48 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
# Principles of Catholic Community Building
|
|
These are ideas summarized from experiences in the past week, from time out in NH and Steubenville, OH at the New Polity Conference.
|
|
|
|
# The Call
|
|
We are not trying to assemble a bunch of Catholics together just to commisserate, be friends, do nice things, or pray. We really are engaged in the thing the magesterium has been driving squarely at for the past 150 years: social reform. We are seeing to undo the cycles of sin, to liberate men and women so that they can be the full flourishing images of God that they are called to be!
|
|
|
|
Perhaps it was unclear at one point in time but it has come to full view now: the world needs Christ, it needs his Church, and it needs the authentic Catholic social life.
|
|
|
|
These are not understatements:
|
|
The World seeks to atomize us and reduce us to cogs in a technocratic soul-crushing machine.
|
|
God wants to elevate us sons and daughters, to be images of Him!
|
|
|
|
# Friends First, Polis Second
|
|
Marc Barnes said something very interesting about Steubenville: when they first got started doing things to improve the town, he thought that they needed to make all these places and then people would be attracted to them. Quite the opposite turned out to be true: as people met and became friends, they started making these places of their own accord. The institutions outflowed from friendship. Of course, doing it this way, the places were made for the people, rather than trying to violently fit the people to the places.
|
|
|
|
# Radical Thinking, Desiring Heaven
|
|
"Radical" means root. We must always be about getting to the source of things. If your hand offends you, cut it off. Christ demands radical things of us. Are we willing to make the sacrifices to live as we ought? The problem may be simply that we do not desire the good enough. C.S. Lewis writes that our desires are lacking, that we are like children mucking about in a sandbox, unable to understand the prospect of a holiday at sea. Are we willing to get out of our little sandboxes and have holiday? Are we willing to cast off cell phones, cars, places, jobs, family, and maybe more to answer the calls that Christ has for us?
|
|
|
|
# Spontaneity with Rootedness
|
|
Did you know that the word for grace has the same root as spontaneity? Wild, right? If we are to be open to the graces of the Holy Spirit, we are therefore a spontaneous people. But... We are anchored in Christ, and therefore to our pastors, our bishops, etc. Think of a tree: it is rooted in the ground, so it will not be blown away, yet it is flexible, so that it withstands impacts. We should desire to see the same people, to forge lasting bonds, and be open to the new.
|
|
|
|
# Stacking and Integrating, not Tacking On
|
|
We have to be honest: we aren't in the middle ages anymore, working only 150 days a year. People work far more than they ever have, and have little time for unproductive activity, for feasts and the like. Should we work towards a society where we have this time? Absolutely. But we aren't there yet. Adding churchy stuff to an already busy life is just... hassle. Especially when that stuff is irregular. We have to find ways of either replacing an existing structure of sin, or enhancing an existing good.
|
|
|
|
This applies to "economic" (productive) life. The things we do to earn money matter. The ways we spend our money matter. Are we supporting the kingdom in our work and investment, or are we supporting The World?
|
|
|
|
# Openness to Life, not Contraception
|
|
These last two points are summed up in this way: openness to life. Do we really believe in the infinite potential of a man? Do we really believe in God's providence? Or do we think He can only do so much? We also cannot over-constrain what He does, and have to be open to the ideas and initiative of our fellow man, acting as facilitators and shepherds, not gatekeepers.
|
|
|
|
I'm growing skeptical of the value of age-exclusive community placemaking projects (not targeted evangelization) for this reason: they pit the generations as different things, and they don't respect the flow of life from one stage to another. They are not congruent with the flow of life.
|
|
|
|
# Fasting & Feasting
|
|
Many diseases are healed by fasting. It is a process of purgation, of removing all that dross which does not please God, and really, doesn't please us. It is a time of increasing our appetites, so that we desire Heavenly things, rather than just nicer things of the World. But we must also feast: and we need to really feast. The Church calendar gives us so much opportunity to feast, and gives cause to our joy and celebration. We can't just reduce our feasting to sending a text about "Happy St. Lucy's Day!" Perhaps, even, we would be better off fasting from such communication, so that when we feast, we do truly feast.
|
|
|
|
# Music
|
|
God made us to be musical. Not just some of us - most, perhaps even all of us. We need to practice music fit for maximal active participation. This means things such as folk song, sea shanties, traditional hymns, and the like - not the band or concert format, but that which can be done anywhere, so we always have a song on our lips (especially a song that praises God, even if not fit for the liturgy). When many mediocre voices join, they become beautiful. "Pop" music, by and large, does not lend itself to group singing. Music is a fundamental aspect of culture - we have a rich tradition to pull from.
|
|
|
|
# Act Manfully
|
|
For the men here: our society is actively and wickedly opposed to the masculine spirit. It wants to tame us, to make us weak and impotent, to crush our rebelliousness and milk our remaining creativity. We must fight against this notion! Doing "manly things", whether that be working out, shooting skeet, hiking, rock climbing, etc.... it can feel fake and artificial at first. But push past it, and the organic stuff will happen. So much of the anxiety of the world comes from our lack of agency with it. We don't know how to use even basic tools anymore - we are impotent! We need to be seeking out and thirsting for opportunities to upskill so at the very least we can fix basic problems around a home.
|
|
|
|
# Examples
|
|
- Ditching smartphones (in favor of flip phones)
|
|
- Praying the appropriate Liturgy of the Hours (iBreviary is a great tool)
|
|
- Singing the Salve Regina
|
|
- Seeking humane work (techne), not machine work (technology)
|
|
- Growing a (esp. community) garden
|
|
- Working on a shared (esp. ongoing) work project
|
|
- |