Our Faith And Our Children vs. Atheism

 
Vocation Awareness
 
Do you get the feeling sometimes (all the time) that we as Christians are not on the path we are supposed to be on?  Do you sense that we are too rapped up in the world today?  Can we not say that Christianity has lost its direction because it has taken its eyes off of Christ and instead it has been looking and listening more to the world?  Are we not upside down because we have chosen to align ourselves with the world rather than with God?  I am not talking about the many advances in science, medicine and technology.  All of these are good things if used properly.  Rather, I am speaking of the world that has rejected religion, ethics, or a higher power.  So, how are justice laws and civility advanced when everything becomes subjective? Answer: They can’t be.
On the other hand, I personally did not mind the recent uproar in Fort Worth in regard to the local buses having signs stating, “Millions of people are good without God”.  It shocked many people and religious leaders. But, why should we be surprised? Besides, some group paid for those ads and I support the people’s freedom of religion or non religion to do so.  At the same time, I also know the many historical events in time and their atrocities when mankind has chosen to deny freedom of religion, or likewise, when people have used religion to justify the unjustifiable.
Directly applicable to this problem is a phenomenon that is occurring in our culture today that is attacking our Christian community, especially our teenagers and young adults.  Today, the promotion of none religion, secularism, and atheism is gaining ground in our country (those claim no religion has nearly doubled from 8.2 % to 15.0 % and atheism has doubled from 0.7 % to 1.6% between 1990 and 2008 - The American Religious Identification Survey), but worse is the traction it has made in our schools, universities, and in our neighborhoods, and pulling our children away from their faith and salvation in Christ. We must respond to this crisis and let us not delay.
If we want to get at the root of the problem we do not need to investigate atheism, because nothing exists there, pun intended. Rather, we need to look at our faith and try to determine what is missing in the Christian life that is clearly making many of our children vulnerable to this secular world and detracting them away from Christ.  I have spent several months pondering this question and I asked many priests and lay leaders this question too.  In addition, I poured over Sacred Scripture seeking answers.  The dominating response that I received which reverberated and grew stronger and stronger was that many families do not pray together, they have not experienced the saving power of Christ in prayer or through regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation or attendance at Mass and the Holy Eucharist. Secondly, our faith is not being passed on from parents to children to the point that teenagers and young adults do not even know what is sin anymore.  Yes, it’s true.  What we take for granted as older adults in our faith teenagers and young adults have a tough time understanding.  We must go back and teach the basics of our faith as well as re-enter into a meaningful and consistent prayer life with our children. In the classroom, we need more men and women teaching and volunteering who know our faith and are able to be good listeners and responders to real questions that teenagers have about the faith and its teachings while praying with them and communicating with God in using devotions, Liturgy of the Hours, and time before the Blessed Sacrament.  I firmly believe that the true message of Jesus Christ as Savior and triumphant over evil is not being communicated and taught in our classrooms. Hence, combined with a lack of communion with Christ through daily prayer and knowing their faith, our young Catholics are vulnerable and easily tempted into the hands of secularism, materialism, hedonism, and sinful paths of perdition without realizing the cost of jeopardizing their salvation given to them at baptism through the blood of Jesus on the cross.
As we encounter Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew leading up to Lent, let us be reminded that John the Baptist came proclaiming, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  Repent from what? “their sins” states Matthew 3:6. Jesus repeats this proclamation and then begins to explain the roots of sin that pass beyond the law as well as the good that we ought to do which has no human law at all but is the path that leads to eternal life as defined in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Let us welcome Christ in our midst and make our faith alive so that it is embraced by our children as well.  My last question as a litmus test of our faith is as follows: Do you live for God? If we live for God, then our life will be immersed in things and people that our holy, helping others while assenting to Christ through prayer and the Church in all things. If not, then we have made some concessions toward secularism and atheism which is a direct cause of children’s lack of faith.
That being said, we do have many excellent young men and women who understand the importance of our Catholic faith as well as those do not understand as much but who nevertheless know they are called to help bring Christ to the world in concrete ways.  I ask that you help the Vocation Office in promoting our Lenten Vocation Awareness Program that is designed to help like minded young men and women to see their purpose in life more clearly while having a setting that supports them as they discern God’s will for them. Please see our additional ad and help spread the word of these events.  Christ has given us momentum, so let’s add to it with our prayers and encouragement.