“Why I am Interested in the Transformation of Catholic Culture”

My interest in the transformation of Catholic Culture derives at least
partially from teaching spiritual formation for thirty years. Questions of human transformation necessarily involve the forces surrounding us—the influences of family, church, education, local community,
nationality, ethnicity, and socio-economic status—it is primarily
forces like these that shape our thoughts and behaviors. As much as we might like to imagine our lives are the products of our free will and personal choices, in actuality it is the broader effects of culture that have more sway.

I think it’s helpful to consider culture broadly. Culture is the air we breathe. For instance, culture consists of all the things we take for granted in modern Western society—indoor plumbing, central heating, and electricity; free press and the rule of law; mobility and instant communication; consumerism. I love the story that David Foster Wallace told about two young fish swimming along. From the other direction comes an older fish who comments, “Morning boys, how’s the water?” As he passes by, the two smaller fish look at each other confusedly and stop. One soon asks the other, “What the hell is water?” Culture is like the water we do not recognize ourselves swimming in. We take it for granted. For instance, most suburban teens in Detroit probably do not recognize the unique elements of American culture that are shaping them and how those characteristics contrast with, say, rural Asian culture.

We can all agree that some cultures are healthier than others—even as some nations, or churches, or communities, or homes are either healthy or sick. Much of the rest of the world has begun to adopt influences from the West uncritically, so that fast food culture, individualism, pop music, professional sports, and social media have become worldwide cultural phenomena. Not all these influences are necessarily healthy, however. And if we fall into unhealthy cultural patterns, how do we reverse the situation? How do we heal the culture of an ailing home, church, school, or business?

Spiritual formation is about transformation. As C. S. Lewis argued in his classic book Mere Christianity, each of us is being formed spiritually moment by moment. It’s not a matter of whether we will be spiritually formed—only whether we will be formed into creatures that are more human or less human. If the Church does not form us, in
other words, if we are not shaped by Christ and our Catholic faith, our surrounding culture will form and shape us instead. If we do not allow Christ to shape us, we will be shaped by the forces of media,
consumerism, moral relativism, and the like.

What we ought to recognize also is that it is much harder to extricate ourselves from cultural influences once we’ve accepted them. Few of us will stop driving our cars or give up our cell phones, even if we come to understand their negative effects on our lives. We are creatures of habit. If this is true, we ought to approach cultural influences with caution and learn to guard ourselves against those who profit by drawing us into cultural fads.

As with any human habit, one habit can best be replaced by another, stronger or better habit. An addiction to fast food, for instance, can be countered by fasting. Let’s call this the principle of displacement. Thus, a negative cultural influence can best be expelled by a more positive one. Think of how you can get rid of some of the water in a full bathtub by putting yourself into it. As you get into the tub, your body mass will displace a certain mass of water, unfortunately onto the floor of your bathroom in this case. This example is for illustrative purposes only, not as a recommended science project to try at home.

What FishonFridays hopes to encourage is the growth and maintenance of healthy Catholic culture—through families and friends sharing their faith—by moving away from some of the destructive, self-centered features of modern American culture, and by re-learning how to be more fully human through face-to-face interactions of incarnational feasting and play. Stay tuned to FishonFridays for examples of how to displace insidious cultural influences with god-fearing and humanizing ones.

“If you do not have mirth, you will certainly have madness.” (G K Chesterton)