Be Amazed

 

4^th 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.