Are you Down with That?

 

Okay, it’s hard enough for me to comprehend the idea that kids don’t need to learn to read and write cursive anymore, but this one takes the cake, well at least the doughnut.

My brother was in the parking lot of the doughnut shop and I asked him to pick us up some doughnuts.  Just to make things easy, I told him I would call in and give them our list and I decided to pay for them as well, by credit card.

As I was giving the girl my card information, she asked me for the expiration date on the card.  Since the month is August, I just told her August and the year.

She started guessing.  “That’s seven, eight?”

At first I didn’t understand her, and then it hit me.  I said, “August, uh yeah, eight.”

Do you know what she said?  What she actually said to me over the phone?

“Okay, well, I’m not down with numbers like that.”

That’s right, she really didn’t know that August was the eighth month.

Heaven help us.  I just couldn’t believe it.  First cursive, now this.  Did she even GO to school, AT ALL?

Okay, I suppose I am being judgy here, but come on, “Not down with the numbers?”

I could have choked on my doughnut.

I really need to start being nicer, but in my defense, I didn’t express my shock to her, so you’re getting to hear it now.

Here’s the problem:  I see the world a certain way and the world doesn’t always match my vision.  Evidence notwithstanding, as I get older, the trivial stuff doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.  Of course, identifying what IS trivial can be a bit tricky.

What is not trivial is the reality that so many young people are not coming to church, or when they are there, they seem to be bored to death.

In a conversation recently, someone suggested to me that this might be the case in part because they don’t understand the beauty and significance of ritual.  If the Church is anything, it certainly is full of rituals.  Just look at the sacraments!

In an apologetic article for Catholic Answers, Karlo Broussard notes, “ . . . we are ‘naturally hardwired’ for ritual, and ritual in the form of sacrifice is most befitting when it comes to the worship of God.”

I have always found that when people are given a walk-through of the Mass they come to understand more deeply why we do what we do and it opens up a whole other world for them, literally.

But if you have to face “I’m not down with the Mass like that,” it may take your outstanding example of what a living faith looks like to ultimately make a difference.

Janet Cassidy
jmctm2@gmail.com