The Catholic Diaspora

Where Are You?

I was hired as a Director of Youth Ministry right out of college at a grouping of seven parishes merging into one. When I arrived at the parish, the youth ministries at the parishes that had them were small and fragmented. I was tasked with two things: bring these fragmented ministries together and establish a new youth ministry at the parish.

My first week, I sat at my desk and realized I had no idea where to start. The only emails and phone calls I received were from parishioners who wanted the teens to help with fundraisers. I thought, “Well…when I meet them, I’ll ask.”

It reminded me of the first chapter of Genesis.

The first word spoken by God after Adam and Eve sinned was ah-ye-kah which in Hebrew means “Where are you?”

Adam hid and the garden was silent. God recognized this silence and the first thing He asked was not “What have you done?” but “Where are you?” God is more concerned with Adam than his sin.

Come Out Of Hiding

Adam’s desire to hide from God is what cast him out of the Garden. Who knows what would have happened if he had repented and shown himself? This pattern of hiding sin and being cast out is repeated in scripture.

Moses hides his sin and runs from Egypt. Israel’s sin causes them to wander 40 years in the desert (and later it causes them to be cast out of the promised land entirely). Judas tries to hide his sin through death and is cast out from the Twelve.

But the hiding I want to focus on is the Babylonian Exile and the subsequent Diaspora.

After David, the Davidic kingdom begins to fall. There is a major split after Solomon’s rule into the Northern and Southern kingdoms (the former eventually becomes known as “Samaritans” and the latter are “Jews”). The Davidic kingdom meets a bitter end when in 586 BC the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.

Roughly 70 years later, Persians take over Babylon and restore the temple, allowing some Jews to return. But the Exile isn’t over for Israel as evidenced in Daniel. The angel prophesied to Daniel that 70 “weeks of years” (meaning 70 sabbath year cycles or 490 years) must pass before Israel will be gathered back.

That 490-year period takes us to the time of Christ and it is known as the Diaspora.

The Catholic Diaspora

Cool history lesson, Patrick, why does it matter? Well, those of you who are fans of St. Bonaventure know that Church history mirrors salvation history. There are seven ages of salvation history from Adam to Jesus (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Exile, Jesus). The Exile is so important it’s the only one not named after a person.

The Exile is symbolic of a dramatic fall from grace. Israel’s many sins caused it to be broken up and the promise made to David of an “eternal kingdom” seemed all but broken. Remember when we sin, we try to hide it, but that gets us cast from the promised land.

We see a sort of Exile in the church today. The kingdom was split by the Protestant Reformation and led to a slow decline of the unified Church on Earth.

Our people have been scattered, too. Catholics are scattered into different churches or not in churches at all. Faithful Catholics are tempted to look back on the “glory days” when everyone lived by “Christian values” but those Catholics are looking back with rose-colored glasses. The past wasn’t as glorious as we like to think. It was full of sin, which caused our decline.

Where Did This Come From?

Every Exile begins with sin. The Protestant Reformation was earned by the Catholic Church. It was earned by the sins of the clergy, the Catholic rulers, and the reformers themselves. It was the result of the people of God working for their own desires (well-intentioned or not) against God’s will.

Our current diaspora is also the result of sin. The sin of the clergy and professed Christian leaders, but also the sin of the people. The sin of the clergy is evident and is an excuse for many to leave the Church (much like the sale of indulgences was an excuse for Luther), but the people of God are also supposed to be a light. Was our light not bright enough to stop them?

Where Do We Go From Here?

We hear many calls for renewal in the Church today. This should mean what it meant for the Israelites. The Exile ended with the rededication of the Temple, but the diaspora continued. That only ended when Jesus Christ gathered all people to Himself (John 12:32) on the Cross.

It’s easy to refuse to take responsibility for one’s own sin. What’s even easier is to refuse to take responsibility for the sins of the Church. We’re quick to wash our hands of the sins of corrupt clergy and apathetic or hypocritical churchgoers, but we forget that Christ bore the weight of sins He didn’t commit.

Our sin contributes to the sin of the Church. Our holiness contributes to its holiness. We all stand at a crossroads: Will I add to the Church’s many sins or will I add to her holiness?

One generation of Israelites caused the first Temple to be destroyed. Seventy years later, their children and grandchildren returned to clean up a mess they didn’t make. That is the Christian response to our current situation. Not to look back with longing or with blame, but to look forward and ask: What can I do to help fix this?