Cast out to the Deep

In the Bible, Luke Chapter 5 is a story of a group of fisherman who are convinced by Jesus to “cast out into the deep” after they have given up. The Most Reverend Timothy Dolan used this story as his basis for lecture “Cast Out to the Deep: The Call for Confidence and Holiness in Today’s Church,” he gave on April 11.

Over the course of the almost one hour speech Dolan outlined three main problems and three main solutions for today’s Catholic Church.

“The major point of my speech is that the Catholic Church of the United States is afflicted with the loss of nerve and confidence and that has quasi-paralyzed us,” Dolan said.

Dolan then went on to list his three reasons for the fatigue felt by the church.

1. Pervasive Fear – “We are scared that culture is against us, but Jesus said ‘Be not afraid.”
2. Anger – “This has lead to the subsequent division of our church. Either or has replaced both and.”
3. Lack of Joy – “There are no fish, but there certainly a lot of crabs.”

To these problems Dolan offered three solutions.

1. Return to the person of Jesus – “It all starts with a friendship with Jesus. It is the church’s job to show Jesus.”
2. Characterized Evangelical Simplicity – “We need more reliance on the basis of the Gospel.”
3. Recovery of Primacy of the Spiritual – “We need to preach, present and connect hearts to Jesus.”

During the question and answer period, the question was asked about young people’s return to the church.

“They are a brilliant light. Young people are actually calling us to renewal and they are free of ideological tags that were set on my generation as children,” Dolan said.

He then went on to tell a story of a young woman who was told by someone that she was “Pre-Vatican II”.

“She asked me ‘What’s Vatican II? I just love Jesus and want to follow his teachings,’” Dolan told the crowd.

What can a student do who wants to “Cast out into the Deep?”

“First things first,” Dolan says. “Listen to Jesus. Know him. Love him. Talk to him. Confide in him. Everything else will flow after that. From there it will be contagious.”

Throughout the speech Dolan mixed humor and enthusiasm to make his points. Before he began his speech he commented on the event being held in the next room.

“They are holding an etiquette dinner next door and it would be impolite for you to snore through this lecture,” Dolan joked.

There were only a handful of students in the crowd of roughly 150. One of the other attendees was St. Ambrose University President Dr. Ed Rogalski.

“I thought Archbishop Dolan gave a wonderful presentation. He brought the church back to base. It all comes back to our basic faith and he delivered it very well.”