Calling all “lapsed” Chicago-area Catholics: There are plenty of empty pews waiting for you.
That’s the message that Roman Catholic leaders in Chicago, Rockford
and Joliet plan to send via a $1.3 million TV ad blitz aimed at
bringing the fallen away back to the flock.The commercials are to air on the Chicago affiliates of ABC, CBS,
NBC, Fox, Telemundo and Polvision for six weeks, starting Dec. 16.They
will highlight the Catholic Church’s social contributions, include
testimony from prodigal parishioners who found their way back to the
church and ask folks to “take another look” at Catholicism.“If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is your chance to begin an
adventure with God that will last forever,” a narrator in one
commercial says.In the Chicago Archdiocese, about one in five Catholics regularly
attend weekend Mass, according to the latest church attendance figures.
Last October, about 473,000 of the estimated 2.3 million Catholics in
Cook and Lake counties attended weekend services.
Emphasis mine. OnTrue Blood the other night, Lafayette summed up his prayers: “Jesus and I agreed to see other people Don’t mean we don’t still talk from time to time.” Personally, Good Old Dirty Hippie Jesus and I are fine. The insanely wealthy, corrupt, lying, often-openly-racist scumbags in His employ claiming to speak with His voice areseriouslyon my nerves, though. Those assholes and I have agreed to get divorced and I make no promises to be polite to them at the holidays for the sake of the children.
Still, I find it interesting that the Church’s social work is being highlighted. Not “come back to church, it’ll make you feel good about yourself,” but “come back to church, we do a lot of good for the community.” That is actually the sort of message that would appeal to me. I have a therapist to help me with my feelings, I don’t need one on Sunday mornings calling my feelings God. What I need, on occasion, is a kick in the ass to stop being so damn lazy and go do something for somebody else for a change instead of eating chips and watching the first season of Buffy again. Church bills itself as that, I might be buying.
A.