More End-of-the-Year Thoughts

Here I am, resting comfortably in my cushy, overstuffed, down-filled chair, channel surfing among news shows and odd documentaries, eating a leftover piece of pecan pie, and all the while typing these words on my little netbook -- some serious multitasking. Of all these activities, the only one I'm truly enjoying is the consumption of the pecan pie. And it seems the pie has stimulated my few remaining brain cells to generate some personal observations.

Watching a local TV show -- one of those shows that covers local "happenings" -- I happened to catch the last few seconds of an interview of a minister who claimed that we are now "entering a new age of faith." Now this intrigued me and I wish I had caught the entire interview so I could place this comment in some context. Lacking this, I'll simply take his comment literally and agree with him.

As the minister said, we are entering a new age of faith, although it might be more accurate to label it an "age of belief." In this new age of belief we have come to the point where we will believe almost anything. And in each instance, that which is believed has been transformed into a set of foundational precepts, the basis of a faith, a kind of religion with its own pantheon of gods and served by a hierarchy of priests and priestesses. One of the more obvious is environmentalism, but there are others. Materialism, scientism, liberalism -- they all have their adherents who faithfully put into practice their faith's constantly evolving beliefs. Indeed, many among the new elite are fervent believers in all of these faiths, leading me to think that perhaps we should call this new age the "age of insanity" when everyone can believe everything and not experience any sense of contradiction. Makes me wish I could stick around for the next hundred years just so I could watch it all unfold. I hate to put down a good story when I'm smack dab in the middle of it.

I also caught the end of a homily on the Holy Family preached by a bishop who shall go unnamed. It was delivered with all the enthusiasm of a mashed potato sandwich (one of my late father's favorite expressions that he regularly applied to boring speakers). This made me wonder whether those who preach this way actually believe the Good News. If the Good News of Jesus Christ is really true, and if one really believes this, then wouldn't one be a wee bit more enthusiastic? Most people I know, when they have the opportunity to pass along a piece of very good news to those whom they love, do so with some degree of passion. Instead, we are so often subjected to preachers who seem to go to extremes to hide the truth of the Good News behind a think veneer of nonsensical and obfuscatory verbiage.

Loosen up, guys! Tell people about the Good News. Tell them about God and what He's done for us. Let them see and experience your faith so they will want it for themselves. Cause them to realize that their relationship with God is the most important aspect of their lives. Tell them what they need to hear. Do you recall the one thing the people asked John the Baptist when he preached the Good News? People from all walks of life simply asked him, "What should we do?" [Lk 3:10-14] People today are seeking the answer to the same question, and that's what should be telling them.

God's peace...