The Synod On Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment: a voice in the wilderness.

Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2

Originally published Thursday, April 19, 2018

• https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-synod-on-young-people-faith-and.html

Catholics young and old deserve true teaching and true Liturgy, the school where we are formed for mission. Are the hierarchs listening to voices such as the one cited by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia?

The good Archbishop, a clear voice of faith and reason who manages to navigate the waters made turbulent by less than credible witnesses to the Catholic Faith, has shared a letter from a man who articulates well the desire among young people for clarity.

The question for the hierarchs of the Synod is: Are you listening? Will the Synod be a mirror of the facts, of the Spirit speaking through the courageous witness of faithful Catholics, or will the Synod be another muddled affair with a preordained outcome that merely coddles bad behaviour and gives tacit approval to a cafeteria catholicism that is the reason why pews are emptying and liturgical abuse abounds?

FROM THE HEART OF A YOUNG FATHER

by Charles J. Chaput

Edited for length. Summarized by theme.

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/04/from-the-heart-of-a-young-father

Though the Church’s growing focus on evangelization of the “Nones” is encouraging, there have been recent discussions emanating from several prominent figures in Rome and throughout Church leadership regarding a so-called “paradigm shift” relative to doctrine, the supremacy of individual conscience, and pastoral accommodation. My wife and I find these developments disturbing and potentially disastrous for the evangelization of the young and the fallen-away.

We young people crave the truth and clarity of good teaching. ... We crave the truth, no matter how blunt or difficult it is for us to swallow or for the shepherds of our flock to teach.

Our culture is roiled in confusion concerning the basic tenets of human nature(.) We urgently need the Church’s clarity and authoritative guidance on issues(.)

Increasingly, we have noticed an appeasement of modern culture under the broad cloak of pastoral sensitivity, including cases of some high-profile clergy who deliberately blur the Church's teaching(.) ... Discussions of beauty in the liturgy and reverent reception of the Eucharist are mocked. Heads are scratched at decreasing Mass attendance, yet young people who look to tradition to recover our bearings are chided as “rigid.”

This shift away from clarity is demoralizing for young faithful Catholics, particularly those with a heart for the New Evangelization and my friends raising children against an ever-stronger cultural tide. ...

Young Catholics crave the beauty that guided and inspired previous generations for nearly two millennia. Many of my generation received their upbringing surrounded by bland, ugly, and often downright counter-mystical modern church architecture, hidden tabernacles, and banal modern liturgical music more suitable to failed off-Broadway theater. ... In a world of soulless modern vulgarity, we’re frustrated by the iconoclasm of the past 60 years.

In sum, many of us feel that we’re the rightful heirs of thousands of years of rich teaching, tradition, art, architecture, and music. We young Catholics increasingly recognize that these riches will be crucial for evangelizing our peers and passing on a thriving Church to our children. If the Church abandons her traditions of beauty and truth, she abandons us.

His Grace adds in summary:

The future of the Catholic faith belongs to those who create it with their fidelity, their self-sacrifice, their commitment to bringing new life into the world and raising their children in truth, and their determination to walk Christ’s “narrow way” with joy. May God grant the 2018 synod fathers the grace and courage to lead young people on that path.—Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia.

It may be that the many-headed hydra of 1970s do-whatever-you-want pseudo-religion that we thought we had killed under Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict, the twin titans of orthodoxy, has returned. A witness is needed in the Chair of Peter to boldly go where his predecessors have gone to undo the effects of relativism. May the Holy Spirit raise up a clear voice to truth, goodness and beauty, the transcendentals that point to the infinite majesty of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Too many folk are distracted or even happily preoccupied with "making a mess". Let's untether the Barque of Peter from the sinking ships of various worldly agendas, e.g., play-nice saccharine pastoral accompaniment, and sail onward in the mission of saving souls by boldly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by inviting people into a loving communion with Jesus Christ and His Church.

To recall the words of the young father whose letter Archbishop Chaput quoted: "(P)eople crave the truth and clarity of good teaching. ... We crave the truth, no matter how blunt or difficult it is for us to swallow or for the shepherds of our flock to teach."

When people confront the truth about themselves and their surroundings, they can contrast and compare experiences and make an informed decision about where they are are, where they are heading and how their lives are affecting others. Without clear teaching, it is very difficult if not impossible to locate a direction forward, to live a life of hope and charity. Given a weak witness to love and redemption, a person may tend to despair for lack of direction and consequently persist in behaviour that imperils them, body and soul. Because no one has shown them authentic love and no one has taught them how to love, they look for love in all the wrong places and perpetuate selfishness. An authentic curriculum of love requires the willingness to provide by word and example the clear truth so that others may be formed in selfless love and in turn form others.

May the Synod fathers come to hear the voice of faithful young Catholics who yearn for help to live well the Faith. Saint John Paul II: pray for them.