South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 30, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1987 Page: 4 of 16
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September 4, 1987—4
Living the Faith
Franciscan friars walk along a country road
north of Milwaukee on their “Walk for the
Poor” retracing the steps their founder made
a century ago to meet the spiritual needs of
immigrant farmers. The 154-mile trek from
downtown Milwaukee to Pulaski, Wis., is
Question Comer
By Father John Dietzen
NC News Service
Q. My husband and I are in a group of parents
and we talk a lot about our children (in their teens
mostly) and their religious practices.
As you hear often, I’m sure, children today
don’t look at things like the Mass like we did.
They go most all the time, but we hear the com-
plaint that they shouldn’t have to go. Praying,
they say, is something you do in your own way,
and going to Mass should be the same.
You go when you can get something out of it.
Six times a year is better than every Sunday, if on
those six times you really feel good about it.
In some ways that seems to make sense, but we
know there’s more to it than that. How would you
suggest we handle it? (Massachusetts)
A. First, I'm sure a lot of parents who read this
will envy you. Not only do you have a little parental
support group around you, which every parent needs
these days, but in spite of your differences with your
teen-agers, you seem to have some good communica-
tion going.
We might start by recalling that the Mass is not
just another prayer service and with the fact that the
requirement of weekly sharing in the Eucharist (or if
you prefer, “going to Mass every Sunday”) isn’t
something new.
Way back in the early years of Christianity, cen-
turies before there were any church laws in our sense
of the term, participation in the Sunday Eucharist
every week was expected—in some ways more
urgently than it is today.
We have documents that reflect early Christian
policy: if one of their number deliberately failed to be
present for the Eucharist for two or three weeks runn-
similar to one made by Brother Augustine
Zeytz in 1887. Funds raised from the walk will
be used for a new community center in
Milwaukee and aid victims of famine and
crisis in Africa. (NC photo by Donald N. Em-
merich)
ing, they were considered as no longer members of
the church, no longer Christian.
Maybe this appears severe. If so, it obviously
means that they believed something about the Mass
that we have lost through the centuries. For them, it
wasn’t a matter of committing a “mortal sin” by
disobeying a law about Sunday Mass.
It was simply a conviction that one could not really
understand and believe what the Mass is all about
and then fail to be there for even a few weeks.
Today the church is trying hard to help us reclaim
that conviction, that the sacrifice and table of the
Eucharist, sharing in the offering of Christ to the
Father, and receiving together his body and blood in
Communion, is the key and indispensable way Jesus
intends to unite men and women with himself and
form them into his family until the end of the world.
In other words, Mass is where, above all, we learn
the spirit and message of Jesus. Through reflection
on the words of Scripture and through the language
and actions of the liturgy of the Eucharist, it is where
we continually identify ourselves as his members,
acknowledge who are our brothers and sisters
because of him, and assure each other of our mutual
encouragement and support.
In that larger sense, even in a church with 500 per-
sons, the presence or absence of one really affects
everyone, including the individual himself.
If this way of speaking about the Mass sounds
strange, it is unfortunate. Perhaps it is one of the
prices we have paid for coming to see missing Mass
on Sunday as a mortal sin because it is against a law
of the church.
The fact is that, even if there were no such law,
presence at the Sunday Eucharist still would be re-
quired” simply because one is a member of the fami-
ly of Christ, simply because one is a Christian.
The highest level
offriendship
By Father William Maestri
Part of our folk wisdom is the adage that oil and
water do not mix. From this physical chemistry we
can also turn to some social chemistry, namely, cor-
rection and friendship do not go together. In some
quarters we are led to believe that friendship means
never having to say a challenging word.
Friendship is an endless encounter of admiration
and comfort. Friends do not want to judge each other
or upset a ‘good relationship’ with ‘heavy talk’ about
what is good, truthful, and beautiful. The bottom
line is friendship is simple: live and let live. No mat-
ter what the other does we must love them and accept
them unconditionally.
Needless to say, such a view of friendship leaves a
great deal to be desired. How so? First of all we need
to turn to Aristotle and his discussion on friendship
(which is contained in his Ethics). Aristotle holds
there are three levels of friendship: utility, pleasure,
and virtue.
There are those who are friends because of what
they do for each other. The bond that ties is one of
usage. As long as we can use the other or he us then
we have a friendship.
Then there is the relationship of pleasure. We
simply enjoy the company of the other. Our friend
gives us pleasure. We enjoy their speech and man-
nerisms. Such friends provide us with a good feeling
or diversion. There is no real depth to this kind of
friendship. In times of crisis we must look elsewhere
for support. A third kind of friendship is required.
The third level of friendship is grounded in virtue.
True friends are soul-mates in which we see the good
in the other and the other experiences the good in us.
Furthermore, we desire the good for the other and
she for us. Friendship based on virtue is centered in
the very core of the other. We have insight into the
character of the other and we allow the other to see
our character. Naturally this is risky.
But in the presence of true friendship the end is
worth the chance. For such a friendship enhances our
humanity. We truly value the other person as he is.
Roger Scruton in his important book, Sexual Desire
writes: “Evidently the true friend, who is valued for
his virtues, is also valued for himself...while I esteem
his virtues, it is also he that is esteemed.”
True friends risk something besides character
revelation. They risk saying to one another what each
needs to hear rather than what they might want to
hear. We care enough to speak the truth. Speak the
truth always with a sense of reverence and love; but
speak the truth.
It is never compassionate or caring to withhold the
truth. Often we are simply afraid of a confrontation
or we are avoiding the unpleasant. Yet we all know
that such delays only make matters worse in the long
run.
Our readings highlight the need for loving correc-
tion. Jesus clearly states the case: “If your brother
should commit some wrong against you, go and point
our his fault, but keep it between the two of you.”
Loving correction knows the wisdom of damage con-
trol
Always keep the conflict between you and your
loved one. To introduce others, though necessary at
times, should be a last resort. We seldom arrive at
reconciliation when we tell others ‘our side of the
conflict.’ We are really looking for allies. Too often
we come to claim all the virtue and the other is filled
with vice.
St. Paul reminds us we are bound together by love.
Love does not mean there is an absence of conflict. In
fact, love can be a passionate encounter of views and
values. Yet, at the center of every true friendship is a
core respect and concern for the other. We become a
‘watchman’ for the other and she for us.
True friendship requires mutuality. We give and
take. But always out of love and desire for the good.
Why Christians go to Mass on Sunday
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Freeman, Robert E. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 30, Ed. 1 Friday, September 4, 1987, newspaper, September 4, 1987; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840890/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .