Every time I hear the word “remnant,” I think of my sister and her husband. The two of them own a floor covering business, or carpet store, in Western New York. They always have remnants of carpet they sell or give to family members for all kinds of uses. My brother-in-law has them spread on the floor of his home workshop. There are remnants in front of washing machines, kitchen sinks, on basement steps, in car trunks, and every other imaginable place.
I’m sure you’ve dealt with remnants of some kind or another. If you sew, you have remnants of cloth. If you party on New Year’s Eve, you have remnants of that event that need cleaning up, probably all through your house the following day. If you’re a carpenter, there are remnants of wood, which can be utilized in other projects. A remnant is something left-over, the remainders.
There is a beautiful and vital scriptural understanding of the remnant that is important for our consideration. In scripture, a remnant is a small surviving group of people. They are a people who are faithful to the Lord despite the lack of faith and dishonorable living of those around them.
Throughout the history of humankind, GOD HAS ALWAYS LEFT A REMNANT. Think of Noah and his family after the flood, or Lot and his family after Sodom and Gomorrah. With the famine in Egypt, it was Joseph’s remnant that saved the nation.
The remnant is found in the Old Testament and also the New Testament: Romans 11:5, “Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
I remember packed churches as a child growing up in the 1960s: If you didn’t get there early, you’d have to stand. I remember waiting in long lines to go to confession. If you put up four walls and advertised a scripture class, Catholics would fill the room. There is no way to describe what this change means to us personally or as the Church community. It is just so different.
I wrote a few weeks ago about the diminishing attendance in our churches, in parish continuing education programs and in the service activities of the Church. I mentioned that this diminishment has dramatically increased during the pandemic. What will our future be? What can we do to reverse this trend?
In our time, remnant theology can give us some insights and bring us some hope. There is a biblical precedent that God has frequently seen fit to thin His ranks, to prune and purify his people. I believe today we can consider ourselves “the remnant.”
We are few, but we are firm in faith and commitment to the Church. The wonderful thing about “the remnant” is that it is always forward-looking. From the crisis of the Church today, a new and vibrant Church can evolve. We may be small today, unable to fill the great Churches built in our heyday, but we can be dynamic and alive in our faith and our commitment to live like Christ. We can be the seed sown by the Lord, which will bear much fruit.
So, my friends, do not lose hope, be optimistic, and join with others like you to become the emerging Church of this century. I believe our call in this challenging time is to be steadfast in our faith and consistent in our participation in prayer and the life of the Church. It is incumbent on us to live Jesus and persist. Our witness, our good works, our lively community, and the service we provide to others will stand as a beacon of hope for others and build anew the Church we love.
St. Francis de Sales has words of encouragement and guidance on this matter found in his book, The Introduction to the Devout Life:
“The order of God’s Providence maintains a perpetual challenge of this world; day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry, or windy, and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe.
And even so precisely, is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life.
All this is a very weighty warning and teaches us to aim at an abiding and unchangeable evenness of mind amid so great an uncertainty of events; and, while all around is changing, we must seek to remain immovable, ever looking to, reaching after and desiring our God.”
We are “the remnant,” and it is a blessing to be so. We have a clear and critical task in front of us. Do not dwell on the past. We are a forward-looking people. Persist, be faithful. Let the “remnant,” those who have a vibrant relationship with God, sanctify our Church and build it anew.
God be blessed!
Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
