In a recent
discussion with a group of professional Pastoral Associates we were discussing
what was being done in our parish to teach various age groups about Church
doctrine related to marriage and family issues.
At the end of a very productive discussion the statement as made – “I
think we agree that we do a pretty good job at catechizing but we are not
evangelizing.” That one statement
started a thought process that leads me to reflect on the situation in which
the Church finds herself in the United States.
In recent
blog posts Deacon
Greg Kendra and the guys over at Shameless Popery both commented
on Stephen Colbert taking over for David Letterman on CBS’s Late Night. They note that the late night viewing options
are now all hosted by purported Catholics and on the surface this could be seen
as a trend. We note with some embarrassment
that our Vice President, Joe Biden and out-going Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Kathleen Sebelius also claim (or are claimed) to be Catholic in spite
of their active attacks on key elements of Church teaching.
It is not surprising
that Catholics occupy a large number of very public positions in government and
the media. We are after all the largest
Christian group in the world accounting for nearly 25% of the US
population. Protestant groups still outnumber
us as a total percent of the US Population at 46% but their identity is not as prominent
and less likely to be stated as an identifier of moral or political
position. With numbers like those, would
you think that, as a nation, we would be leading the charge globally for
Christian Morality? But this is obviously
not the case. As we all know the fastest
growing group, according to the last census were the “None’s”- those who had no
religious affiliation at all. We think
these numbers may be under-reported.
Or, is it
something else? Is it that, while most
Catholics know what the Church teaches and believes, those teachings and moral
ideals are not considered relevant when they take their place in society? That means that while they have been
catechized, they have not been evangelized.
They know in their heads what the Church teaches on subjects like
marriage, the definition of family, and the dignity of the human person. But that head knowledge has never made it to the
heart.
The lack of
acceptance of Church teaching by such a large portion of those professing to be
Catholic should give us all pause for thought.
Why would a person say “I’m Catholic” but support pro-abortion
groups? Why would a person like Kathleen
Sebelius not only support but propose government policies that forced faithful
Catholics to abandon their faith and conscience? Why would our Vice-President say he had come
to believe that the definition of marriage, held since the beginning of
recorded history, be changed to include individuals who believe that sexual
preferences should be given the same status as religion?
The only
possible reason must be that those who profess our faith but knowingly act
contrary to it have never been evangelized – have never truly accepted the Lord
and his Bride, the Church. What is most
frustrating to this deacon is the Lord calls us to love these misguided
souls. On one level I accept and
understand this requirement. I pray for
those who persecute me, that they might see truth and come back to the faith
they profess. On the other hand I feel
we must stand up against these same people and say we are the people they
promised to serve and that separation of Church and State does not mean removal
of the Christian values upon which our country was founded.
I do not
have any solution for the state we find ourselves in. I only pray that we can evangelize the
catechized and return to a moral foundation laid in a bygone era.
Pax
