Homily

As we hear today, St. Paul wrote the Colossians, telling them to

"See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world, and not according to Christ."

If I had to pick the number one empty, seductive philosophy that is capturing people today, I'd call it "Ego-maniasm" or, to use a longer title I'd call it the philosophy of "It's All About Me, As I Understand It, For Myself."

There was an interesting article in USA Today and Carl Olson treated it on his blog for Ignatius Press, and he wrote a fine piece there [view blog]. The USA article gave some interesting statistics from different polls that were taken recently. 44% of those recently polled said they spend NO time at all seeking "eternal wisdom," and 19% said it's useless to search for meaning. 46% said that they "never wonder if they will go to heaven." 28% said that "it is not a major priority in my life to find a deeper purpose" while 18% did not believe God had a purpose or plan for everyone.

Twenty years ago, 24% of Americans did not belong to a church. Today 37% do not belong to a church. George Barna, one of the most famous poll-takers on religious and ethical questions tells us "People say, 'I believe in God. I believe the Bible is a good book. And then I believe whatever I want.'" In former times people generally stuck to the church, religion, denomination that they were raised in, believing in the same faith as their parents. Today, more and more, people will join a church not because of what it teaches, but because of how they feel about attending there. They may have been Lutherans but now go to the Baptist church because it has a great program for kids. They may have been Catholic but now attend a "mega-church" on the other side of town because they love the music there. And they may change again, because they are not so interested in what any church teaches as the truth. They're more interested in how a church makes them feel, because they have their own beliefs that they will adhere to despite what may be preached or taught to them. Who can know better than they what is right or wrong for them? It's not at all uncommon today to hear people say "I'm Catholic, but" and they start to list the articles of Catholic faith they do not believe in. Isn't that fascinating? They say they are Catholic but then define that membership in the Church by stating what Catholic teachings they will not accept!! Imagine someone saying, "I'm a huge Ducks football fan, but I don't like going to their games, I don't watch them on TV, or listen to them on the radio, and I hate their coach, which is why I don't even know how many games they've won or lost this year. Go Ducks!!!" You'd think they were crazy to call themselves big fans, right? But people seem to have no problem identifying themselves as Catholics even though they reject the teachings of the Church.

And I suspect that there are more people in this region who can speak more clearly and passionately about the Ducks than they can about their own philosophy of life, or of their religious faith, if they have any. And if you do hear any talk in public about religion it's probably fine as long as it's not about Christianity, or unless it is a complaint against Christian beliefs. But if you speak or write positively about Christianity, especially the Catholic Faith the complaints that you're trying to force your religion on other people come quickly as email spam. The complainants don't mind discussing religion in public as long as it is a criticism.

It's a pervasive idea that found everywhere today: there must be something wrong with positively and completely embracing the faith of the Church. For 2,000 years holy men and women have held these moral principles as a part of the truth revealed by God, but today for many people, if they don't "feel right" about some moral truth, they reject it on their own authority. For many centuries some of the most brilliant Christian thinkers have held to this position or that, but now if someone isn't "feeling it" they will refuse to accept it using their own brilliant intellectual powers. People are often much more interested in "10 Tips for Looking Younger" than they are in 10 Commandments given by God. If they don't find it interesting or entertaining, how important can it be?

It is a very dangerous thing when people no longer care much about the meaning or purpose of their life in this world; when they no longer consider it to be an important question. It is a dangerous thing when people do not accept that there is any need to embrace a well-established moral/ethical code that is comprehensive and relies on an authority outside of themselves, and greater than themselves. I want to talk a bit more about these dangers next Sunday, but today I'd like to encourage you take on a positive, thoughtful exercise: If a poll-taker called you up and asked you what percentage of your time each week you spend seeking eternal wisdom, or how often you have thought about whether or not you'll make it to heaven, or if you believe that God has a plan or purpose for your life, and how would you describe it? And if we were asked to describe the meaning and purpose of our existence in one or two sentences, what would we say? I think they're great questions. (Maybe I should call you up and ask???)