Go All In

One CCD class during the last school year, my class of eighth grade students was talking about Confirmation.  Several of the students were asking questions about the sacrament and what it all entailed.  The students were also commenting about the reasons why they thought it was important.  A good number of them expressed something along the lines of, “so we can get married (in the church).”  It was rather disheartening to hear.  These kids were under the impression that the reason they were going through years of Wednesday night faith formation was so that they could have their potential future weddings in church.  Is this what they truly believed?  Is this what they were being told by their parents?  Sadly enough, this is the mindset of a lot of people these days, not just the group of eighth graders.  For a lot of people, the faith is treated like a checklist.  People show up at church when they need to complete the next sacrament on the list and then Jesus is irrelevant again.  

I cannot comprehend why so many parents send their kids to CCD year after year, not even making an effort to attend mass, only so that their kids can get confirmed.  I have never understood why people bother if Jesus doesn’t really matter to them.  These kids fill the classrooms on Wednesday nights but are missing from the pews on Sundays.  It seems as if some people appear out of thin air at church to have their babies baptized, never to be seen again until the time comes to enroll them in CCD.  Then it is time for First Communion, when the parents are so proud of their children for receiving Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time.  The years following that pass by until they enter high school and get ready to be confirmed.  Once the kids get to that point, many of the parents and students are relieved because they are finally done with CCD classes.  They have completed the program and have “graduated.”  They are done with the Jesus stuff and can get married in the church if and when the time comes.  If Jesus isn’t important enough to attend mass every weekend, why would He be important to people a few days out of each year?  

So many people see being Catholic as a list of things to do rather than as a way to live.  The beautiful thing is that God is loving, merciful, and desires nothing more than to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us.  Whether a Catholic is on fire, lukewarm, or cold, they receive God’s outpouring of grace, gifts, and strengthening to the same extent in the sacraments.  God loves each person the same and welcomes all who come to him with open arms, even those who only show up when it’s time to check another sacrament off the list.

​The sacraments we have in the Church are true gifts that can impact our lives in ways that nothing else can.  I think most people, even those who don’t actively practice their faith, see the sacraments as beautiful experiences in which Christ is truly present.  Christ is fully present when a baby is baptized, in Reconciliation, when a child receives the Eucharist for the first time, when a high school student receives a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, and when a couple enters into the lifelong commitment of marriage.  Many Catholics see these experiences as big life events, and rightfully so.  They know that something special is taking place.  But let’s be real.  God is not a part-time God, only present at the baptismal font and on white-dress occasions.  God is God 24/7.  It’s time for a lot of Catholics to wake up and start being consistent.  Of course, we are only human and are not perfect in our faith lives.  We are all also at different levels and this is totally okay.  However, it’s time for people to stop being half-hearted Catholics who only show up when they need something.  Christ offers us His body, blood, soul, and divinity.  The least we can give Him is our worship.