Newspaper Page Text
June 4,1981
PAGE 5
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The Parish Is Not A Cult
BY FATHER PHILIP MURNION
How do religious cults foster intense
loyalty among their members? The loyalty
within some cults is so intense that there are
people, especially parents whose children
have joined a cult, who accuse the cults of
brainwashing.
There are many factors involved, but a
device sometimes used is the isolation of
members from people outside the cult during
the initiation period. Even after initiation,
any contact with outside people may be
severely limited. Some cults provide for all the
needs of the members and fill up all of their
time.
One artificial and controlling way to create
a sense of community, therefore, is to cut off
people’s contact with anyone but the
members of the group.
But, within the church, we realize that
parishioners belong to many communities
besides the parish. Parishioners belong to
families, whose members may live in many
places. They have friends and business
associates outside the parish. They feel some
solidarity with people who share their
nationality and race.
Not only that. Parishioners are also
neighbors and friends of other people in their
towns and neighborhoods. A parish is, in fact,
part of this larger community. We gather as a
parish to avoid being separated from others.
Parishes have their own community but they
also belong to a wider community.
In some ways, then, there are no
“outsiders.” For there are few people with
whom we are not related in some way.
As parishes try to develop a sense of
community among parishioners, therefore,
they also need to recognize and support the
many communities in people’s lives. How do
they do this? In imaginative ways.
Sr. Martin of Tours Parish in New York has
an evening social celebration of all the
community leadership in the neighborhood.
Hundreds of people come together from the
many organizations, churches, and
associations of the neighborhood to recognize
how they all contribute to the life of the larger
community.
Parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago
have a long history of “twinning” -- where a
more affluent parish and a parish in need of
subsidy share funds. In this way they
acknowledge that everyone in the diocese
belongs to the same church. Occasionally
members of some twinning parishes meet,
perhaps for a social occasion, to get to know
each other a little better.
Last winter a parish in the South sent
money to the Diocese of Portland, Maine, to
help families having difficulty meeting rising
fuel costs.
In some areas, Catholic parishes join with
Protestant communities to celebrate
Thanksgiving. Many parishes also have
conducted Seder meals during Holy Week,
often with the help of the local rabbi. The
Seder is the traditonal Passover meal for the
Jewish community.
Still other parishes, in San Francisco,
Cleveland, New Orleans, Baltimore, and many
other cities, join in coalitions with other
churches and local organizations to improve
neighborhood living conditions.
And many parishes with a variety of
national groups sponsor special liturgies and
activities for each group in addition to the
worship and activity that brings the people of
the entire parish together.
Recognizing the many communities
people belong to, these parishes help the
people develop the many relationships
necessary for a full life. They foster the many
kinds of solidarity which, as Roberto Unger of
Harvard University puts it, is charity, moving
beyond the circle of intimacy.
It is by fostering such solidarity that we
reduce the tendency to competitiveness
among groups. And such solidarity reduces
fear and makes it more likely that we will
successfully address the challenges of today’s
world.
In our present ecumenical and pluralist era,
parishes are singularly challenged to develop a
sense of unity among their members while
also encouraging the bonds of community
that parishioners share. This has been a
concern of the church since its earliest days.
In the first centry, controversy arose about
whether gentiles would have become Jews in
order to become Christians. Did they have to
adopt the same culture as the first Christians
in order to be followers of Jesus Christ? The
first Council of Jerusalem decided for
“catholicity,” for the university of the
church. Then, at every crucial point in the
history of the church, the church rejected
exclusiveness.
A parish is not a cult. Our parishes and
their people are not isolated groups.
KNOW
YOUR
FAITH
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1981 By N.C. News Service)
s )
The Clanging Cymbal
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
“Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not
jealous, it does not put on airs.”
Not surprisingly, the hymn to love in
which those words are found is one of the
most quoted passages in the writings of Paul.
But since the passage is so often heard out of
context, its full relevance is easily overlooked.
It is found in Chapter 13 of First Corinthians.
Paul has just written about the spiritual
gifts of the Corinthians. In a list of gifts at the
end of Chapter 12, the gift of tongues appears
in second to last place. This seems to
deliberately downgrade that gift.
Many people ardently desired the gift of
speaking in tongues - but for the wrong
reason. They knew the gift would capture the
amazed attention of others.
Such a motive was diametrically opposed
to the real reason for spiritual gifts and was
yet another sign of the people’s immaturity
and egocentricity. To put the gifts in proper
perspective, Paul contrasts them to the only
gift that really counts, the one indispensable
requirement for being a Christian: love.
No matter what languages a person may be
enabled to speak, if that person does not have
love, he or she is like a “noisy gong” or a
“clanging cymbal” -- just noisy. In a full
orchestra, the cymbal makes a relatively small
contribution to the overall effect of the
music.
The same is true of all gifts. It is even
valueless if one submits to impoverishment
and torture in the service of others, but is not
motivated by love. Most striking and most
profound is Paul’s remark early in Chapter 13:
“If I have not love, I am nothing.”
This is not just a dramatic exaggeration. As
far as Paul was concerned, love enabled a
person to be. It was for love that God created
us. This is what it means to be created in God’s
image and likeness.
One truly exists only when God’s intention
as the Creator who brought us into existence
is fulfilled, only to the extent that one loves.
So Paul writes: “If I have not love, I am
nothing.”
Paul personalizes love and makes it the
subject of a series of dispositions. “Love is
never rude ... neither does it brood over
injuries.” Though he could have extended the
list of dispositions almost indefinitely, he
chose rather to single out those which would
be most meaningful for his readers.
