Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 20, 2011 - Thursday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 6:19-23 and Luke 12:49-53,]Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law..
One of the concerns that I encounter often in my parish mission and retreat preaching ministry comes from parents and grandparents expressing their dismay and sorrow that their children and/or grandchildren are not "practicing their faith." In some cases, grandparents have admitted to me that they have baptized their grandchildren in secret when their children have shown complete indifference to religious faith! (I don't recommend doing this!) It is rare for me to hear now of the kind of divisions that existed between Catholic and non-Catholic. What I am hearing is a division between faith and indifference. The "indifference" is characterized more by a passive secular "culturalism" in which very little room exists for transcendence other than, perhaps, the U.S. Constitution, and more particularly the Bill of Rights. When Jesus spoke his words about division, religious faith was part of almost every human's life. The division came between different religious beliefs. Now, in our own culture, the division is between generations that have a religious faith and those which seem to consider faith irrelevant to their immediate needs and goals! The sorrow I experience in those who "keep the faith" is deep, but there is no easy solution beyond starting early and gently and with consistent good example.
Surveys are showing that the Catholic church in America and most "mainline" Protestant traditions are losing membership. Catholic numbers appear to remain steady because of immigration, but if all the former Catholics in this country were put into a single national congregation, the group would be the second largest Christian denomination in America! Some former Catholics migrate to the "free standing" mega-churches because those churches "meet our needs." Others leave because of this or that policy or attitude on the part of Catholic church leadership or, in some cases, because of inability to accept church teaching on areas of human conduct. These departures do cause division when they occur and lead to very tense family situations.
I don't pretend to have a complete explanation or response to this kind of division. The current pope, Benedict XVI, is emphasizing an approach begun by his predecessor, Bl. John Paul II, called the "New Evangelization." How this will seep down into the local pews remains to be seen. Right now I continue to emphasize a consistent, gentle example of faith that shapes everyday life and gives rise to the question from those whose faith is weak, "What do they know or have that I don't?" AMEN
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