Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

  Lectionary: 382

Thus says the LORD:
On that day I will raise up
the fallen hut of David;
I will wall up its breaches,
raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old...

Two weeks ago I attended a sad occasion, the closing of our friary at Saint Anthony Church in Angola, Indiana. We Franciscan friars had served at the church since 1931, which was the 700th Anniversary of the Paduan's death. 

One lady asked me why we could not stay. I explained we had no more priests to supply the parish, and reminded her of the shortage of priests in the United States. The reasons are complex but not least among them is the shortage of children among Catholics in the United States. Few women, having only one or two children, want them to embrace celibacy. They're more concerned about having grandchildren; and, given the apparent instability of the federal Social Security system, they'll need all their children and grandchildren to support them in their old age. 

And, frankly, the Catholic Church has seen worse times. Many American and European nations have tracked down priests to hang, guillotine, or burn them alive. 

After listening to the threatening harangues of the Prophet Amos the last few days, it is good to hear his promises for the future of Israel in the ninth century before Christ. The Lord will rebuild "the fallen hut of David" and wall up its breached walls.  

We can interpret this ever ancient, ever new Word of God as a promise that the Church will one day enjoy a rebirth of wonder. The Spirit will raise up a generation of devout young people who will eagerly announce the Gospel to all nations by whatever marvelous media are available in that unimaginable future. Some will embrace celibacy, we can suppose, because it has always been a response to the Good News. As Jesus said, some are made eunuchs for the Kingdom of God. And added, "Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

But the resilience of the Church is in those who embrace the Sacrament of Marriage and keep its vows through the endless cycles of dark and light ages. They welcome as many children as God gives them, and model for them the fundamental virtues that make human life enjoyable: fidelity, courage, humor, the love of wisdom, respect for tradition, enjoyment in work, gratitude for challenges, and so forth. They honor their children even as they honor their parents. 

I meet that kind of people frequently but there aren't enough right now to maintain all the churches our ancestors built for us. 

Never mind. The Lord will raise up the ruins of the Church just as France is restoring the destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral, and rebuild it as in the days of old. I have ministered to aging congregations all my life. I have never seen a church with more children than seniors, although I understand some flourish in Africa and South America. If I cannot imagine such a parish, neither can I imagine that God's Word will not be heard, and God's Spirit will not sweep the through the megacities of the future, as it did through the Roman Empire. Indeed...

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8: 18-21)