There was a time When....

There was a time When……

Can you remember When families used to go to Church together and sought the Lord in their greatest conflicts?  Perhaps these were times When there was no other sensible guide existing for people to turn to in a world of poverty or lawlessness before communities finally got their senses together.

It was an era When our parents, especially our mother, made certain we were out of bed in time to get to Church on Sunday.  When the catechism classes were announced for those not attending Catholic schools she was certain to get us there for Holy Communion and several years later for Confirmation.  These sacraments laid the groundwork for a life of learning about God, and the reason he sent his Son to redeem us from the sins we were susceptible to acquire.  

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (in those days just called going to confession) became one of real adherence to the Church When we would meet with a priest and find the persona of one on one When sin became a bad word for children growing up.  It wasn’t that we were threatened by God, but the sense that if we did not confess our sins we might be on the way to hell.  So, according to the scenario of some, it was a way to scare the hell out of us.  

There was a period of maturity When these children grew into adulthood, got married and raised their own families that also learned to attend Church together.  The lessons from their childhood still made a difference which included God’s presence in some form that catechesis might have been confusing, but we still listened to the priests who guided us in our religion.  The children of these new families began to get a more intensified look at their faith and decided to make their own decisions as to the teachings of the Church.    

Suddenly,  When these new children grew up they found a new way of looking at Sunday through golf, picnics, sports for their children, but not Church affiliation.  If we were to ask some of these adults about God, what would we expect as answers?  Don’t question the latest children who are adept at team sports, and other activities, as good as they may be for community involvement, about faith and heaven or hell, the answers may be a quiet stare as if to say; :what are you talking about?  

I know at least one family whose daughter had a baby recently, and they made sure this child was baptized.  But, do they go to Church?  No!  Does the baby’s mother go as well?  No!   The next question is; will this child ever receive the other sacraments of the Church?  I doubt it since there is no affiliation from grandparents, parents, and other siblings as well that do not attend Church anymore.  

We have come to a crossroad in faith that frightens me.  Many people, too many, have lost all semblance of God, their own faith, and the biblical pronouncement of individual salvation.  

I just saw a daughter and her husband returning from a trip to Las Vegas and the responses of what they encountered there reminds me of what Sodom and Gamorrah must have been like.  I remember when I was in the Army, my friends and I visited New York City (we were stationed at West Point, only 40 miles north of the city).   I was impressed at how many movie theaters were right on 42nd street.  That was 1956.  Years later we visited the 1964 New York World's Fair and noticed almost 100 % of the same movie theaters all showed xxx rated movies.  It didn’t take too long for the evils of infiltration into the public allowing this type of attraction to penetrate the minds of people of all ages.

A ripple effect can cover all sorts of phenomena as we have seen throughout human history.  What about the lack of or the very loss from spiritual understanding that has brought the theme of right from wrong.  Do you believe that on a world stage of morality where the examples of moral living and the knowledge of God purposely neglected from families has become the very essence of what I wrote above about 42nd street movie theaters is at fault?  I would say it has an astounding effect that is not going away.  The tentacles of evil will use every avenue to destroy God’s world of love and peace.  We are already in the grasp of the devil’s plan to take humanity to the depths of hell.  

Each of us who speaks, writes, and promotes the dictates of reaching souls is a must do mandate and the results of our absence from following this requirement will answer to God.

Ralph B. Hathaway