Posted on 09/07/2014 10:10:45 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Although Abdul Hamid has largely been forgotten, he is the young man sitting in the pew next to you at Mass.
Abdul was the renowned American boy John Walker Lindh who turned Taliban fighter in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001. The argument can be made that he is an icon for many American Catholic youth of our current day. John Walker Lindh was “raised Catholic” in his suburban California home. By the age of 16, he left his spiritual heritage in search of “his own spiritual path.” That eventually led him to Islam and to his senseless death in Afghanistan.
Likewise, one of the most difficult encounters I have had as a priest involved a young man who, after twelve years of Catholic education, converted to Islam. I was defeated before I even met the young man; his parents waited way too long before arranging our meeting. On one hand, he was like any other young man with whom I have worked: idealistic, eager to learn, searching, and trying desperately to make sense of the world in which he lived. On the other, he grasped anxiously to an ideology that he found nearly impossible to defend. Impossible to defend, yet at the same time it must have offered him something for which to hope and sacrifice. Recently, news reports have been filed from the Middle East that a small, though significant, number of western young men are traveling to these war torn regions for their share of the – contrived – Islamic glory.
Even if we are unwilling to ask the question, it remains and must be addressed…Why are so many of our Catholic youth, especially young men, so easily led away from their Catholic faith? And more pointed, why would they leave the Church -even the marginalized- for an alternative that promises oppression, injustice, darkness and death (not to mention a spiritual life devoid of the Father’s mercy)?
When I talk with college age students, the most common statements I hear are these: “Twelve years of Catholic school, and nobody ever told me that!” “I was raised Catholic, but…now I am Buddhist…now I have no need to attend church…” “I am no longer a Catholic, but I am (even after admitting to regular pornography use, pre-marital sex, drug abuse, apathy toward life) a ‘good person’ and believe I am going to heaven.” “We cannot judge; the Church is intolerant, exclusive, hypocritical and irrelevant.” And, finally, the most despised, “I was raised Catholic, but…” (This is what happens when young people learn their catechesis from Hollywood.)
Parents blame catechists, catechists blame parents, Directors of Religious Education blame bishops, bishops blame priests, everyone blames the youth…there seems to be little in the way of answers and much in the way of blame.
Brothers, you and I are the solution to the problem. Young men will experience deep religious conversion and turn to defend all that is good when Catholic men return to the ancient practice of teaching their sons (and other young men) their faith. That is the only way that the situation will change. The teaching of the faith to the young men historically and nearly universally fell to the father of the family. Within the church in the United States, most young people are taught their faith by women. We are glad for their dedication and commitment, however, boys learn their faith from their fathers. I am quite confident that young Islamists are not being taught their faith by women. As incomprehensible as Islam can be, at least their young men know their faith. Remarkably, the very same can be said of St. Joseph and Jesus. In their time, men taught their sons the faith. It is very safe to assume that St. Joseph would have taught Jesus the tenets of his own faith and introduced him to the ancient and sacred Scriptures.
A recent European study revealed some startling findings regarding the critical role of fathers in their children’s practice of the faith. The study found that fathers chiefly determine the church habits of grown children. If a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s attendance, only one child in 50 (2 percent) will remain faithful to the Church. Yet, if a father does go regularly, and the mother does not, 44 percent of their children will become churchgoers (Thomas W. Karras, “The Truth About Men and the Church,” Orthodox News Service).
It was a man, my pastor, who convinced me of my faith. He was a rock. Nothing: no challenge, could cause him anxiety about the truth…and I pressed him with every possibility! He was a man of conviction. Fathers and other Catholic men must do the work to discover their own faith on a personal level and make an interior assent to the Truth which they discover. Then, they must boldly, though charitably, defend and teach that faith to their sons. We must be cautious when talking to grown sons (and daughters) about the faith. Many have been completely (in the words of a college junior) brainwashed by the culture. Talk may not be productive. The most effective manner to evangelize sons (and daughters) is to know your own faith and let them see how happy you are, confident in the promises and hope of Jesus Christ.
The future, our future, rests with Catholic men. Catholic men must rediscover the ancient reality and truth of their faith and see the grace offered therein as an unearthly force of great and tremendous life-altering power. These are not empty words. Jean Cardinal Danielou once wrote, “What men fear fundamentally is that this irruption of God into their lives may be the occasion of losing themselves, and may involve them in terrible (i.e. formidable) adventures.”
As I direct retreats or days of reflection for Catholic men, I cannot believe the apathy or even hostility young Catholics hold toward their Church. Today, there is even a triumphalistic attitude when one declares his independence from, and superiority to, the Catholic Church. This attitude is accompanied by a distrust of the Church and what she teaches as well as a position that the Church is irrelevant to them. The abuse crisis is always cited. Yes, individuals within the Church have failed terribly in the past. But to surrender the heritage of the Church, her Scriptures, her charity, and the mystery of the Eucharist because of human failure?
Everyone has an opinion, but it remains and cannot be denied: we are losing our young men and jeopardizing the future of the Church and the order of society. We are simply not equipping young men if we are not teaching them the rich and life-sustaining truths of Jesus Christ and his Church. I truly doubt many young Catholic men will end up in the deserts of Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, but I also doubt they will be able to raise a Christian family, defend ethical principles in the work place, regularly confess their sins, answer the challenges of non-Catholic proselytizers, enter into the permanent selfless bond of marriage or hear the call of God to the priesthood or religious life, or deal well with death. Not to forget the rearing and instruction of the next generation of Catholics.
Well, yes, of course. :o)
“Being the “camel spider” it could JUMP long distances...and it jumped about five feet OUT of the closet,”
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If any spider jumped five feet near me it couldn’t harm me——because I would drop dead.
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Lol. I see what you mean.
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