We Are in a Societal State of Moral Collapse
It is no surprise to anyone within or outside of the Church that young people are leaving organized religion in larger numbers than in past times. And this is affecting not only the Catholic Church but sects and other [organized] religious groups as well.
But for those of us who adhere to the True Faith revealed by Our Lord Jesus Christ and abide within the Church He instituted, how can we help prevent young people from leaving the Faith, which is necessary for salvation? Are we helping those who go through serious life challenges and doubts? Are we helping those who don’t feel connected to the Catholic Faith? Are we helping those who question Church matters on morality?
And for those who do remain in the Catholic Church, how many are actually good Catholics? How often does the average Catholic in the pew step back and actually pray? Does the average Catholic regularly pray the Rosary, offer daily prayers, have the habit of mental prayer, practice the First Saturday devotion, ever attend a daily Mass, or recite the Divine Office?
Today’s priests, parents, and catechists must be armed with the answers to hard questions, such as: Why does sin exist? Why does God allow evil? How can one know the true religion and reject the heresy that all religions are relatively good? How old is the earth and how does science interface with religion? Why must we reject abortion, same-sex marriage, contraception, greed, lust, and vain pursuits? Why is critical race theory wrong?
By tackling the hard questions and getting answers to those in need we can help prevent the loss of Faith to the next generation of Catholics. Catechists must yearn, pray for, and work for the salvation of souls of all their students.
Fatima for the Next Generation
We also have to make sure that successive generations are learning the full Message of Fatima because we know that Our Lady has provided us with the only solution for our times. As She Herself asserted, at this point in history, only She can help us.
To help young people learn the foundations of the Catholic Faith and the Message of Fatima – and are empowered to defend and share them with others – The Fatima Center is hosting a conference geared towards the young. It will be held in Buffalo, August 16-18. However, everyone is invited to this conference because being proficient in handing on the Faith to the next generation is something which concerns us all.
Topics to be addressed at this conference include rebutting society’s anti-Catholic bias, using social media in a healthy manner, resisting sins of the flesh, healing from pornography, finding a good spouse and building a strong Catholic family, developing a deep interior life, living the Message of Fatima, learning how to share the Faith, appreciating good music, and much more.
Three Reasons Why Young People Are Leaving the Faith
The overall reasons why those who were raised in the Catholic Faith and then fall away can generally be aggregated into three categories:
A) Those Who Deny or Doubt the Church’s Teachings
B) Those Who Experience Serious Life Challenges or Doubts
C) Those Who Do Not Feel Connected with the Faith
This information is gleaned from answers provided in surveys. For example, many young people say they no longer believe in God or go to Church because the “Big Bang” and evolutionary theory explain the origins of man and the universe. However, what they usually fail to express in surveys is that they don’t want to live according to the Church’s moral standards. This is a universal reason that undergirds and permeates all three categories. A person first falls into serious [mortal] sin and then begins to deny doctrine, entertain doubts, or feel disconnected from their faith community.
Note: Our Lady told St. Jacinta that the most prevalent sins are sins of the flesh. St. Alphonsus Liguori explained that there is no soul in hell who does not deserve to be there for violations against the 6th and 9th Commandments.
What We Can Do About It.
For those who deny or doubt the Church’s teachings, we must regularly ensure that we are teaching them the fullness of the Catholic Faith and doing so in a way to combat the errors of modern society. These errors which preach so-called “justice” and “equality” also violate God’s law by calling for the murder of unborn children via abortion, the legalization of same-sex “marriage,” or access to artificial contraception.
Young people must be taught by word – and more importantly by our example – that these are grave evils that violate God’s law, harm the young person and others, and derogate personal dignity. All points must be addressed. We must be fully informed on these matters, present them prudently, with charity and conviction, and live a life in conformity with what we profess.
A Catholic need not remove himself completely from the world and live like the Amish. Quite the contrary. As disciples of Christ, we are called to live in the world (but not be of the world). We must regularly engage with others, and we must be well-informed in order to engage and evangelize effectively.
Similarly, when someone is going through difficult challenges in life or is experiencing doubts about the Faith, bullying, or struggles with school or interpersonal relationships, they should have recourse to prayer. The Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, the Mass, and daily prayers should be foundational. When we allow life’s busy schedules to push these aside, they will seem unimportant. But at the same time, if we never allow our children to do leisure activities due to scheduled prayer times, they will resent us and the Faith.
Prudentially balancing all things – and always doing so with charity, kindness, and love – is essential. In all things, a parent should be praying for guidance from the Holy Ghost and one’s guardian angel and patron saints. A parent must strive to never lose their temper as the mental and emotional consequences for a child can last a lifetime. How you discipline or motivate your children will differ depending on their temperament.
And for those young people who do not feel connected with the Faith, this is a sad consequence of the collapse of the Faith after Vatican II. The Catholic Faith must not be something we only practice on Sunday mornings. We should regularly practice fasting and abstinence as a family, going beyond the minimum Church requirements. We should strive to assist at Mass during the week, not just on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. We must make praying the daily Rosary as a family a top priority.
We must also ensure that young people make good friends from like-minded families who share our core moral values and adhere to the same true doctrine. Get together with other families from the parish for fun social events, attend parish gatherings, and develop strong friendships. Young people poignantly feel the need to “belong.” If they have good Catholic friends and find joy in living the Faith, then they are far more likely to never abandon Christ and His Church.
Being Catholic is not just something that a young person can choose to do or not do. The youth’s whole life is meant to be intertwined with the Faith.
Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas
Let us pray for inspiration from the Holy Ghost using the prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas:
“Come, Holy Ghost, Divine Creator, true source of light and fountain of wisdom! Pour forth Thy brilliance upon my dense intellect, dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance. Grant me a penetrating mind to understand, a retentive memory, method and ease in learning, the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself. Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion. This I ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man, living and reigning with Thee and the Father, forever and ever. Amen.”