Benedict XVI

 

In the last few decades, the expression ‘adult faith’ [fede adulta, 'grown up faith'] has become a widespread slogan. It is often used in relation to the attitudes of those who no longer pay attention to what the Church and her Pastors say — which is to say, those who choose on their own what to believe or not to believe in a sort of ‘do-it-yourself’ faith. Expressing oneself against the Magisterium of the Church is presented as a sort of ‘courage’, whereas in fact not much courage is needed because one can be certain of receiving public praise.

Instead, courage is needed to adhere to the Church’s faith, even if it contradicts the 'order' of today’s world. Paul calls this non-conformism an ‘adult faith’. For him, following the prevailing winds and currents of the time is childish.

For this reason, it is part of an adult faith to dedicate oneself to the inviolability of life from its beginning, thus radically opposing the principle of violence, in defence precisely of the most defenceless. It is part of an adult faith to recognize the lifelong marriage between one man and one woman in accordance with the Creator’s order, re-established again by Christ. An adult faith does not follow any current here and there. It stands against the winds of fashion.

KatyA

Tuesday, 30. June 2009, 13:43

rorate-caeli
Isn't that so true, the expression "adult faith" is so often used as an excuse to disagree with Church teaching.

Penfold

Tuesday, 30. June 2009, 16:16

3 Is it the faith you want them taught or the superstition because much of what people complain the young do not know belongs firmly in superstation and not the true teaching of the church?

Penfold

Tuesday, 30. June 2009, 16:16

There is a problem running through many threads in this forum which is that people do not seem to understand that the sermon is not meant to be an Apologetic or Catechism class it is meant to break open the word of God proclaimed in the readings at that mass.

Penfold

 

There may well be other occasions in parish groups or lent talks, Advent groups etc, all of which I have lead in the past and know many of my colleagues have done the same, at which the teaching of the church is explained, it is also often included on the bulletin if you are fortunate enough to get some pre-printed from organisations such as the Redemptorists.

Penfold

 

The pope used an opportunity in the service of vespers to give the homily which is not strictly correct according to the liturgists but since he is the Pope he can do as he likes, your parish Priest does not have that freedom.

Penfold

 

Also I am assuming that the teenagers of your parish have been confirmed, given Holy Communion and Confession so they will have the basics of their Faith.

Penfold

 

What they will not have is a load of the superstitious mumbo jumbo that was so off putting to my sisters and many of their Contemporaries and indeed many of the young today, do not underestimate the amount of energy and resources’ that have been directed into youth education if your PP and parish are not taking advantage of it then ask yourself 3 questions,
1 Is it happening but because you are not the target audience you are not included?
2 If it defiantly is not happening what are you doing to encourage it?
3 Is it the faith you want them taught or the superstition because much of what people complain the young do not know belongs firmly in superstation and not the true teaching of the church?

Penfold

 

If you want to think and behave like adults then attend the groups and ask for evening classes or catechism sessions, don't shoot the priest for not providing it in the sermon that is not what the sermon is for.

Penfold

 

Also in this age of respecting people and treating them as adults many people can now read and there is no shortage of excelant publications available to cater for all levals of faith enquiry. Use your inteligence and read them and as we are doing here discuss matters of concern or uncertainty.

Penfold

 

Finally if the past was so wonderful and the teaching so clear and well provided why are the churches so empty today and why are so few coming forward for the priesthood.

Penfold

 

I suggest that it was because all that wonderful teaching you speek of was not so wonderful after all. I almost feel myself agreeing with Mairtin's comments about HV... almost lets not get too carried away.

Benedict XVI

 

In the last few decades, the expression ‘adult faith’ [fede adulta, 'grown up faith'] has become a widespread slogan. It is often used in relation to the attitudes of those who no longer pay attention to what the Church and her Pastors say — which is to say, those who choose on their own what to believe or not to believe in a sort of ‘do-it-yourself’ faith. Expressing oneself against the Magisterium of the Church is presented as a sort of ‘courage’, whereas in fact not much courage is needed because one can be certain of receiving public praise.

