Our younger generations are not taking to faith. In a previous article (‘Transmitting the faith’, April 17) I suggested that one reason for this may be that we are transmitting ‘conventional’ rather than ‘personal’ or ‘experiential’ faith to them. I had also suggested that there is hardly ever just one reason for things to happen.
In this article I would like to discuss another element which, I believe, may be making faith less relevant to young people and, perhaps, to those who are not so young: the loss of the communitarian dimension of faith.
In the past we often associated baptism almost exclusively with the forgiveness of original sin. Baptism does much more: it inserts us into the community of faith.
Faith is never lived simply on the individual level; it is never something exclusively between me and God. The reasons for this are not only theological; they are also psychological. It is inherent in human nature that we share experiences of great joy or of great sorrow; we celebrate them or weep over them together with those who share our life.
The greatest source of joy for Christians is their faith that the Christ event brought about salvation because through it we can be loving, forgiving and generous rather than selfish, egoistic and individualistic. Intuitively we know this is the only road to real happiness and meaning although, oftentimes, we toy with the illusion that joy is attained through the opposite. For this reason, Christ’s Paschal mystery needs to be celebrated in community.
Unfortunately, little by little, the sense of community has been lost. Greatly responsible for this are the demographic changes that have taken place during the past 60 years. The almost total urbanisation of the population has destroyed village life. In the village, everybody knew everybody else and, in good or bad, cared for everybody else. The villagers did things together, not least they worshipped together. They may not have reflected on the conscious level that their celebration of the Eucharist was a communitarian celebration but they did experience it as such.
Many people are joining spiritual groups or communities and prefer to have Mass with them rather than in the parish
Urbanisation gave rise to anonymity. People live in the same block of flats without knowing each other. So even if people go to the same Mass, they do not live the celebration as a community but as individuals. For them, more than a festive celebration, Mass is a service to be obtained, much like filling up their car at the service station.
A number of Christians live their Sunday Mass as an obligation rather than as a celebration. In response, many priests opt for celebrations of the Eucharist that are as short as possible ‘because otherwise people would be bored and they won’t come’.
In most countries, usually one of the Sunday Masses is celebrated with less hurry and with some pomp, and those who participate in it are more aware of the sense of togetherness in their worship. I am afraid this is not happening in Malta.
Opting for quick, short Masses could be a mistaken strategy. This can be seen from the fact that many people are joining spiritual groups or communities and prefer to have Mass with them rather than in the parish. I believe their choice is determined by the felt need to worship in community.
Their Masses are usually longer. Participation is more active: people have time to express reflections, offer their own prayers, participate in the singing, and homilies – usually much better prepared – are followed with greater attention. This is a proof that it is not long Masses that are boring but drab and dull ones.
However, these people are draining their own parishes of those who could contribute most to transform them into communities. It is understandable that they seek elsewhere what their parish is not offering, but it would be good if they kept in mind that they also have the duty to offer their service towards the building of their own parish.
Naturally, those who run the parish need to create a space for them so that they may collaborate.
ajsmicallef@gmail.com
Fr Alfred Micallef is a member of the Society of Jesus.