Pope John Paul II often used the word ‘springtime’ in reference to the Church and the future of the Church in the new millennium. There is an article in First Things, by Thomas D. Williams, about the Springtime of John Paul II. It’s worth a read.
In his 1990 Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II wrote: “As the third millennium of the redemption draws near, God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs.” In his 1995 address to the United Nations, he added, “the tears of this century have prepared the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit.” And in his 1998 remarks to pilgrims gathered in Rome for Pentecost, he spoke of the Holy Spirit’s bringing “a new springtime in the Church.”
John Paul had so much hope for the Church, so much faith in the youth of the world. His papacy occurred during one of the most difficult times for the Church, the years after a great Council. When John Paul was elected, I was 10 years old. The Latin Mass had been gone for my whole life. Choirs were up front, and guitars and tambourines dominated the music; faceless figures on gaudy banners were the new decor. Plush, carpeted altar islands extended down into the congregation, and the side-chapel pews were moved to angle toward the front and center, and the priest faced the people, auditorium style.
The reverence, the deep silences, the mystique of chant, and the sense of wonder and awe during Mass were not nearly as apparent. Many older Catholics were disillusioned, annoyed, and wondering when sanity would return, while younger ones were losing their Catholic identities as they tried to remake the Mass in their own image. It was into this melee that the faithful, loving, eternally hopeful John Paul II was thrown at his election.
John Paul II was a participant in Vatican II; he had a deep working knowledge of the purpose and the outcome of the Council. As Pope he became the catalyst that started a much needed renewal in the Church, even in the face of dissent and confusion brought about by rampant misinterpretation of the Vatican Council. He had a great love for the youth. He wanted young people to see their own worth. He drew them in with World Youth Day, he prayed for them and with them. Young people responded to his call, enthusiastically and in great numbers. That was just the beginning.
The incredible faith in God exemplified in so many young people today is the fruition of what John Paul II started with his calling of the youth to holiness. There are so many young priests, young sisters, young youth ministers, and young Catholics, single and married, who are on fire with the love of Christ. Thanks be to God for John Paul II! I feel called to explore and share some examples of this Springtime in the Church, and so I will begin what I hope will be an edifying series for our CP readers.
The first example that I would like to draw your attention to is the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation. They are the first to be profiled because I have a vested interest in them! My sister Susan joined the Nashville Dominicans in 2000; she is now Sr. John Catherine, O.P. and is as happy and as much in love with the Lord as she was the day she entered, if not more so! The Sisters are based in Tennessee, but their apostolate puts them in contact with the youth of America from Colorado to the Midwest, and from the South to the Northeast. As a direct result of World Youth Day, they now even extend to the Diocese of Sydney, Australia.
The Dominicans are teachers, and their presence in the lives of our young people is a blessing. They live a partially cloistered life and wear the full habit of the Dominican Sisters, white habits with a black veil. They live lives of prayer and contemplation, along with teaching, and they have a special devotion to the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament, choral recitation of the Divine Office and the Rosary, and dedication to prayer and the Passion of Our Lord.
The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are not a new Congregation. The Order was founded in 1860. The New Springtime in the Church could also be called the New Springtime for the Nashville Dominicans. This is from their website:
Since 1988, the community has increased by 156 sisters with our current number of sisters over 230, the largest number in our history. The median age is 36, and 61% of the Congregation is under the age of forty. The novitiate has an average of fifty sisters a year. For this blessing of growth and the call to give ourselves in service, we thank God.
This is amazing. They have recently had to expand the Motherhouse in order to keep up with the number of vocations. What a wonderful Springtime! This is what Pope John Paul II was talking about! Look at the example of these women, so many of them, and so youthful! Loving God, living for Him, and serving humanity and giving a tremendous example of the Springtime in the Church to the rest of us. God Bless the Nashville Dominicans and may their example of selfless love, service and devotion help to bring us all closer to holiness. Amen.
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CP I am a long time reader, and it made me so happy to read this article.
