For years I’ve been immersed in Catholic media and the ongoing conversation within the Church of how to carry on as the Church. And, of course, in the West, at the heart of this conversation is the fact that within the next generation half of the pews will empty.
When I travel, I always get asked by parents how they can get their adult children back to church. It’s an epidemic. We know this.
And we can talk about catechesis and community and leadership and orthodoxy and the sacraments and the fullness of truth. We can complain about politics and how we need more preaching from the pulpit. But here is the core problem. Here is the practical reason why people are not convinced of the Catholic faith anymore:
We Catholics don’t look or act any different than non-catholics. It’s that simple.
The question we must answer is “if Catholicism offers a better way, why don’t Catholics’ lives seem any better?”
If we believe our faith and action in this life has eternal consequences, why don’t we act like it? If the God of our universe, the Creator of everything, is truly present in the Eucharist, why don’t our actions show this?
If our relationship with God is truly the most important relationship, why don’t our daily schedules reflect that? If our marriages and families are our greatest blessings, why do we sacrifice them for our careers?
If God has a plan for us, why do we make so many plans without him? And why are we not on our knees every morning thanking, praising and giving over to him every moment of our entire day?
If Catholicism is true, why isn’t everything we do ordered around this Truth? Continue reading
Sources
- Matthew Warner in National Catholic Register
- Image: Patheos
Matthew Warner is a lover of God, his wife, his kids, his life, cookies, hot-buttered bread, snoozin’ & awkward (as well as not awkward) silence.
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