Five men walk into a church
How does someone become a Catholic in Scotland
Upcoming Saints: Two illusive and alluring female Saints - St Tridunna and St Fyndoca, a Saint at the heart of the founding of Scotland -St Rule, the holy St Comgall and a curious dedication to a Northumbrian Saint in the Cairngorms - St Eata. Go to our October Saints and have a read.
Since the publication of the Quiet Revival Report by the Bible Society in April suggesting the UK’s Churches are seeing an upswing in numbers there has been anecdotal evidence in places that maybe this is true. Less true for the Anglicans and Church of Scotland, more so for Pentecostals and the Catholic Church. The depth of this is still to be known and the question of why needs to be debated and thought about more fully. But what should happen if on your average Sunday 5 men walk into your parish and ask to become Catholic? I say this specifically because this is what happened a few weeks ago in a small Highland parish when 5 young men asked this very question. On the outset the answer seems obvious, take them to the Priest and all will be well. Unfortunately, as most of us probably know that can be more difficult than it should be. Living in an age where Priestly vocations bottomed out, and the days of one Priest to one Parish a long gone memory – time is the enemy – and time is what new people seeking the faith need the most. Also, lets be honest, not all Priests will embrace this challenge. Furthermore, people are not joining a cult of one they are joining the Body of Christ – which is all the people of God. That means we as the Parish community have a part to play – are we welcoming? Are we understanding and willing to give our time to them? Then of course is the teaching material; clearly we want to pass on the true orthodox Catholic faith in it’s fullness, however there is a lot of resources out there with various ways to deliver it. These are all questions that should exercise the brains of the clergy and of concerned lay folk because this is really happening; it may not be a tsunami but there are a lot of people out there now questioning and wondering. The promises of materialism and liberalism have been found to be false which the Church has always had an answer to, but quite often in any given Diocese you might find only a few strong parishes that could provide the means to respond.
One way around this is to look at collaboration and technology to assist. For example there have been online Bible studies given in the Diocese of Aberdeen since 2020; from a standing start with little money and no experts. Through the work of the Ogilvie Centre in Elgin, the Dominican Sisters along with an army of lay folk have worked and collaborated to help others grow in their faith via these online studies. Could we also look to collaborate across Diocesan boundaries, gathering the individual strengths of organisations and individuals to assist those parishes that want to help?
Another means to help stabilise and integrate these new folk is reinstituting praying the Divine Office in your parish. Meeting once a week or more to say Compline or Vespers followed by a communal time not only roots everyone in scripture reading and prayer but introduces a layer of stability and rhythm to a new believer. This can be done without a Priest.
There is one other aspect that is worth mentioning. It can be seen in the reaction to the abhorrent murder of Charlie Kirk in the States and to the ongoing issues around migration in the UK – not to mention a reaction against relativistic liberal orthodoxy so deep in our cultural institutions. It is this melding on the Conservative right with Christianity and nationalism in a way not seen so much in the UK. We cannot ignore that for some of those looking at the Church afresh, or for the first time, there is a nationalistic element to it, or at least a reaction against some of the social policies of recent years. It is an attempt to draw on the Christian history of these Islands with British culture as a whole. However as much as the nation state is derived from natural law which is ultimately from God, - ‘all governing authorities are appointed by God’ (Romans 13:1-2); the point and purpose of life is union with God and like Abraham ‘…looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God’ (Hebrews 11:10). We stand with Jesus who taught us ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world’. (Gospel of St John 18:36). This is why good solid catechesis is so important and directing these seekers to Jesus Christ our king, the power of His Holy Cross, the gift of life via Baptism and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then to the rest of the sacraments especially the Eucharist which makes life so sweet.
It was the feast of Our Lady of Ransom on the 24th September, which celebrates the desire of Mary for Christians to ransom themselves for others – maybe this is where our intention should start when looking at how to help and prepare for those coming into the Church.
By Eric Hanna
Do tell
I was just reading the CS Lewis Space Trilogy. Yesterday I was reading how the main character Ransom was explaining the meaning of his name and its significance.