CATHOLIC FAMILY AND THE SLOTHFUL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SACRAMENTS

Abstract

The slothful attitude with which the Catholic families treat the seven Sacraments of the Church is becoming a serious concern among the scholars and diligent observers. One would have thought that with the Sacraments tutored as the centrepiece of the faith, every Catholic would be desirous to receive them as often as possible, i.e. in the case of Holy Eucharist and Confession for their daily spiritual energy and purification. And the other Sacraments like Baptism, Confirmation and Matrimony received as and when due. However, the Sacrament of the Holy Orders which is special to ministerial priesthood is nonetheless receiving due attention and professionalism as expected. But empirical evidence demonstrates that there is a palpable lethargy towards some of the cardinal Sacraments like Holy Eucharist and Confession. These Sacraments, are unarguably facing an uphill task in truth and honest practices; thereby casting a very big doubt as to whether they are really adjudged to be as essential as the Church claims them to be. Or has the Church unwittingly treated the Sacraments with levity and therefore providing ignoble ground for the laity to treat them with contempt. The curiosity raised by the observed lethargy compels this paper to probe into the matter with the view to finding out the real causes of the lethargy. The paper considers it necessary at this moment in time when the entire Catholic Church is addressing the Catholic family issues with a view to rectifying so many anomalies invading and crippling the church. The paper starts in earnest with the prologue, definition and the invocation of the contributions from the eminent child psychologists. The paper further understands early education, beginning from infancy through adulthood to old age like the African traditional religious pattern as the panacea to rebuilding the shattering sacramental attitude of the votaries. With randomly selected quantitative statistics the paper assessed the deep damage on the faith and on the psyche of the worshipers and then suggested solutions.