Forward with Faith! Today’s Catholic efforts to “build” the Church is not just focused on “bricks and mortar” projects, important as maintenance is, but rather our call is for a spiritual rebuilding of the Church and of faith itself. In a world where cultural changes are “challenging” the teachings of Christ (absolute Truth), when misinformation and political correctness are replacing truth with opinion, the Church must re-evangelize society to not only understand Christ’s teachings but to recognize how we are to apply His Truths to our personal and communal lives.

Many young people, those in the 20s and 30s, as well as established families, find little joy or applicability of faith in their personal lives. Families of all ages and stages see faith to be just one more thing to do on a Sunday, as if it holds no priority in our lives, just check it off the “to do” list. We need to find out why so many people no longer desire to belong to a faith or to share with likeminded individuals the beauty of a faith built upon love, hope and charity. And, we must find new and exciting ways to present these truths tothose who hunger and thirst
for meaning in their lives and do not find it in materialism or meism.

So what can we do? Here at St. Catherine of Siena Parish our campaign is designed to build upon and to reinforce the great work done by so many families who passed on their faith to their children through Mass attendance, faith formation and Confirmation programs as well as in-and-through participation in our parish ministries, yet who today find their children more persuaded by culture than by Christ. First, we need to ask them why faith has little meaning for them. We need to find out what are the obstacles and roadblocks to faith. Then we need to be in honest conversation with then and be clear and open about Christ’s teachings. No longer can we just say “Thou Shall Not” but rather we need to explain the reason for and the meaning of His teachings—and how they apply to life in 2019. Second, we need to invite into the conversation the people who no longer practice their faith, the Church, and outside professionals (medical, social and cultural) and create positive debate and answers to those doubts or questions about life, dignity, hope, marriage, family, moral questions, and more. Third, once we have had
a healthy conversation about faith in the real world, providing truthful understanding of Catholic beliefs and their impact on the human condition, we then need to provide ministries and other ways to live our faith out in a real and very practical way. Conversation, engagement, and action must be the building blocks to reinvigorate and rebuild the Church—the Mystical Body of Christ.

I hope and pray, like our great, great grandparents before us and all those who followed them, that we too will answer God’s call to rebuild His Church, the people of God, His Mystical Body of Christ. As you hear more and more about our Forward with Faith Campaign here at St. Catherine of Siena, it is my hope as a priest that you will pray over it, do what you can to make it succeed, and see how by your time, talent and treasure, we cannot just stand on the shoulders of those Catholic builders before us but we will be the next stage of the Eternal Kingdom unfolding