Instead, courage is needed to adhere to the Church’s faith, even if it contradicts the 'order' of today’s world. Paul calls this non-conformism an ‘adult faith’. For him, following the prevailing winds and currents of the time is childish.

For this reason, it is part of an adult faith to dedicate oneself to the inviolability of life from its beginning, thus radically opposing the principle of violence, in defence precisely of the most defenceless. It is part of an adult faith to recognize the lifelong marriage between one man and one woman in accordance with the Creator’s order, re-established again by Christ. An adult faith does not follow any current here and there. It stands against the winds of fashion.

Quote:

 

The need to renew our way of being a human person, is expressed by Paul in two passage of the Letter to the Ephesians, upon which the Pope dwelt: “In chapter four of the Letter, the Apostle tells us that with Christ we must reach adult age, mature humanity … Paul wishes Christians to have faith which is ‘responsible’, ‘adult’ ” not be mistaken for “the attitude of those who have stopped listening to the Church and the Bishops, and who autonomously choose what to believe and what not to believe”. Benedict XVI then indicated as examples of adult faith, commitment to promote respect for the “inviolability of human life from the first moment” and “acknowledging matrimony between and man and a woman for life, as the order of the Creator, restored by Christ ”, and he underlined, “ adult faith does not let itself be carried here and there by different currents. It withstands the winds of fashion. It knows that these winds do not blow from the Holy Spirit”.

Penfold

Tuesday, 30. June 2009, 16:16

Finally if the past was so wonderful and the teaching so clear and well provided why are the churches so empty today ...

1. 
   
2. The vast majority of Catholics, like the population at large, had a very limited education and most of what they did get restricted to primary school level. People generally didn’t have the training or the encouragement to think for themselves; education – including religious education – was taught by rote with little attention given to teaching an understanding of what was being imparted. Every single rule was spelled out for evety imaginable circumstance, all manner of sins were clearly defined, “ordinary” people were discouraged from reading the Bible and we were told exactly what secular books we could and could not read. Nowadays everybody goes to second level and many to third level, including from the traditional ‘working class’; learning by rote has largely disappeared and the emphasis is on understanding how and why things are done rather than simply just learning how to do them. People nowadays don’t ask “What is a sin?”, they ask “Why is that a sin?”
   
   Tied in with the changes in the formal education system is the informal education through the printed media, television and radio and now the Internet where conventional and traditional ideas are constantly challenged and debated.
   
   
3. People accepted higher authority more readily on a secular level, never mind a spiritual one, few people would have argued with or challenged the opinion of a doctor, a teacher or a policeman, let alone a priest. Nowadays, respect for authority has all but evaporated. A big part of that is the discovery that traditional figures of authority have feet of clay and those feet get great publicity; it is hard to have great respect for a Prime Minister whose female colleague and part-time lover talks on television about his taste in underpants; or to take seriously a future king when lurid tapes are publicly played of him telling his mistress exactly what he would like to do to her. The big change is that people no longer get respect just because of the position they occupy, they have to earn respect as individuals.
   
   
4. The Church had far more resources available to her. When I attended Catholic grammar school just over 40 years ago, roughly half the teachers were priests – diocesan priests at that, my school was not run by an order. That meant that a Catholic ethos totally permeated the school ethos. Nowadays, there is not even one priest teaching in that scool.
   
   At the same time, the parish I grew up in had a Parish Priest and 3 curates so priests were always out and about, calling into homes, spending time in the schools and so on. Nowadays that same parish is covered by a Parish Priest on his own.
   
   Presumably, the Vatican too has suffered from the decline and doesn’t have the same army of full time theologians that it had forty years ago with the time to ruminate on some of the rather more esoteric aspects of our religion.
   

Mairtin

Saturday, 4. July 2009, 16:22

I think that a much leaner set of rules and a much lighter regulatory touch that emphasises people’s intentions rather than their actions would be a welcome aspect of that and would indeed be much closer to the Church of the Apostles.