This
video got me thinking. How many times have you ever heard the phrase ‘I was raised Catholic.’’ I have quite a few family members, they would probably consider themselves Catholic but if you asked them anything about the faith they probably couldn’t tell you much. Maybe this happens among other Christian denominations too, ‘I was raised Baptist,’ ‘I was raised Evangelical,’ but it seems more common among ‘Catholics.’ There are also the cafeteria ‘Catholics’ who only go to Church once a year, Christmas or Easter. Have you ever heard a person say ‘I was raised Muslim?’ Or a person say ‘I was raised Hindu?’ Rarely. Even then it is usually because they converted to another religion isn’t it?
Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft
compared the devout Muslim’s readiness to serve God to the “humility and obedience displayed by Christian saints.”
He also commented that this example could serve as a lesson to today’s Catholics, “who all too often treat the demands made by their own faith as mere suggestions, to be taken or rejected by the self-directed individual conscience.”
zenit.org/article-31287?l=english
Why is there lack of devotion to Catholicism among some Catholics, and lack of knowledge of the faith among some ‘Catholics?’ How do we fix this?
It took a long time.
1960 The FDA approves the birth control pill.
1967 The Pill enters widespread use, promising freedom from worry about unplanned pregnancies.
1968 Pope Paul VI has Humanae Vitae published. He tells Catholics what will happen if they start using artificial birth control. There are protests inside and outside the Church. Some priests even sign a letter against it. The so-called Sexual Revolution begins. And increased promiscuity.
1970s What should be private and limited to marriage is exposed to the public. Adult Bookstores selling images of prostitutes appear everywhere. It’s legal, so why not? Christians protest but the owners’ high-priced lawyers yell Freedom of Expression! First Amendment! We’ll look at whatever we want to look at!
The National Organization for Women launches a campaign against men. All women are now victims, all men are the enemy. Universities begin offering course in Women’s Studies as if a species relationship no longer exists between men and women. This creates an atmosphere of fear and suspicion between the sexes, which makes it easier for…
1980s No-Fault Divorce sweeps the country. A classified ad I saw read: “No kids? $75 and you’re out. Call 800-DIVORCE.”
Porn on cable.
1990s Into the abyss. Shock jocks, rap, filthy talk on the radio. Then the internet.
I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. We sinned but the difference between then and now was simple: We tried. We controlled our words and actions and what was private stayed private. I thank God for the positive role-models I had. Even as a boy, I could see their self-restraint. Bad words were not meant to be said out loud. There were rules about talking to other people. You said please and thank you. You addressed adults as Mister and Missus. We had an appropriate sense of guilt and shame.
But how much shame do we see exhibited by actors and actresses today? In the 1970s, I was surprised to find out a Hippie friend of mine was living with his girlfriend. When I brought up marriage, he said, “I don’t need no piece of paper to live with my old lady.”
The media helped during that time period by showing people acting out behaviors that were consistent with our upbringing and we had mostly good, kind and helpful neighbors.
So as time passed, people gradually began to act out immoral behaviors because they thought it might make them happier or make life easier, and then the media put this immoral acting out on TV and in the movies.
The quickest fix is to be authentically Catholic, be aware of what the media is giving us, and avoid it once you understand it. Example: A new TV show titled Happily Divorced. Or Dexter, a show about a serial killer who only kills bad people.
I think even some born and raised Catholics are wondering what to do, especially if there was an abortion, a divorce and other sin they think they can’t confess. One lady I knew told me after her second, civil marriage: “I’m not getting an annulment, then my kids would be bastards.”
Destroying the family and the mutigenerational family ties that go with it was job one.
The Church wants everyone back, even if it’s been 30 years or longer.
Peace,
Ed
