"Whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better
for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into
the sea.”
Harsh words
from our Lord today. But the Gospels
never relay Jesus telling a joke. We
need to take Him at His Word.
There are 80
million Catholics in the United States. A
recent study found that 5% of the 80 million US Catholics
1) Come to
Mass every weekend unless they are sick or caring for someone who is sick
2) And
confess their sins at least once a year
Apostasy is
defined as an abandonment of one’s faith, and I can’t imagine an Apostasy
getting much worse than this one. Again,
95% of US Catholics are not practicing at the most fundamental level. Saint Paul tells the Thessalonians there will
be a great apostasy as a direct precursor to the coming of the Antichrist. It is hard to imagine this apostasy getting
any worse.
The
Catechism makes it clear “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage,
parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their
children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into
the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for
their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the
life of the Church.”
And
elsewhere “Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of
instruction in the faith.” And
elsewhere “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their
children.”
Today our
American and larger western culture is the most toxic culture in the history of
the world; as we hear in our 2nd reading today, the rich will be
consumed by fire. And our culture is
saturated in $. God does not hate money,
but He acknowledges that it starts to corrupt us if we are not careful.
We will be recognizing
all of our volunteer catechists and mentors who help provide the support here
for what is first and foremost the duty of parents. It is a partnership between the parish and
the parents, but the children can’t come unless the parents bring them, and they
won’t get anything out of it when they come if they don’t see it lived at home.
I spoke at a
home school conference in one of the first years of my priesthood. I said something that I got a lot of positive
feedback on, I said “you have to regularly tell your children WHY you are
bringing them to Mass, and catechizing them, you have to regularly remind them
that is because Jesus Christ has a plan for their life, and that plan iw beyond
amazing – you have to do the hard work of raising them in the Faith but also
remind them why you are doing it on a regular basis. It will not instantly produce perfect little
cherubs who rejoice at getting up to come to Mass, but they will remember it
down the road.
I will end
with one final quote from the Catechism which makes total sense to me: “By
knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will
be better able to guide and correct them”
I think that is such good advice.
If you have failed in any way, don’t be afraid to acknowledge that to
your children as well.
There is a mass
exodus that has been going on for generations.
If we are to see it turn around, the turnaround will need to start in
the family.
