Thoughts on Parish Closings

I grow more concerned as each day passes anticipating the coming days when a final decision is made and certain parishes and schools are closed. There is a justifiable reason to be concerned concerning the protests and "sit-ins" in the Boston Archdiocese.

Anyone in the St. Louis Archdiocese who has been following the Boston situation for the past few months cannot help but feel a sense of trepidation as the days pass and we wait for the final decisions to be made. Will groups here begin resorting to childish tactics as have occurred in Boston, drawing attention to themselves and causing ridicule and scandal in the Church and in the public arena?

Many of us can certainly understand the sense of loss when a lifelong parish church is closed. In many cases, it is a matter of losing a significant part of one's life - especially if one has been active in the parish for many years.

The pain is certainly understandable. When I was a small boy, my family would travel several hours to my grandparents for the holidays. First we would go to my mother's parents house for a day or so as they were closet, and later we would go on to my father's parents farm. Many of my father's brothers and sisters would visit during this special time as well and, at times, it would be quite crowded as grandparents had eight children and they, in turn, had brought forth many, many grandchildren.

This was one of the best highlights of our Christmas vacation, at least to me - many more cousins, horses to ride, helping with chores around the farm, watching Grandpa milk the cows, trying to help feed the cows, gathering eggs for Grandma, playing in the barn among the hay bales building secret passages and 'forts', going to Midnight Mass some 15-20 miles away, and coming back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play games (quietly) or just enjoy being with so many members of the family.

My grandparents were deeply religious Catholics, or so it seemed to me. Crucifixes and pictures of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary were hanging in every room of the house. I would always try to ride to Mass with Grandma & Grandpa, if I could. We always said grace before meals. We always went to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. I could sense the strong love of God and family and of devotion to our Catholic faith. This has always stayed with me and I am extremely thankful that our Lord blessed me and others with this extraordinary experience.

But time came and went. We grew older or died in the process. At some point Grandma and Grandpa grew too old to work the farm and, eventually, the farm had to be sold. No one from the family took it over. That wonderful place of our childhood pleasures and love of God and family was to be razed...I had found out after the fact. This place, which was one of the best places to be on this earth, was now closed to me and the family...Never would we return to that time or place.

This was the Providence of God - and, while it is difficult to accept, we must go on. We must be obedient to our parents who helped to guide us on our earthly pilgrimage. We must be obedient to our Bishops, even if they must make prudential decisions which we may not like regarding closing of some parishes. When the final decision is made, we should accept the fact that sometimes it hurts to see something we cherish pass away. If our appeals or arguments are not persuasive enough to change the mind of the bishop, we should humbly submit to his authority in the matter and exercise humility and obedience. If we see all of this, in a spirit of detachment, we will be better equipped to accept this as the Divine Providence of God.

I understand that story is not particularly analogous to the parish closings situation. It is merely an observation that during our life some changes occur which we would rather reject if we could. The answers to these problems lie, not in sit-ins and protests and childish antics, but in prayer and sacrifice. Perhaps we need to learn to sacrifice more. Fr. Hardon reminds us that sacrifice is the voluntary surrender of something precious to God. Looking at these things with a spirit of accepting God's will and sacrificing our wants for the sake of the Church, regardless of the pain involved, might be the best approach we can take.