Normal Catholics

by Father Bob Bedard, CC

When I started at St. Mary’s in ’84, my first attempt at being pastor of a parish, I was very clued out. I didn’t have any clear idea of what my priorities were to be, what specific things I needed to take responsibility for, what services (or ministries) the parish actually required, and what things I could recruit some parishioners to take on.

To say that St. Mary’s was quiet in those days would be putting it mildly. Most of the people were actually older than I was, and I was no rookie. The great majority were quite uninvolved in the parish, and generally disinclined to change that. They had very few expectations of the Church and were content simply to have Mass and the Sacraments available along with some decent care for the sick. They were without question really very decent types. In fact, as I’ve been pondering it over the past few days, they would qualify as fairly typical Catholics, a thoroughly good lot.

I was talking recently with a fine young woman, wife and mother, parishioner of St. Mary’s parish here in Ottawa, the parish that I myself belong to. She reports that both she and her husband have both pretty well had it with the parish and alerted me to the very strong possibility that they would soon jump ship and sign up with another parish. The problem? Her better half has been saying lately that “normal” Catholics don’t come to St. Mary’s any more. Normal? But how would he (and you) describe the people, I asked, who do come to St. Mary’s at this time. Without any hesitation she suggested a few types: feet not on the ground, the overly excitable kind, those who lack an average dose of common sense, those who come to be entertained, very unsophisticated folks, and a good number who are semi-neurotic. They acknowledge, of course, that there are a good many pretty solid people as well.

Her comments set me to thinking. Just what would qualify a Catholic as normal, the kind not seen less and less at St. Mary’s at the present time.

First of all, I believe normal Catholics are important. What would we do without them. They’re the ones who keep the parishes on the go. They maintain each diocese and its services. They are the backbone of all important Catholic fraternal and beneficent societies such as the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Women’s League and many more. They provide the teachers and officials for the Catholic schools. Some become professionals and serve the general population. Others fill out the myriad of tasks that keep the wheels of society turning.

Secondly, normal Catholics are, with some exceptions, good people. Some are very good, a few others even excellent. Even though they don’t think religion and politics should not be discussed in public, they are faithful citizens, contributing to the nation’s welfare in various ways. They go to Mass on a fairly regular basis, pray by times and are good neighbours. They quite often help others. They’re very generous. In addition, while they are faithful to Church attendance, they don’t like to be kept too long at Sunday Mass, one hour being the outside limit. They prefer their homilies short – ten minutes tops. They want to hear about how their faith should be lived out, practical things that relate to real life.

There are some things however, the pastor needs to be aware of, things most normal Catholics would have difficulty swallowing and would rather not hear about. They don’t like to be challenged too much. And the stickier points of Catholic morality are best kept under wraps. Contraception is definitely taboo. After all, didn’t the Canadian bishops offer us a sensible compromise back in ’69 with their Winnipeg Statement? And none of those preparing for marriage or those young enough to bear children want to hear a suggestion that they might be open to having six or seven children, good old Catholic style, recognizing that the little ones are blessings and not burdens.

Normal Catholics, too, tend to be very low key regarding same sex marriage. They reason that the governments and the courts are going to make it valid anyway, so it’s a waste of time and energy to fight it. They forget, of course, the ramifications – the incursions of the life style into the school classrooms with invitations to try it out, the adoption of children, eventually a quota hiring system in all areas of human endeavour.

The normals tend to feel the same about abortion (women’s rights) euthanasia (mercy, of course), stem cell research (obviously good healing possibilities). Vasectomy and tubal ligation are decent solutions to an awkward problem. Normal Catholics tend to be on the fence about the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the existence of angels and demons, the effectiveness of the Sacraments. Most of them would like to see the clergy with the right to marry, the ordination of women, probably the election of bishops, and a lot more independence from faraway Rome.

To teach that all Catholics should be evangelists is, to most of the normals, taking things too far.

The above listing is not intended to be exhaustive. Quite a number of other things could be added. Neither is there a suggestion that all normal Catholics would fit every category. Many normal Catholics would not go so far as to be so vacillating on the moral questions. But, by and large, I believe the general gist of the overall description is very fair and quite correct.

So much for normal Catholics. What about Jesus? Was He normal? If we were to say so, I believe we would be missing the mark completely. Would the normal Catholics be the disciples He is looking for today? I don’t think so. Jesus was anything but normal. He challenged most of the priorities of the religious establishment as well as their way of life.

Jesus was radical. He stood the normals on their collective ear. He wanted total commitment. He invited people to die to all their desires so that they could discover the pearl of great price. He wants us all. He wants us entirely for Himself. He wants us to give entry to the Holy Spirit who will unfold the Father’s will for each of us so that we will fit into the Divine plan to capture the whole world for the Kingdom of God.

Don’t get me wrong. The Lord loves all the normal Catholics, madly. So much did He (and does he) love all of us that the divine Son of God was willing to give us everything, including His life.

Review Second Chronicles 16:9 – “The eyes of God range across the whole of the earth to discover those who are wholehearted for Him so that He might encourage them.”
I think that says it all.