by Fred Moleck
Catholic Identity
In a recent alum periodical from Notre Dame University, there is an extensive article on the future of Notre Dame and what it would take to realize it.The word Catholic was used thirty-one times.
Last week, I spent two and half days at Music Ministry Alive! in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the campus of St. Catherine College.
Music Ministry Alive! is the brainchild of David Haas, which sprung from a conversation he and I had ten years ago about the need for a more responsible musical and liturgical formation experience for Catholic youths.
(More on that visit next week.)
During my brief visit with the MMA youth and their leaders I heard the word Catholic a few times.
Comparing the context of the Domer Catholic article and the MMA experience in my continuously aging head, I couldn’t help but think about recent official campaigns to assure Çatholic identity on Catholic college campuses.
At the same time, the pontiff’s recent motu proprio has elicited a lot of comment from one part of the church’s membership who rejoices over the restoration of Catholic liturgy.
Then there is the litmus test for Catholic politicians to determine their position on abortion.
American Catholics can boast that they have their own TV company, which carries heavy clout in Vatican precincts.
The MMA experience was life generating, caused by some fine music making and liturgical celebrations. Seeing early teens, mid teens, and late teens profoundly pray the church’s liturgy with grace and beauty gave me a glimpse of what the church of tomorrow—under the mercy of God—will look like.
But no one waved any banner of Catholic identity. The experience was, however, unmistakably Catholic in the sense it breathed the love of the Eucharist, the love of God’s word, the commitment to social justice, the joy of the presence of Jesus—and all without pretense or arrogance.
At lunchtime when I was sitting with both old people (over 21 years of age) and young people (under 21 years of age), I heard one of the 18-year-old cantors say to her friend how happy she was to be Catholic.
Later, I asked her what she meant, and she smiled and said that we worship with such good music and such strong commitment to live for others.
I nearly burst into tears. She hasn’t live on earth long enough to express such wisdom, but she did. She lives the church.
You need to know, though, that the atmosphere of the MMA experience is light years from the parish life of most of the youths. That didn’t seem to bother them.
There is no need for her to say Catholic thirty-one times. She had no marching orders to join the league of ultra-Catholics. She is a Catholic young person who exudes joy and peace.
That experience reenforced a bit of wisdom taught by the late Aidan Kavanagh, OSB: “Tradition is like learning a second language: you do not understand it until you have mastered it.”
If it takes thirty-one times to demonstrate that you are Catholic, maybe you should look real hard at what being Catholic is—a lived faith.
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@earthlink.net