Faith is a gift from God, but, for our part, we must receive it and nurture it. Essential to the nurturing process, but routinely overlooked in the Year of Faith dialogue, is an official Church narrative that faithfully presents what Catholics have experienced since the dramatic changes imposed after Vatican II. The USCCB has produced several articles promoting a narrative which declares that, 1) Vatican II was the second Pentecost, and 2) Vatican II ushered in a great renewal. Meanwhile, three popes have lamented a crisis in the Church that began with the dramatic, unprecedented changes imposed in the name of "the spirit of Vatican II." Parish life over the last few decades has been more about experimentation, innovation, and a modus operandi based on dissent than anything even close to spiritual renewal, much less exhibiting fruits that point to a "second Pentecost."
Maintaining a biased (at best) or false (at the worst) narrative on the fruits of Vatican II only confuses the faithful, planting seeds of doubt which inevitably damage the credibility of the narrator.
It's time to put away the old narrative and embrace a new, more accurate narrative that inspires faith during this Year of Faith. This is the "great renewal" that must occur now: the renewal of faith in our Church, in our Pope, in our bishops, and in our priests. This renewal of faith must start with a narrative that is faithful to the truth of Catholic lives since the time of the changes resulting from the Second Vatican Council.
