Three good ideas.

1. Fr. Z has some interesting thoughts on "Closing parishes, preparing for the future."

As I write, I am thinking about a scene in the movie Cinderella Man. During the Depression people gather at the Catholic parish church. Their parish is the focal point of their interaction and social activities and support in those troubled times.

They pool their resources to make a single chocolate cake for the birthdays of several children.

Throughout the history of the West, the Church was the powerful agency of support in times of need. The Church coordinated groups of laypeople in guilds and confraternities for social support and projects of charity, spiritual and material.

I have always thought of parishes as, among other things, the nexus points for spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

I wonder if we shouldn’t start planning NOW for how to organize for feeding the elderly and creating opportunities for entertainment for young people at the parish.

We need some creative thinking, thick skin and really sturdy backbones. We must ready ourselves for what is going to come.

2. Peter Kreeft's ever popular, "How to Win the Culture War."

To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are (1) that you are at war, (2) who your enemy is, and (3) what weapons or strategies can defeat him. You cannot win a war (1) if you simply sew peace banners on a battlefield, (2) if you fight civil wars against your allies, or (3) if you use the wrong weapons.

3. Mark Shea on dealing with this question:

Interviewer: “But seriously. You don’t mean to tell me you, a man of the 21st Century, take the Bible literally, do you?”
Shea: “Which part of the Bible do you mean?”