishes through providing opportunities for faith formation for all ages--youth and adult. When we invite the Spirit into our churches then, and only then, will we be empowered to give of our time, talent, and treasure. We will engage the disengaged. We will find the lost Catholics.