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All Things Catholic -- Just for Fun |
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FAITH IN THE FIFTIES Growing up in the 50’s (goodbye to that closet!) I lived in a new housing development on the edge of a large city. Part of the post-war phenomena was the boom in construction necessitated by the boom in babies. I remember my dad telling friends he would watch a bulldozer begin leveling off a farmer’s field on his way to work in the morning and see a family move into their new house on his way home that night! The Church, of course, was growing, too. There were new parishes springing up everywhere – and enough priests to staff them. Those were good days for the Church and the middle-aged priests who finally had a chance to become a pastor before they were too old to enjoy it. People were forming new families and new communities; their spiritual homes were important and, with very rare exception, their children went to their parish school which was staffed entirely by “the good sisters” (a term used by the parents…we referred to them somewhat differently). In fact, most parishes built a school first and used the gymnasium or “multipurpose room” for Mass until such time as they could afford a new church. Usually that was immediately after the dedication of the new school. All of this construction around St. Watchamacallem required money. The economy was good but these were young families with lots of kids and, therefore, lots of demands on their wallets and purses. And so it was that an out-of-the-box-thinking pastor came up with an idea: Bingo! I don’t know the name of that pastor, but I understand he became a bishop before the proceeds of the first game were deposited in the bank, then cardinal, and his case for beatification is now pending in Rome. Normally, he would have been canonized by this time, but there has been some question by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the “free” space in the middle of the bingo card and its relationship to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In our parish, Bingo was held on Wednesday night and Sunday night. The parish brought in enough money from these bingo nights that the cost to the parents to send their kids to St. Watchamacallem School was less than the cost to send the same kids to the local public school. Parents were expected, however, to donate one night every two months to “work” the bingo. If you didn’t put in your time, little Dick and Jane would be down at PS 86 faster than you could say, ‘See Spot run!” Still, not a bad deal! Besides volunteer nights, parents got together at the parish for all kinds of things. They became friends. They developed strong community ties. They also developed very strong faith ties. When it came time for them to send their kids to high school, even though it was going to cost actual hard cash, Holy Smoke High won out over Pagan High every time! These were real Catholics! --- Watchamacallem Jones |
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What do you remember growing up Catholic? |
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