Faith in Formation

Lately I have been concerned with many things happening in our church.  I have been in “kitchen table” conversations with many people about where we are heading and how many of us feel not only “off mission” but to some extent as though we aren’t even following the Gospel teachings in some ways.  The new missal that is being instituted by Rome this Advent has already come to my parish.  I am unhappy with many parts of it and disappointed in the lack of real effort to have our voices heard.      The changes for some are minimal, but for me it is the implications of the changes that worries me. However, this works well for those who feel that the priest alone are consecrating the Eucharist,  but many of us know better.  We are all part of the consecration, “where two or three are gathered” comes to mind.  But this new wording feels distant and  makes me feel less and less part of the mass.  Then I hear the lamenting; “why is no one coming to church??”  Ummm….maybe there are too many reasons to answer that!Maybe I am just a little thick in the head.  I can hear you say, “find another parish, cause they are all different” and it is what I would say to myself as well.  But overall, I love my parish and in addition I have cognitively made it my children’s formative and spiritual home.  They are part of something here and it would be wrong to interfere with it.  I sound like I am blaming but I really am not.  I am processing some major issues in the church that I love.  I am looking in my own backyard first.  I am checking to see what I can do to initiate the needed change of mind and heart…although many times I am guilty of impatience.It would be the perfect time to throw in the towel…not on God…but on the church.  But I also know that in sticking it out, I will reap the dividends somewhere, somehow.  My children sense my frustration.  We talk, and I am candid.  The best thing that I can do for them is to help them differentiate between the Church, (the man-made/man-run institution) and the church, (the people of God).  As well as the Church and God.  God will never let us down, but we must always be open to his will.  Perhaps his will for me right now is a little humility.  I can take it.  I can sit there and feel fed elsewhere.  God has also provided me with many dear friends who are truly his servants in one form or another…this is where I feel sanctified.  He has exposed me to positive and convicted influences like Fr. James Martin, Rob Bell, Ron Rohlheiser, Elizabeth Johnson, Anne LaMott etc. are some of the big names but there are countless little names too!  So, I do feel that I am ready for the challenge.This brings me to an article that Fr. Martin shared on his FB page from Bishop Hubbard of the Albany Diocese in NY (of which I was once part!).  It is bold and true.  It speaks to me in many ways and it is an important read.  God bless Bishop Hubbard.http://www.rcda.org/our_bishop_monthly_message.html