On Parishes Becoming "Sacrament Factories"

There's a term I've heard bandied about in some Catholic circles. The term is "sacrament factory" or "Mass factory". It has a negative connotation, that's used by priests and laity alike, and it refers to something like this: people show up for Mass on Sunday, maybe holy days, and they might go to confession once in a while. They'll baptize and confirm their kids as well, if they have any. There is no other involvement in parish life. Priests who use this term say they feel like they're just used for the sacraments and all they do is pump them out. One gets the image of a cow who continually pumps out milk until they're dry.

We need to stop this to get people more active in the parish, they say. We need to copy what our Protestant brethren are doing, they point out, because they are drawing people in who are joyful and "on fire". Here's the problem I have with this phrase, though.

Basically, it reduces the sacraments to simply being a component in the life of the parish instead of recognizing that the sacraments are the life of the parish.

Now, I do believe there is one way that this term can be used properly. It still holds a negative connotation, but not in the same way. It was a post in response to the cross-dressing girl whose parents demanded she receive her first Holy Communion while not wearing a dress. Basically, the mom (and I say the mom because the girl is under the age of 10) wanted to make a political statement and didn't really contemplate too deeply what it was her daughter would be receiving for the first time. The author calls this "milestone Catholicism" and mentions that, as a catechist, she sees kids getting the sacraments that don't even want the sacraments. Thus, the parish becomes a "sacrament factory" as the parents and children have no use for the parish besides getting three sacraments. Mass on Sunday? No way. Holy Days of Obligation? Forget about it? Helping the parish in community outreach? Nope. As a catechist myself, I can also attest to what the author has seen.

Now that I have that explanation out of the way, I can turn my attention back onto the truly negative connotation of the phrase. That is, we need to stop focusing on the sacraments as the focal point of the parish. I think it's great to emphasize the corporal works of mercy at a parish by feeding the poor, clothing the naked, etc. It's great that so many Catholics want to fight for true social justice and genuinely care about their brothers and sisters. But sometimes, I feel that when we start thinking that we need to copy our Protestant brothers and sisters to "draw more people in", we're forgetting about why so many people are joining their megachurch congregations. It's because they are not challenged there.

You look at the church that Justin Beiber goes to, or Joel Olsteen's church. Are people really being challenged with the radical prescriptions put forth in the Gospel? Jesus tell us to repent. He tells us that we must come to a full conversion and that we must emulate Him. At these churches, people are told to be themselves and to come as they are. Now, everyone should come to the Church as they are, but then they should be challenged to change and come to a full conversion. Does this really happen at most non-denominational churches? 

The Mass of St. Basil- Pierre Subleyras

Also, our Protestant brothers and sisters have deficiencies. Their "joy" may at time be superficial because they have no sacramental life. How can they have any life within them if they do not have the Eucharist? Sure, there are some graces that can abound in these settings, but as Pope Benedict pointed out in Dominus Iesus:

With the coming of the Savior Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism “characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another'”. If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.  However, “all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ.

The biggest deficiency, by far, is that the Eucharist cannot be found in these places. This is why we should be weary of taking cues from our Protestant brethren in this regard. The phrase "sacrament/Mass factory" also misses the forest for the trees. We have this problem because of a dearth of vocations. Priests are spread to thin. But people need the sacraments, we can't live without them. If each parish had a pastor with two assistant priests and another retired, resident priest, there would be no need to have one priest do all the work. Some parishes are so strapped, that the one priest must say three Masses every Sunday and Holy Day. this is a lot, especially this year with Christmas on a Monday. Some priests will be celebrating six Masses in a span of 48 hours.

In this regard, I can sympathize with why priests might be worn out or feel "used". But the laity need the sacraments, and so do the clergy for that matter. Instead of looking to Protestant churches, we should be looking at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves why we cannot fill our ranks with many priests. If we solve the vocation problem, we solve the burnout problem. The sacraments aren't just a component to parish life. this notion needs to be stricken from our minds. Without the sacraments, we cannot live. These tangible signs of God's grace bring us closer to Him. Without these sacraments, we aren't much better off than our Protestant brethren. We must pray for an increase of priestly vocations ever more fervently.