Sunday, June 10, 2018

Non-practicing Catholics

“I’m a non-practicing Catholic.” As Catholics, we may hear these words at some point from people we encounter, or even friends and people we know fairly well.  I have heard it from a few people in my life, including family members.  But what does this term exactly mean and what are its implications?

Generally, non-practicing Catholics are people who received early sacraments, such as baptism, first communion, and maybe even confirmation, but do not regularly attend Mass nor hold strongly to Church teaching. They identify as Catholic because of these early sacraments, and most of the time, in my experience, are “cradle Catholics”, those who were born into a Catholic family.  Depending on the person, they may still believe that because of receiving early sacraments, they are destined for heaven. Chreasters, those who come to church for only Christmas and Easter, may also fall into this camp.

When I think about these people, I’m reminded of the letter in Revelation to Laodicea (3:14-22).  In it, John writes to these people, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (3:15f).  Some pretty harsh words for these folks!  This is the situation for non-practicing Catholics, and really, those who claim to be Christian but do not show it in their lives, either by word or deed.

Now, people read this and think that we should either be fully for or against God, hot or cold respectively.  But God does not desire that we should be against Him.  Instead, this passage would be better illustrated with beverages.  Depending on any given situation, a hot or cold beverage is refreshing.  A cup of hot coffee or tea can be soothing, while a nice cold glass of water is refreshing.  No one prefers to have a lukewarm drink!  This is why this letter is written:  the believers in Laodicea had become complacent, and therefore were going to be spit out unless they repented.

The same is true for all of us today. We need to be mindful of our own faith journey.  It can be very easy for us as Christians to merely go through the motions and do the minimum that is asked of us.  But this is not what God desires!  He wants us to stand out, to be hot or cold in a room temperature world.

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