"The wide-scale rejection of Christianity in the modern world is a deep mystery to me"

Fr. Lemieux is challenged by the dismissal of the faith and challenges the faithful to do something about it:

The wide-scale rejection of Christianity in the modern world is a deep mystery to me, I must say. I have never quite understood why so many people have turned away from the Christian faith, its practice, its beliefs. I suppose my own experience of Christianity, at least ever since I came to have a true apprehension of it around age 17 or so, has been so thoroughly positive, my understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ and to really plunge into the demands and promises of the Gospel is so radiant and joyful even as it is far from easy and my fidelity to it far from perfect, that I find it difficult to connect with the popular image of the Church and Christianity that so many reject.

It seems to me that what so many people reject—harsh, censorious, hypocritical, joyless, boring, lifeless religion—is simply not the Gospel. Much of the apostasy of our day is not actually (I believe) an apostasy from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation it offers, but an apostasy from a bizarre caricature of that gospel, a parody Gospel which in fact is an anti-gospel, bad news all around for humanity.

Now I really don’t know where people get this anti-gospel from – that is the mystery to me. The parish life I grew up in was, perhaps, a little boring, the preaching not exactly stirring, the music rather tedious, and the parish life in general not exactly bursting with enthusiasm. But there was certainly no hellfire and brimstone or obsessing over sexual sin or any of the (frankly) ridiculous pictures of Catholicism the popular media like to project. Maybe some of that was true in an earlier era, but I am 46 years old, and I simply do not believe that very many people my age and younger were exposed to that kind of Catholicism.

...

It seems to me that those of us who do believe and who do see the beauty and joy of Christianity need to reflect deeply on how to communicate this joy and beauty to the world. Social media, yes, but personal encounter more so. Reasoned explanations and elegant formulations, yes, but works of mercy and compassion more so.

Christianity and the Gospel are all about love—God’s passionate personal love for you and me and each human being, our entry into that mystery of love. We need to make love our focus, our priority, the main work to which we give our lives. Otherwise, people will simply never know who God is, and never know the fullness of life He is offering.

We have to do it. It is our job, and no one else can do it for us.

There's work to do.

The world is crying out for that which only God can provide.  We need to figure out to effectively carry that message forward.

Light must pierce the darkness.

Comments

[mathman]

Of course Christianity has been rejected.
The 200 proof item is not presented.
Consider today's Gospel: "You brood of vipers...". You can't say that!
Nevertheless John the Baptist said it. His remarks hit home, and folk headed for the water for the baptism of repentance.
You can't get well until you admit you are sick.
When the Gospel is proclaimed it is radically effective. See Africa for details.
Where the Gospel is watered down to the ratio 10,000,000 to one and is made homeopathic, it is useless.
Just try it.
REPENT! Confess your sins and Jesus will forgive them.
And THEN see what happens!

[olivia]

Please consider what the scriptures reveal:

Peace on Earth
Hunt, Dave
At the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the angels announced good tidings of great joy...to all people... on earth peace, good will toward men" (Lk 2:10-14). Yet God's gracious and merciful offer of peace was refused! God's Son was crucified, rose from the dead and went back to heaven, having been rejected by His own people and most of mankind. He will return to earth soon to execute judgment upon a world of increasing evil and continuous wars that grow ever more numerous and destructive. In the meanwhile, God's offer of pardon and peace goes largely unheeded, while global leaders seek to establish peace through their own devices.

Mankind continues to this day to spurn Jesus and the peace He came to bring. Jews have a special rationale for rejecting Christ: "He didn't bring the peace which the prophets said the Messiah would establish, and he was crucified. A dead man can't be the Messiah!" This reaction rejects the historical fact of Christ's resurrection. It also reveals a basic misunderstanding of the peace God offers. The same ignorance afflicts the world at large.

Most people think of peace as the cessation of wars between nations. The peace that God offers, however, though essential for peace among nations, is far more basic and awesome. Romans:5:1 declares, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The implication is both instructive and frightening: that man is God's adversary and in a state of war against his Creator.

Many other scriptures confirm the ominous fact that man has made himself God's enemy and desperately needs the specific peace which would end that conflict: "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom:8:7); "enemies in your mind by wicked works" (Col:1:21); "A friend of the world is the enemy of God" (Jas 4:4), etc. Who would dare to rebel against God? Yet this is the condition of mankind, which must repent of its insurrection and accept peace on God's terms or suffer the awful consequences.

Only when earth is no longer at war with heaven can there be peace among the inhabitants of this planet. And to attempt to establish peace among nations without first of all accepting the peace with God that He offers is to remain in a state of war against God himself. Such is the terrible warning of Scripture!

http://www.thebereancall.org/content/peace-earth-0

[Carmen]

People are subject to many different influences. They will not necessarily choose what is right, in the sense of what is right for their mental or spiritual health, the overall survival of our species or even the stability of the planet we live on.

People who are presented with facts will still make bad choices and they will do so repeatedly.

For this reason, we know that people will continue to reject truth, whether that truth has to do with how they feel about themselves, salvation or driving drunk.