Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-22
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Today the Church celebrates The Ascension of the Lord. We are only one more week away from the Feast of Pentecost and the end of the Easter Season. Has it been a fruitful experience for you? Have you grown in your faith? What lessons can you take away from the last 40 days?
Sadly, I think people are more in touch with Christ during the Lenten Season than the Easter Season. Once Easter Sunday arrives, people go on with their daily lives forgetting about the period afterwards when the Church is born and the Holy Spirit arrives.
While meditating on today's reading from Ephesians, I thought about the recent religious survey of 35,000 people about their religious preference. Sadly, there's been an 8% decline in those who consider themselves Christian with a rise in self-proclaimed atheists from 16% to 23% since the last survey in 2007. Atheists now outnumber Catholics in the U.S. with Evangelistic Protestants in the first place slot. I'm curious about the statistical accuracy of this survey. Did it reach a wide range of ages? I can see Millenials labeling themselves as atheists but how about the senior citizens who dominate the pews? 35 K doesn't seem like a very large sampling group considering the population of the United States stands at 318.9 million.
I think the Catholic Church more than ever before needs to amp up the evangelization efforts. However, this is a difficult task as long as the liberal news media and social media extends its tentacles of anti-God bias; as long as society continues to be self-focused and self-consumed; as long as people enjoy material possessions over spiritual ones; and as long as morality takes a back seat to the "anything goes" mentality.
When Christ ascended into heaven and resided at the right hand of the Father, he knew that his message would be a tough sell for many in the world. He knew the apostles and his followers would suffer persecution. He knew being a Christian would be difficult. Yet, he gave us the spiritual tools -mainly the power of the Holy Spirit- to guide us along through the wins and losses.
I've heard a buzz word on catholic radio which terms atheist and other non-religious sect as "The Nones." The Nones definitely don't believe in The God Above. They can care less about religion. They prefer to live their lives however way they choose without guilt and remorse. Some Nones live on a diet of hate and anger while other Nones live on a life of sexual decadence. Other Nones may actually be good people who try to live good lives, yet they are still driven by their own passions. The Nones are pretty much fed up with Christians trying to convert them, disgusted by the obvious hypocrisy in so many of the God fearing.
I often wonder if The Nones find God and religion boring. Life with all of its shills and thrills, excess and decadence is much more appealing: Have a gay marriage ceremony and then adopt a baby or two. Have multiple abortions. Contracept so as to never have children. Get divorced multiple times or choose to forgo marriage. Demand rights as a transsexual and go through a sex change as young as eight years old. Become a porn star. Yikes! I just can't believe how far down the hole society has gone just in the last twenty five years. What will the next twenty five years look like?
For us Catholics who still attend Sunday mass and follow the teaching of the Magisterium, it's important for us not to be discouraged by the trends were seeing in regards to Christianity. We are literally in a spiritual war against the news Media, social media and technology which so often twists and warps the image of God. Let us continue to pray for those who have left the Church. Let us invoke the actions of the Holy Spirit to reverse the anti-religious trend in society today.
-J.
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