4th Sunday of
Easter
Cycle B
The headlines screamed
“Americans' membership in houses of worship dropped below 50% for the first
time!” I read the article and it saddened me. Then I got angry. Some news
outlets reported it almost gleefully. The Gallup poll showed that in 2020, 47%
of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down more than 20
points from the turn of the century. This change is primarily due to the rise
in Americans with no religious preference.
Among religious groups, the decline in membership is steeper among
Catholics (down 18 points, from 76% to 58%) than Protestants (down nine points,
from 73% to 64%). This mirrors the historical changes in church attendance Gallup has documented among Catholics, with
sharp declines among Catholics but not among Protestants.
Also, each generation has seen a decline in church membership among
those who do affiliate with a specific religion. That’s significant. It makes
sense that those who say they have no faith wouldn’t come to church, but now
people who claim to have faith no longer go to church. Church membership is
strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists -- U.S. adults born
before 1946 -- belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of
those in Generation X and 36% of millennials. Let that sink in for a
minute. It gets worse the younger the population. According to this survey the
future of the Church in America is looking bleak. At the least it is a wake up
call to us all.
In a few weeks we will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, and we will
hear, once again, the great commission that Jesus gave his disciples to go and
make disciples of all the nations, teaching them everything he has commanded
us. For centuries we did just that. We went to far flung lands and suffered
great hardships and martyrdom to bring the truth of salvation through Jesus
Christ to whomever would listen. This great nation began as a mission field and
was founded on Judeo Christian principles. It’s amazing what has changed in
just the past 20 years. What began as a trickle has become a race to the doors,
and we’re seeing it most in young people.
It seems that we Boomers have done a poor job of making disciples, not
just of all nations, but of our own children. We seem to have bought into the
conventional wisdom that it really doesn’t matter what someone believes; that
there is not one true faith or one true church. I hear it from Christians all
the time. That is not a belief that inspires people to join, is it? And our
voices are drowned out by those who claim that religion is intolerant or even
oppressive. There is no God, they say, there is no absolute truth, just your
truth and my truth, and everyone is basically a good person anyway. Heck, as
long as they go to some church it’s better than nothing, right. Well, it turns
out that more and more people are choosing the nothing. And we have no answer.
But we do have hope.
Our most recent class of catechumens were all Milennials and Gen Yers. As
you know it’s a bit of a process to become Catholic as an adult, yet every year
people are called to the Church by the Holy Spirit. Every year we hold a
retreat just before they are to be baptized, and during that retreat we revisit
the reasons they are choosing to become Catholic. This year there were some
interesting reasons. One theme that came out is that all of them have small
children or were expecting their first child. All of them said, independently,
that they wanted to become Catholic to try to reverse the trend away from faith
and non-belief with their children, because they see what that is doing to our
society. They are frightened of the world their children might inherit. They
want their children to have the faith they have come to know and love. They
want to give their children a fighting chance at salvation. They want them to
know Jesus. They want to reconnect with the rich tradition of the Church and
give their children the values of a Christian life. But most importantly, they
wanted to become Catholic because they had come to believe that it is the
truth.
Those survey results are misleading because they are superficial and do
not delve into the reasons why, but they also only give part of the picture.
There is nothing about the resurgence of belief and piety among the younger
population, those in their 20s and early 30s. Young people and young families
are returning. Our newly baptized members are not unique in their hopes for
their children. There is a hunger for meaning and purpose in our youth, and
they are seeking the truth.
St. Peter says today that there is no salvation through anyone other
than Jesus Christ, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human
race by which we are to be saved. Do you believe that? Jesus claims to be the
way, the truth and the life. Not a way, a truth or a
life. That’s a very bold claim, and we hear today that that is exactly how the
church, from it’s very beginning, thought of Jesus and of itself. That is the
faith that has been handed on to us two millenia hence.
Do you believe that? Do you believe there is something uniquely true
about the Catholic faith? Is that why you are still here? Is that what you are
teaching your children, no matter how old they are? Do you have the courage to
state your beliefs when you know now that half the population does not share
them? As the community of believers continues to shrink it will take more
courage to keep, grow and share our own faith.
What has happened in the past 20 years that has changed the belief of
the rank and file Christians so? There are so many causes, too many to talk
about in a single homily. I believe that it is not just the pressures of a
secular society on faith in God, we have lost a sense of sin in general and
therefore there is nothing seen to be saved from. By blurring the lines of what
is and isn’t sinful, the evil one has brilliantly removed our belief in the
necessity of salvation. And if there is no need for salvation there is no need
to believe in a God at all. But human nature requires a supreme being, so we
replace that belief in God with belief in ourselves. Why would we need to be
saved from ourselves?
And beyond that, I believe we have lost a sense of the transcendent, of
the wonder of our God and how special we are to him. I believe that we can
begin to reclaim our faith, begin to make disciples again, by focusing on the
wonderful transcendent beauty of God, of the church he established, and of
ourselves.
St. John says today, “How wonderful that we are called children of God.
But that is what we are.” What does that mean for you personally and for
society as a whole? We are so much more than just actors on a stage. Without a
connection to a supreme being who is seen as a loving father – much more, love
itself – we see the divisions and destruction that seem to be accelerating
more rapidly every day. Without hope in something more, something other than
ourselves and this life on earth, we see life without meaning, steeped in
selfishness, and without real connections with other people.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Maybe
the reason the world does not know us is because we do not know him either.
Do you know that you are wonderfully made? Do you know the truth that
Jesus Christ died for you and your sins so that you could be free from the
slavery sin places you in? Do you know that Jesus rose from the dead and in
doing so destroyed your death as well? Do you live in the hope that you will
someday be just as Jesus is? Do you know that on that day you will know God
just as you are known by God?
You may have heard that message before many times in your life, but have
your children? You may have heard that message many times in your life, but
have you really understood it? Have you believed it? Have you been amazed by
it? That amazement is what makes disciples. That amazement is attractive and
contagious and life changing. The apostles were amazed and overjoyed when they
saw the Lord that Easter. It was that amazement, powered by the Holy Spirit,
that gave those simple fishermen the courage and conviction to go and begin to
make disciples of all the nations, and they changed the world forever.
Reclaim the wonder. Reconnect to the beauty of creation and of the
creator, of humanity, and of yourself. Experience the beauty and majesty of the
church, it’s art and architecture intended to help you image the eternal. Enter
into the mystery through the sacraments of the church, especially Christ’s
passion, death and resurrection during the Mass. Really study, wrestle with,
and be changed by the teachings of the church and be inspired by scripture. Connect
with your fellow disciples and reach out to those who really need your help,
both physically and spiritually, wherever they may be. Especially in your
family.
Allow yourself to be amazed. And then tell somebody about it.
