A Sunday Thought About Our Post-Christian Pagan Culture to Start the Week Off Right

Our offering for this 9th Sunday after Pentecost concerns our post-Christian pagan culture. It's inspired by some recent spiritual commentary I read over the last couple of weeks.

Most of us should already be aware that "Christendom," as it once existed, has disappeared. It's been replaced by what some call a post-Christian pagan culture. Seems an apt description. 

For some what was once Chrsitendom may be a happy memory. It once was, was good while it lasted, but it's time has passed. C'est la vie. 

For others, though, it's disappearance might be a source of deep regret and sadness. The thought that once our culture was not simply influenced, but guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, embodied in His Holy Catholic Church, stands out as a better time. Sure, modern technology and its conveniences ought not be minimized. But what good is the comfort of the body without the health of the soul?

Of course, many of us may be oblivious to the reality of Christendom. What exists now seems perfectly normal, even natural. (If you're one of these latter, and you're Catholic, do yourself a favor and enrich your mind and memory with the glorious history of a pagan world converted to Christ. Despite the imperfections and resulting problems engendered by some of its adherence, Christianity vastly improved the spiritual and the material lot of much of world it encountered. An open mind will grasp this.)

On the other hand, a chunk of folks out there aggressively celebrate the end of a culture embued with Christian morality, tradition, teachings. They prefer what now surrounds us. Christianity represent oppression, intolerance, lack of personal freedom, etc. Frankly, from the perspective of a practicing Catholic, such folks need our help.

But as much as they need our help, so too do many of our fellow Catholics who are enthralled with the world and its wiles. If you recall Vatican II and its aftermath, a large swath of Catholics believed the Church, its traditions and liturgy, needed updating. They thought it would be better to stop distinguishing ourselves so radically from the modern "zeitgeist" (spirit of the age). How that's worked out for the Church should be obvious, but I suspect not for many of them. They seem curiously satisfied with the lack of Mass attendance, tolerance - really acceptance - of sin, and perversions of all sorts. We're better off covered in the dirt and grime of this world. Being concerned with washing ourselves with sincere and regular Confession of our sins, and the desire to pursue pious practices in the face of a vulgar and disordered world seems quaint.

Much as such Catholics could use our prayers, let's not forget the rest of us who consider ourselves serious practicing Catholics. As Christendom diminished over centuries, we've been the proverbial frogs in the pot. We languish as the water slowly warms. Before we know it, we're cooked in a slow infiltration of numerous customs, ways of conduct, habits of thought. We're not only distanced from true Christian culture, but even from the ways of the ways of thinking and acting of pagan Rome. Sure, Christianity "reformed" Roman pagan culture. But at least the ancient pagans believed in something, recognized some sort of divinity, practiced some form of religion that meant something to them, that penetrated and influenced their daily activities.

Can we say the same of our lives and our Catholic faith?

So many of us who profess a sincere Catholic faith, and embrace the main practices of our Catholic religion, really go about our lives as if Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church didn't exist - except for a few minutes on Sunday. Okay, maybe we access the sacraments on other days. But the rest of the time, we're just like everyone else - and happy to be so.

We'd rather fit in with the culture, not stand out as we Catholics once did. Heck, we don't even observe meatless Friday's anymore - once a recognized sign that you were Catholic. Even if we oppose abortion - in theory - we accept divorce, contraception, impurity, bad language...well, I think you get the point.

The world, the flesh, and the devil mean more to us than Our Lord and Our Lady. Our language and behavior all to frequently send a message that we basically ignore or are  embarrassed by many of the teachings of our Catholic faith. 

Isn't it time for all this to stop? Even if you don't miss Christendom, is this what you want?

Sunday provides the perfect time to consider all this. Where do each of us stand in this post-Christian pagan culture of ours? Is Sunday the only time we separate ourselves to some degree from all that surrounds us? If so, let's take the time today to pray for the grace to be real Catholics in the face of all this.

Happy Sunday!