It seems as if may of us have forgotten what it means to be a “normal Catholic.” Please do not confuse “normal Catholic” for “typical Catholic.” As I pointed out, today the “typical” Catholic gets baptized, but then their parents do little to nothing to hand on the faith. They do not bring their children to Mass each Sunday. The child is brought back to church when it is time to get ready for First Penance and First Communion, after which there is another period of not coming to church until it is time for preparation for Confirmation.
After Confirmation, over 80% of American Catholics only come to church for weddings, funerals, and to get their children the sacraments. Nearly half of them are even opting out of having a funeral Mass when their parents die. This is “typical” but this is not “normal.”
“Normal” is what it should be, that is following the norm. What is normal is recognizing that we do not inherit our Catholic faith as one might inherit our eye color from our parents. We might inherit a religious identity, but faith flows from the experience of discipleship. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote, “What is not believed or lived cannot be transmitted…. The Gospel can only be transmitted on the basis of “being” with Jesus and living with Jesus the experience of the Father, in the Spirit; and, in a corresponding way, of “feeling” compelled to proclaim and share what is lived as a good and something positive and beautiful.”
“Normative Catholicism involves three concurrent spiritual journeys that, in practice, are often treated as separate:
The personal interior journey of a lived relationship with Christ resulting in intentional discipleship.
The ecclesial journey into the Church through reception of the sacraments of initiation.
The journey of active practice (as evidenced by receiving the sacraments, attending Mass, and participating in the life and mission of the Christian community).
[Sherry Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus (p. 54). Our Sunday Visitor. Kindle Edition.]
Over the next few weeks, I am going to reflect on each of these journeys, and I invite all of you do reflect on how you are living each of these journeys in your own lives.