40 years priest

Last Pentecost Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the priesthood of Monsignor de Jong, parish priest of Maastricht-East. Besides his pastoral duties, he is also auxiliary bishop of Roermond, army bishop and bishop of the prison service. I don't think I have even named all his activities with that. Former Bishop Frans Wiertz, the rector of Rolduc and some senior members of the armed forces attended the celebration. The parishioners did not walk out en masse; the church was only partially filled. In and around the pubs at the later carnival celebrations, however, it was very busy. Telling of the current times.

Rejuvenation is needed
Pastor de Jong had chosen to invite the volunteers associated with the church to dinner. Since I was also invited, this gave me an idea of this company. The chaplains were also there, except for one. Andy will be ordained a priest on Saturday and will celebrate his first Mass in Amby on Sunday. That too is seen as a great event. Andy is still young and is from Mexico. I don't know him, but we will meet. The atmosphere is good among the clergy, they don't let the many setbacks get them down. That certainly applies to pastor de Jong. You can't last 40 years otherwise.

The volunteers are all very nice people. They are there for the church and the clergy, doing their work without any remuneration. But they are also all old. It is abundantly clear that a rejuvenation drive needs to take place here. At core functions, professionals will have to be brought in for remuneration. By merging functions and automating tasks, work can be done to reduce the number of volunteers. But even then, young people willing to invest time in this will have to be sought.

Love solves everything
One of the chaplains is from Croatia. He accompanied our Thijs in his preparation for communion last year. We were able to catch up again and it was very pleasant. He has a clear view on earthly matters and knows how to combine it ingeniously with the teachings of Jesus. That was perhaps the least I expected. The practical solutions religion can offer to everyday problems. Think of the choices you have to make when raising children. He stressed the importance of consistency between father and mother. How should you handle the use of the IPad? The Bible doesn't mention this, yet he could cite examples from the Bible that teach us how to act in this. Because they are examples, it has no compelling character and comes pleasantly to you. His solution to today's social problems: love.

At the same time, an estimated 60,000 people attended the Pentecost Conference. Among other things, this is a music festival for Christians. Those are Pinkpop numbers. Many a church looks at this with great awe. Surely it turns out that many people believe, but they are looking for a different form than the traditional one for the experience of their faith. Thijs, 9, had to struggle to get through last Sunday's Mass. An hour and a half of prayers, incense, Gregorian chants and speeches is not doable for the average person of 2023.

I commend the child for not whining, but he had every right to. No matter how much we stand shouting at the church, nothing changes. Persisting in a course that is unsuccessful ends in a requiem. Mozart has already written the mass for it. It will be a mass without parishioners. Those are lying in the meadow at the Pentecostal conference.