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Faith, fellowship and formation | Conversation with Catherine Cheney |
FAITH, FELLOWSHIP, FORMATION
In conversation with the
Catholic Key, City on a Hill Director Catherine Cheney discussed faith, fellowship, formation and the mission-focused future awaiting City on a Hill, a 16-year-old diocesan ministry that’s gaining new ground as a recently formed independent non-profit organization.
City on a Hill’s mission
CK is “to be the community that inspires and forms the young adult generation to be saints.” Please share more about your heart for individuals in this age range.
CC: I was living in Columbus, Ohio, and had served as the diocesan marriage formation coordinator for four years. Working in the intersection of marriage preparation and the young adult space allowed for some observations. I saw angst around marriage and dating, and a lack of roots of various kinds, leading to restlessness and stagnation.
In the spring of 2021, I experienced a direct call from God to start bringing young adults to Him. I told the Lord, “If you’ve given me this call, You’ll need to open a door, and I’ll walk through it.” I realized the model of City on a Hill dovetailed with the exact needs I was seeing. Then, the door opened for me to serve as director for the newly formed lay apostolate. City on a Hill was transitioning from a diocesan ministry to its own nonprofit organization. I joined the staff in February 2022.
CK
How does City on a Hill carry out its mission?
CC: We welcome individuals in their 20s and 30s into low-threshold opportunities for community through sports leagues, Tuesdays at the Boulevard and other events. Those occasions transition into chances to grow into deeper community, through Sisterhood or Band of Brothers, retreats and trips, such as the mission trip to Guatemala. Ultimately, our goal is for individuals to encounter Christ and deepen their commitment to Him. What makes City on a Hill unique is that it seeks to invite and form young adults to be apostles and lead the initiatives. These young adults are witnesses to those they encounter, showing “radical hospitality,” meaning that no one is lost in the crowd. We honor people individually, yet show that there’s a larger community in which they can get involved.
CK
What is your vision for City on a Hill over the next few years?
CC: We are focused on solidifying our approach to outreach, formation and community, making sure that everything we do is repeatable, scalable and ensuring that we accomplish the mission of City on a Hill in the most fruitful way possible. Because we work independently from, yet in partnership with, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, we have the freedom to expand our work on both sides of the state line.
CK
How can others get involved?
CC: I encourage everyone to visit the Get Connected page on our website (kansascityonahill.org), to sign up for The Loop, our weekly email, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our work and upcoming events.
Understanding God
For me, understanding God is very difficult. When God takes people out of your life do you think, “why do you hate me God?” That is exactly what I thought. I feel like the Catholic Faith expects us to just understand what or why God does things in your life that you might not like.
Briana Last year was a very difficult year for me, my friends, Cirlincuina and my family. It started out normal but then suddenly is a student one of my closest friends’ parents went into the hosat St. Pius X pital. My friend’s parents passed the week they went High School into the hospital. That was when I started thinking, “Why God, why did you do that?” Then about two months later my uncle passed away and that was very hard too. And again I got angry and confused about why God was taking people away from me that I loved. Then a few months after my uncle passed away my other friend’s parents passed away, and I got more and more angry with God. I was out of town this summer and got a call from my cousin saying his dad was in the hospital and wasn’t going to make it. That’s when I stopped praying to God and didn’t want to think about God at all. When my family and I had to go to church I would just sit there and not listen and think about how I hated church and wanted to leave.
My mom decided that she was going to send me to a religious camp called Camp Savio. Camp Savio was how God came back in my life. After Camp Savio I started paying attention in Church and learned that God does everything for a reason and that I just have to trust him.
During the time I was away from God I felt like the Church didn’t really help me. I feel like the Catholic Church really needs to help all those families and kids that have lost loved ones. I feel like bringing all those people into the Church can help everyone understand God and help all who are lost in their faith.
For me, understanding God is so important now that I know there is no way I can ever be happy without God in my life. The Catholic Church should invite all that have been hurting or just needing God’s love. My friends that have lost loved ones have really struggled with their faith.
Some of my friends still don’t trust in God’s plans for them, but for me trusting God and trusting in everything he has planned for me in my life is so important. Losing people you love is honestly the hardest thing, but seeing those people you love come to terms with it and grow even stronger in their faith is just amazing to see. Seeing my friends overcome everything that they had gone through is amazing. They are all the strongest people I know.
WHY IS SKIPPING MASS A MORTAL SIN?
Sunday Mass is probably the most common thing we do as
Catholics. We do it every week, and it’s the same every time. I admit it’s easy to become complacent about Mass. Who hasn’t had their mind wander during a homily or reading of the Gospel? I work hard at paying attention, yet it still happens to me.
Marc Cardaronella
is the director of the Office of Catechesis and Faith Formation.
So, why is Sunday Mass so critical that it’s a mortal sin to miss it? It seems so ordinary. But is it really? Perhaps there’s more to it than most of us realize. So, what makes Sunday Mass attendance so vital?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1389 states, “The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season.”
Attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation is the first Precept of the Church. There are specific requirements to be a member of the Catholic Church in good standing. These are the Precepts. They establish a Catholic identity.
The Catechism says of the Precepts, “The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.”
(CCC 2041)
The Precepts constitute grave matter, so willfully ignoring these obligations is a mortal sin. But to truly understand this, we need to think of sin in different terms and these laws as something other than God’s wrath and punishment for disobedience. The Catechism says these obligatory laws guarantee the “necessary minimum” for “growth in love of God and neighbor.” The goal of the Christian life is intimacy and union with God. We could think of sin as behaviors that take us away from that outcome. As well, some behaviors kill our life with God. Those are mortal (i.e., deadly) sins.
Sunday Mass seems mundane, but it’s the opposite. In classifying skipping as grave matter, the Church emphasizes the great significance Sunday Mass should have in the life of every Catholic. Mass is the memorial of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. Celebrating this memorial renews the work of our redemption and applies that grace to us. The Cross redeems the entire world, but every individual must also be redeemed.
Therefore, by participating in Mass and offering the Eucharistic sacrifice with the priest, you renew and continue the process of your sanctification ... a lifelong process. Union with Christ happens in its highest form in the Eucharistic celebration. We get supernatural life from the Mass. This worship is your spiritual lifeline, like an air hose allowing you to breathe underwater. When you skip Mass willingly, you turn away from that lifeline. Do that and you will die. Skipping Mass doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it takes us far away from intimacy with God. If you could see the spiritual damage it does to your soul, you would think twice.
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