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In one of our gospels, Jesus is quoted as saying, “On this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.” When Jesus made that statement, the Church was just beginning.  It was very small and seemingly insignificant.  But now it reaches around the world and plays a vital role in the lives of millions of people.  Enemies have tried and still try to stop it, but they have failed.   Despite opposition from without and weaknesses from within, the Church has lived and flourished across the centuries. The words of Jesus have come […]

In 2015, at the Synod on the Family, Rick Warren summarized the present condition of our 21st century this way: “In today’s society, materialism is idolized; immorality is glamorized; truth is minimized; sin is normalized; divorce is rationalized; abortion is legalized.  In T.V. and movies, crime is legitimized; drug use is minimized; comedy is vulgarized; and sex is trivialized.  Again, in movies, the Bible is fictionalized; churches are satirized; God is marginalized; and Christians are demonized.  The elderly are dehumanized; the sick are euthanized; the poor are victimized; the mentally ill are ostracized; immigrants are stigmatized; our children are tranquilized.  […]

 There are some clear indications today of a decline in religious interest, or at least, a decline in active involvement in the Church.  So we ask ourselves today, “How serious is this decline? What does it mean?  How long will it last?  How deep will it go?”  I do not pretend to have all the answers.  I do know that in order to get the picture in perspective we must stand far enough back to take a broad, long look.  This kind of thing may be new to many of us, but it is not new in the life of […]