Christ
remains answer to loss of religion
It will come as no surprise to anyone with an adult son, daughter, brother
or sister that some who were raised Catholic don’t practice their
faith anymore. A recent study by the Pew Research Center indicated how
extensive the phenomenon may be.
Media reports dwelled on the study’s finding that, based on a sample
of 35,000 people, of the 31 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic,
only 24 percent now describe themselves as Catholic. The decline would
have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of
immigration, according to the study.
It’s a gloomy assessment certainly, but the study did not address
another factor. Of those who identify themselves as Catholic, how many
regularly practice their Catholic faith? As family and friends know, many
adult Catholics only go to church for the occasional wedding Mass or perhaps
only at Christmas and Easter.
Where have they gone? Some have joined one of hundreds of Protestant denominations,
most likely an Evangelical congregation. But Protestant denominations
are experiencing the same decline in affiliation.
The most significant finding of the study is that 16 percent of those
Americans surveyed no longer describe themselves as members of any faith,
even the one in which they were raised, to say nothing of practicing that
faith. To emphasize the point, not only are an increasing number of Americans
washing their car, reading the newspaper or taking a walk on a Sunday
morning instead of going to church, they are not even identifying themselves
as belonging to any religion.
The need for what Pope John Paul II called a “new evangelization”
is clear. It entails new ways of bringing to the world the message of
love, mercy and salvation in the person of Jesus Christ through the Church.
More than by words alone, we disciples must show Jesus to everyone by
the example of our own lives. The vices of our times point to a longing
for deeper meaning of life. Without doubt, this human hunger remains amidst
a person’s indifference to religion.
Christ’s gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist, through the Catholic
Church that He established, satisfies the hungry heart. We who call ourselves
Catholics have a mighty job to do. Through prayer and good works, we must
show a world in need the way back to our Lord.