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The Catholic Church has always been changing, says Rev.
Christopher DeGiovine, dean of spiritual life and chaplain at The College
of Saint Rose in "We change every day in life," he said, adding that the Church is no different. He will give a Lenten presentation on "The Changing
Church" at St. Mary/St. Paul's parish in Things change During his talk, Father DeGiovine plans to help people see that the Church has always changed. The Church in the first 300 hundred years was different than the Church of the Middle Ages, he noted, and the Church of the Middle Ages is different from the post-Vatican II Church of today. "Change can be positive or negative," he said. "What we do know is that the Holy Spirit has been with us through the changes," and the Spirit will continue to be with the Church as it evolves. Through time Many things have changed in Church history, the priest said. As an example, he noted that "the celebration of the Eucharist in the early Church was much different than the celebration in the Middle Ages." In his own life, Father DeGiovine noted, he has lived through many changes. "I've seen wonderful old church buildings knocked down, and new ones built up," he said. "I've seen empty churches become full, and full churches become empty. I've seen young people fill Catholic schools, and I've seen Catholic schools close." Positives A significant and positive change that he has lived through was the change from Mass being said in Latin to the vernacular, a change he termed "quite important and quite helpful." Being able to understand what is being said during the liturgy has allowed for greater participation. However, he said, those who feel nostalgic about the Latin Mass raise an important point: "We've lost a sense of the sacred, and we need to find a way to get that back." Shifts with time People tend to view their experience with the Church as being the only way the Church could be, Father DeGiovine said, giving an example from his own life. When he entered the seminary, 50 other men were in his class. There was an assumption that this was the way it always was and would be. But his spiritual director pointed out to him that the full seminary was an occurrence of that time period and not the way it had always been or would be. "We grew up with that, so we think that it was normal," he said. Feelings As parishes in the Albany Diocese participate in Called to be Church, Catholics have the opportunity to see that change brings many emotions. "We're beginning to sense that some of our fears are turning to possibilities," he said. "Change is certainly a painful place, but we're seeing that we might be able to do something positive." As a college chaplain, he knows that young people approach change in a different way from adults. "Young people are very comfortable with change," he explained. "Change happens overnight with them. They don't seem to expect that things will last forever." (02/07/08) |