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December
17, 2003 From Nov. 13-16, the Archdiocese of Newark was represented by 12 parishes at the biennial National Catholic Youth Conference. The format was much like our own Antioch retreat. It had an opening ceremony, keynote speakers, conversations with new friends, exploration of faith, celebration of liturgy, and a whole lot of singing. Over the course of the weekend, we came to understand how our faith can be expressed in many ways. Twenty-year-old Craig Kielburger taught us that we each have our own gifts and unique issues to apply them to—like the charity “Kids Can” that he started at age 12. Matt Smith from MTV shared his story of chastity and impressed upon us that respecting our bodies is cool. We witnessed Brad the Magician struggle to get out of a medical straight jacket that visually represented the choices he had made in response to his dyslexia. We were reminded that being Catholic does not exempt us from human suffering; it means that God is with us through it all. We were inspired to do small things with great love and to know the joy of Christ in our hearts. You may notice a little more love coming from the following individuals, who along with me, represented the Presentation Parish Youth Ministry during the weekend: teenagers Christina Cimmino, Kim Dowd, Liz Julian, Mell McGuire, Bethany Rightmyer, Jordan Throson and Lauren Yuhas, young adult Tom Farley, and our Director of Youth Ministry, Peter Denio. Each one of us made a personal commitment to bring something back to our community, schools and to Presentation. Lisa Farely Taking issue Editor, In his column “The Holy Spirit is Guiding the Church” (Dec. 3, 2003), Archbishop Emeritus Peter Leo Gerety asserts that “current of reform” in the Church since Vatican II is nothing less than “the work of the Spirit” and that “nothing will succeed in turning back the tide of reform.” It is not any sudden “tide of reform” but rather the Church’s constant traditions, developed gradually over centuries, which have been guided by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost does not suddenly change His mind and turn His back on what He has bequeathed the Church in her liturgical tradition. As even a Protestant, Professor Owen Chadwick, noted in his book The Reformation, “Liturgies are not made, they grow in the devotion of centuries.” Talk of “tides of reform” that cannot be “turned back” is more appropriate to secular revolutionaries. The faithful never heard such talk in the Church until after Vatican II. Those who attribute a divine origin to the sudden appearance of the New Mass, even though its introduction was followed immediately by a catastrophic decline in Mass attendance, priestly vocations and belief in the Real Presence, should consider the grave implications of what they are saying. Are these the good fruits of divine inspiration, or rather the bad fruits of a failed human experiment without precedent in Church history? For anyone with eyes to see, the question answers itself.
Howard J. Walsh
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