The fastest growing religious group in the United States is “Ex-Catholics”. Folks who were in the fold for many years, but now, have found a reason not to stay. For many, the sex abuse scandal was the last straw. I see it in my work with college students – the current generation of students come from parents who left the church because of how the church dealt with the abuse – so they know little of the faith and the heritage that is ours. For others, it was that radical Pope N, (fill in the blank) – Benedict or John Paul or Francis – something about what they presented about the faith was shocking or scandalous or just a bridge to far. For others, it was the teaching against gay marriage. Or the teaching about the evil of abortion and the rights of the unborn.
For the followers of Jesus, it was his teaching on the Eucharist: “This kind of talk is hard to endure!” And they would no longer walk in his company. Those must have been hard words for John the evangelist to write. I suspect he could close his eyes and name about 20 good men who left, 20 women who no longer followed, 35 kids who tugged at mom and dad’s side as they walked with the master – now just gone. I can close my eyes and do the same. My oldest brother. Two of my favorite Newman center alumnae. Three parishioners here at St. Ann. All part of the fasting growing religion in the U.S.
Fr. Barry Moriarity, the dean of formation at the seminary, once said this: “If you want to leave the seminary, you will find a reason to do so. It might be the ‘no facial hair part of the dress code’ or the celibacy demanded of priests; it might be the more difficult teachings of the church, or your own grappling with the leadership role the church is asking of you. But if you want to leave, you’ll find a reason to do so. The challenge is to be in touch with the reasons why you stay!” The challenge is to be in touch with the reasons why you stay!
In wonderful ways, Simon Peter’s response to Jesus when asked if he, too, would leave, gives us both ends of the spectrum of why we might stay, doesn’t he? “Lord, to whom shall we go?” As if to say: “I got nothing else. No imagination, no energy, nor passion – so let me just float along, because it is the path of least resistance. I know this, so I will just stay here. And though that may keep you coming to church for a while, what I know about that choice is this. 1) You will be a nominal Catholic at best. 2) Like the seminary, if that is the only reason why you stay a committed Catholic, then you, too, eventually, will find a reason to leave. (I delayed ordination to the priesthood precisely for that reason – I could have been ordained with my classmates – but it would have been the easy decision – the safe choice. It is what I knew, what I trained and studied for. But that was not enough to keep me in line for ordination. I needed something more than the path of least resistance.)
The second pole of Simon Peter’s profession is where he hits one out of the park. You have the words of everlasting life! AHHH, now we’re talking. There is an experience of life, a fullness, a gift that wells up within you. I am never so challenged, yet so alive as when I find myself a part of this body of Christ we call the Roman Catholic Church. I can be outraged, and angered and saddened and frustrated – but all of those things are because I have found something that is ‘the stuff of eternal life’ here. There are things worth the disagreements and disappointments and struggles that come with being a follower of Jesus in the Catholic Church.
I keep coming back to Jesus because in his words – however perplexing – I’ve heard something that rings true. And I experience in my attempts to follow the gospel a life that wells up in me beyond my own small world. And I stay because there is a presence here at this altar that I find NO WHERE else on this planet. THIS experience of communion, this experience of life, gathered around a table, NOT JUST AS INDIVIDUALS, but TOGETHER – I find nowhere else. Here, I feel more alive than I do anywhere else in my world. HERE, around this altar, gathered with you in prayer, I know the presence of the One who has life for me, for US, as we walk the road together. Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Holy One of God…
So, do you want to become a member of the fastest growing religion in the U.S.? You’ll find a reason. If you want to stay, you’ll need to be in touch with that experience of everlasting life, of everlasting love that wells up within you. Let that question of Jesus – Will you also leave? – and the response of Peter – “You have the words of everlasting life” – be the source of your prayer and reflection this week.