I agree! It’s so true! While I was not alive pre-Vatican II, I can tell you that there is a resurgence in the traditions of the Catholic Church among the youth. I am a FOCUS missionary serving in the Midwest, soon to be deployed to Florida to work with the youth. FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) was founded to answer JPII’s call for a New Evangelization. The students that I work will have a deep intrigue about the traditions and disciplines of the church. In a culture filled with so much relativistic attitudes towards everything, that fact that the Church has remained strong in its beliefs and has some sense of order is huge.
I see on a daily basis students that no longer desire to be entertained at church by music and such, but long to worship through the beauty of the Mass. They seek a strong personal relationship with our Lord through prayer and they are ready to change this world! When you see students organizing groups to pray a rosary together, watch a movie on Fatima or Padre Pio, or sing praise and worship songs in their dorms & apartments it gives such a sense of hope. The youth are increasingly becoming on fire for the Catholic Church. They need our prayers and support more than ever!
“As followers of Jesus, we progress from hearing of Christ, to encountering him personally and experiencing conversion. Conversion leads to communion with those around us, then to solidarity with the human family. When that is integrated, we are compelled to proclaim Jesus to those who have not heard, to try to reach those who turned away.” -JPII
If you’d like to support a fellow college missionary working to redeem our culture, please visit: http://www.focusonline/goto/4923 ! monthly support and prayers are always welcome!
Bette; when I was in seminary (I am now a diocesan priest in the USA), a conservative older priest said to us young seminarians — “John Paul II has said that you are the ‘springtime of the Church’, and that means that the priests of my generation (60′s) are fall going on winter!”
Everybody really laughed about it! It was a very funny joke. But the truth of the matter is that that priest was entirely serious — the cold days of winter, which many priests and religious brought down upon the Church, are finally beginning to give way to spring! We still have a long and hard road ahead of us — but certain communities (e.g. Nashville Dominicans) and also many younger priests (e.g. Fr. Muir, as I hear) and bishops (e.g. the Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted) are a great reminder of the Hope we have in Christ our Lord!
Blessings!
I am anxious to read more of this series! God is so good and I’m sure this series will prove how rich we are! I am grateful to be a member of the Body of Christ here in Phoenix, AZ, as it would seem that all of the newer-ordained priests in our community are fruit of the New Springtime. Following the mention of just one example in Fr. Muir, I am tempted to laundry list all of our young priests in Phoenix. This New Springtime has positively impacted many of our fall/winter priests, as well.
As for orders, I expect we will see an article forthcoming on our own Dominican sisters housed at St. Thomas the Apostle. Bette’s sister’s order sounds just like a few holy nuns I am familiar with now teaching at St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Mary’s High School.
May the fertilization continue. Come Holy Spirit!
The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are a real hope for Catholic Education in America. Their models work and they have done a wonderful job rehabilitating faltering schools.
Pray every day that more Bishops develop the courage to call on them and/ or reform schools along their models!
Sandmama, can you give me an example of one of the schools they have rehabilitated? I’m curious to look it up.
St. Pius school in Providence RI, they did a marvelous job there. Its a Dominican school, and I dont know if they only go to other Dominicans.
The school has its struggles, like all Catholic schools do, but they brought it around to being a CATHOLIC school first. And, shocker, many of the other problems fell into place.
“Charity is the force that changes the world because God is Love.” said, Pope Benedict XVI recently when hosting a lunch at the Vatican for the homeless being taken care of by the Missionaries of Charity. He commemorated the 100th year anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth! I have spent time with the Missionaries of Charity–they are amazing! (They have a house for the homeless here in Phoenix if you didn’t know this already.) I love this little video clip on the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnV7Q_mvEFs&NR=1&feature=fvwp .
This is one such example. It is Fr. Mike Schmitz, giving a homily at the FOCUS conference in St. Paul to thousands of college students this past weekend. It is this type of real-world challenge that reaches the young! There is such hope for the youth, keep them and myself (I am only 22) in your prayers!
http://www.umdcatholic.org/homilies/BaptismLord2011-Life-SavingBusiness.mp3