It is worthy of note that the love Paul
speaks of is not some esoteric virtue, but
down-to-earth human iove that expresses
itself in everyday manifestations of
considerateness, concern, sensitivity.
In the final part of Chapter 13, Paul zeroes
in gradually on the topic of knowledge. “Now
we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we
shall see face to face. ”
Some scholars think that he is talking
about the knowledge of God and, ultimately,
about the beatific vision. This is possible, but
there are difficulties with this view. For,
blessed with the vision of God, what need
would one have of the faith and hope which
Paul mentions?
It seems rather that Paul is talking about
the Corinthian’s knowledge of what it means
to be Christian, which is sadly imperfect at
present. Though he continues to speak in the
first person singular, he really is speaking in
their name.
The Corinthians’ knowledge is still
immature; they have not yet “put childish
ways aside.” But Paul is hopeful they will
grow up to know even as they are known, that
their imperfect knowledge will give way to
perfect insights.
But in the case of either interpretation,
Paul’s main point is inescapably clear:
Whatever gifts or virtues one may possess, the
greatest gift is love, and without it one is
nothing, neither a Christian nor an authentic
human being.
CANDLES are used at a day of recollection for the
handicapped in Douglastown, N.Y., to light up the liturgy.
The parish must acknowledge its relationship to all efforts at
human development in its community. (NC Photo by Brother
Stanley Kowalski)
When People Need People
BY KATHARINE BIRD
One sparkling winter night, five couples
gathered around a fire in a comfortable
suburban home in the Minneapolis, Minn.,
area. The people didn’t really know each
other very well but each was the parent of a
15-year-old girl. And the five girls were good
friends.
s Why were these people meeting? Sparked
by concern over raising teen-agers, the five
couples wanted to discuss their common fears
and difficulties. At the outset of the
three-hour meeting, the couples agreed their
most immediate problem was how to handle
the parties their daughters routinely attended
on weekends. The parents were apparently
upset because they strongly suspected that
beer and drugs were available at the parties,
especially after midnight.
After a while, the parents decided they
wouldn’t refuse to allow their daughters to
attend all parties. They apparently decided
that was not the best way to help their
children learn to handle the peer pressure to
try drugs or alcohol. Instead, they decided to
insist on an 11 o’clock curfew on Friday and
Saturday nights.
The parents felt this curfew would give
their daughters a measure of protection. The
couples also agreed on some common ways of
treating curfew abuses, such as by curtailing
social activities for a time or assigning certain
tasks around the house.
Reaching this decision was difficult,
especially since one couple had established a
midnight curfew some time earlier. They
argued that, since their daughter always came
in on time, it really wasn’t fair to arbitrarily
change the curfew and, in effect, punish her
for good behavior. But, I was told, other
parents felt it was important for the five
friends to have similar rules to follow - that it
would cause difficulties if one girl were able to
stay out later than her friends. In addition, all
the parents felt it was important for them to
be united in this. Persuaded by this reasoning,
the couple agreed to the earlier curfew.
As the evening drew to a close, the parents
realized, with some surprise, that they were
valuable to each other. They were encouraged
and supported by each other. They also felt
strengthened for the inevitable, for they knew
their daughters would object strenuously to
the curfew. Realizing they had laid a
framework for future discussions about their
children, the group decided to meet at regular
intervals in the future.
The experience of these couples is hardly
unique. For it demonstrates, once again, how
greatly dependent people are upon each
other. It shows, as well,^ that problems
shouldered in common suddenly become
lighter, even when they don’t go away or even
when the perfect solution is difficult to see.
As the 18th century French philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau observed, man is a
social animal. Few people can survive in
splendid isolation. We are dependent upon
others for a great deal, from basic necessities
such as food and housing, to the emotional
support of friends and families. Whether y/e
speak of neighborhood projects, work for
political parties, or just keeping the
machinery of business humming smoothly,
we necessarily have to cooperate with others.
Yet, somehow, this lesson can be hard to
come by. Many people instinctively shy away
from others, afraid to reveal themselves in all
their indecisiveness and afraid to trust others
with their problems. Or, without confidence
in themselves, they think their problems are
trivial and not worthy of someone else’s time.
And, admiring the person who apparently
makes decisions all alone, they may think,
more or less consciously, that only weak
persons, those lacking resources, need help
from others.
Sometimes, people are timid because they
do not believe they have very much to give.
Faced with people of many talents, those with
little experience in cooperative efforts are
tempted not even to try. This is especially the
case in large-scale ventures, where people can
excuse themselves on the grounds that “just
one person” won’t be missed.
Of course, there are decisions that need to
be made privately or alone as families. But
there are times when thinking problems
through with others is the way both to help
and to be helped in return.
A YOUNG MAN befriends a young Christian love and compassion, is a way
retarded boy at a Washington school. we can respond to the great needs of
Reaching out to our neighbors, with others. (NC Photo by Paul S. Conklin)
Discussion Points And Questions
1. According to Father Philip Murnion, in what major way does the
activity of a parish differ from that of some new religious cults?
2. What is “twinning,” as practiced by parishes in the Archdiocese of
Chicago and described by Father Murnion?
3. Katharine Bird tells about some Minnesota parents who met one
evening to talk over common problems in raising teen-agers. What
decisions did the parents reach? Why did they find the evening valuable?
4. What are two reasons why people might hesitate to go to others for
help? Have you ever felt like this?
5. Under what conditions does St. Paul say a person is like a “noisy
gong” or a “clanging cymbal,” according to Father John Castelot?
6. Name and discuss at least two communities that you personally are a
part of. Are there some differences in how you act in each community?