Spiritual Starvation

by Sue Rakoczy · September 12, 2011

I belong to a “Spirituality Book Club” in Pietermaritzburg. We are a group of nine people from various Christian traditions. Some are members of a local parish, two are members of the clergy (Anglican and Methodist), others have given up on formal religious belonging.

Everyone is a serious seeker of more depth in their spiritual life. But opportunities for this are not to be found in local parishes. Homilies are usually boring and a rehash of the Gospel with some moralising. Yet many adults in the pews are literally starving for deeper spiritual nourishment. Parishes in our area almost never provide any opportunities for adult faith formation.

When we meet about once a month we share what we are reading–from Thomas Merton and Richard Rohr to poetry, Buddhism and books on the interface of spirituality and psychology. The evenings are always full of rich conversation.

But we are only nine and we sense that there are thousands like us. Why do parish priests neglect the ongoing spiritual growth of adults? Perhaps they are satisfied with their own lives of faith and never sense that “more” and “deeper” �growth is possible. Perhaps they have never asked themselves serious questions about the meaning of faith in 21st century South Africa.

Meanwhile, people starve.