Volume > Issue > Where Are the Men?

Where Are the Men?

GUEST COLUMN

By Donald Tremblay | July/August 2006
Donald Tremblay, who is the Public Relations Director for Main Events, a professional boxing promoter, writes from Brooklyn, New York, and can be reached at dtremblay@mainevents.com.

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.” — Matthew 18:12-13

Over the years, in her zeal to create administratively efficient parishes and dioceses, the American Catholic Church has forgotten the above Gospel lesson. It is a lesson the Church better quickly remember since the future of Catholicism in this nation may hinge on recovering those men of the flock who have strayed from the fold.

How low are male Mass-attendance numbers? George Barna’s Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators states the following: “Of Americans in the mid-1990s…women are twice as likely to attend a church service during any given week.”

For years the American Catholic Church has operated with the attitude, “Our doors are always open,” and “If people need us they know where to find us.” Well, that approach has failed, and it is time the Church follow the evangelical examples set forth by Jesus Christ and by Pope John Paul II.

Jesus recognized that the only effective way to reach people is to meet them in their own backyards. Consider the recruiting tactics Jesus used. Case in point: Matthew’s Gospel describes how Jesus visits the tax office of Matthew and eats with “many tax collectors and sinners” (Mt. 9:10). Imagine the shock and appreciation of those men and women upon realizing that this holy man was breaking Judaic law and risking slander in order to evangelize them. Needless to say, Jesus’ outreach worked since Matthew became one of His 12 Apostles.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Worshiping the Idol of 'Woman's Experience'

This ideology leads to giving private approval of abortion, and from there to giving material cooperation and a public voice to the Culture of Death.

Vive la Différence!

Review of God or Goddess? Feminist Theology: What Is It? Where Does It Lead?

Freedom Trumps Family

"Money is power." And, boy, do these feminists want money.