[callout]UPDATE: I felt a need to add further clarification on this particular article, which I have found to have influenced people in various ways.

First of all, this article is a part of a series on the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and when I came to this particular “letter,” I tried to make sense of it in a modern context. I may have failed in my commentary and that I take full responsibility for; I will leave that judgement to you, the reader.

Secondly, to provide further context on a personal level, I have been a part of a parish for about six years and have assisted in its transformation. In particular, from a more “traditional” point of view, I helped establish a monthly Tridentine Mass, encouraged the pastor to celebrate Mass “ad orientem,” use the communion rail that is in our church and helped establish a choir that sings more Latin than ever. None of this was there before I started to attend the church. Now, I am not saying that ALL of it is due to me, however, I did initiate the discussion after feeling that that was what God wanted me to do. I say all of this to illustrate the fact that renewal is possible within a parish setting. HOWEVER, one must carefully discern what a person is called to do and what responsibilities he/she has. If you are not in a place of influence and you deem it necessary to move to a different parish based on the state of your soul and the souls of your children, then you MUST do so. We must follow our conscience and so I apologize if I made too many assumptions and judgements in my article that it did not come across.

Last of all, I do want to warn against a particular “holier than thou” attitude that can make a parish into a “faction” or “club” and is related to C.S. Lewis’ first point. What happens is that we can very easily cut ourselves off from the world and condemn everyone to Hell, except for the parish we are at, because we “do things right.” We are all called to holiness and we are all at different points in the journey. Some are farther along than others. I know that I am much farther behind than most of you.

In the end, please forgive me if I have done any wrong writing this article.

– Philip Kosloski[/callout]

All across America, Catholics are accustomed to “shop” around for the “best” parish that suits their particular tastes. The criteria for the “best” parish might be based on a whole host of variables, such as the liturgy, preaching or fidelity to the truth.

[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]Fr. Karol Wojtyla at the country parish church in Niegowic[/featured-image]

Surprisingly this is exactly what the devil wants us to do.

Screwtape divulges two principal reasons why the devil encourages us to go “all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ [us] until [we become] a taster or connoisseur of churches” ( The Screwtape Letters , 81, emphasis added).

1. The Local Parish Church Unifies People of Every Class and Background

“In the first place the parochial organisation should always be attacked, because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of different classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy[God] desires. [On the other hand, choosing which church to attend] makes each church into a kind of club, and finally, if all goes well, into a coterie or faction.” (81, emphasis added).

Prior to Vatican II, Catholics were instructed that they needed to attend Mass and receive all their sacraments at the parish closest to them. This was called “parish boundaries” and although they still exist and are a part of Canon Law, Catholics are no longer held bound to them and can be registered at any parish that they choose. We are free to attend Mass wherever we want and have our children baptized in whatever church we please.

The downside to this freedom is that parishes are no longer places that include “everyone in the neighborhood.” Instead, parishes have become “clubs” or “factions.” One parish might be labeled “liberal” and another “conservative.” Often this has to do with the parish priest, but that only holds water for so long. Parish priests are always moved. Even if a parish priest isn’t moved for 30 years, another priest succeeds him who is not the same person. The parishioners at every parish will outlive the pastor and are always responsible for forming the general “culture” of the parish. We are meant to evangelize and sometimes that means evangelizing our fellow parishioner.

In the end, God desires unity and not fragmentation.

2. Parish Shopping Makes us “Critics” Instead of Disciples

“In the second place, the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy[God] wants him to be a pupil. What He[God] wants of the layman in church is an attitude which may, indeed, be critical in the sense of rejecting what is false or unhelpful, but which is wholly uncritical in the sense that it does not appraise–does not waste time in thinking about what it rejects, but lays itself open in uncommenting, humble receptivity to any nourishment that is going….That attitude, especially during sermons, creates the condition (most hostile to our whole policy) in which platitudes can become really audible to a human soul” (82, emphasis added).

No parish priest is perfect. This upsets many of us (I often forget about this way too often) and we often criticize them for not preaching the Gospel in the particular way we desire. Or we may be scandalized that they do not celebrate Mass in the exact manner that we prefer. Or, as Screwtape puts it, “The real fun is working up hatred between those who say ‘mass’ and those who say ‘holy communion‘” (84). We end up with an “us” versus “them” point of view where we hate Catholics (and priests) who don’t align with our point of view.

As a note, there are correct ways to do certain things (especially the Mass) and we should strive to follow the Church’s guidelines. However, what the devil wants us to do is to completely shun our local parish priest. A better option, one more pleasing to our Heavenly Father, is to pray for them (and their ongoing conversion).

I am not suggesting that we should be “OK” with a watered-down version of the truth or that we should all hold hands and sing kumbaya around the altar. What I (and C.S. Lewis) am proposing is that we should rethink our search for an “ideal” parish and focus our attention more on evangelization and transformation, instead of fragmentation and isolation.

***As a note, please read the comments below for some further discussion and clarification on the subject.

Read the Entire Series

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