Learning from Yom Kippur
2 years ago
What is it that young people are seeking, those who find solace in what others call the Church of the past? Perhaps it is a deeper connection with the Jesus of the Gospels, not the Jesus that has been hijacked by the media. Jesus of Nazareth was a rebel, a countercultural rabblerouser who challenged the status quo because the status quo had fallen away from what God had intended for mankind.
Often times we see a Jesus of comfort portrayed in Church and in media. The Jesus who says I love you just as you are, but leaves out the Jesus who says, but I call you to come further with me and be better. Have we shaped Jesus in the image of a man who will help us achieve our own political and moral ends, or do we still have a connection the the Jesus who resides fully in the Gospel, the Jesus who came so that we may have life and have it abundantly??
The more often I read the Gospels and the more I live and see of the world, I am beginning to believe that Christ has been hijacked (much like our solemn feasts, but that's a whole different story!). Yes, Christ does in fact love us - I don't for one second want to insinuate that this love is either conditional or false. What I want to do is look at what it really means - what does Christ's love mean in our lives?
We use the word love in American society as loosely as we do everything else. It is not a word used with care, and it has become tainted. The love that Christ gives is a gift, and though it does not come with conditions, it does come with challenges. To live in and for the love of Christ calls us to task more often than we would like. Yet, in our post-modern culture, love of a person has come to mean that challenging them to do better is to not affirm the person they are. If we are, as Catholics and Christians to pattern our life after Christ's love, that kind of love dishonors the heritage of Love we share.
The Jesus of the scriptures was not tolerant. He was compassionate and merciful, yes. He ate with sinners, he suffered with his friends and with strangers. What he did not do, however, was tolerate attitudes and behaviors that maligned God. "Go and sin no more" was always the challenge.
The Jesus of the scriptures was not unconditionally accepting and affirming. Yes, He always accepted and affirmed the inherent dignity and worth of every person, created in the image and likeness of His Father, but not always did he accept or affirm their behaviors.
The Jesus of the scriptures had righteous anger. Jesus called people to task. Christ's first concern was not being liked - it was converting hearts to a deep and true love of God. He was not popular by our standards, but he was always authentic and those who were able to strip themselves of their own pride and understanding were drawn to Him and the Truth and mercy He shared.
Our young people are no different. They are reacting now in the same way. The freedoms and joys promised by the sexual revolution, individualism, materialism, commercialization and the relativism of "I'm okay, you're okay" have not been realized. Instead of leading to greater happiness, those promises have led to a more chaotic struggle. Our young people are often finding that they are not okay, that they continue to search and thirst for something to fill a void in their lives.
What they seek are the timeless Truths, that which has stood firm against the test of time and criticism, the rock amidst the storm. They are seeking fulfilled promises, unconditional love and unending peace. What they are realizing for themselves is that there is one person throughout all of history who can give them what they are seeking - Jesus Christ.
Make no mistake, though. "The Way Things Were" is not their anthem song. This is not a regression in the deep recesses of the past in an effort to relive tenets that we've long since abandoned. It is a reclaiming of the faith that went before them, traditions and adherences that were brushed aside in the tide of change but never restored fully. It is discovering the past and infusing it into a faith that is constantly growing.
So...what is it we/they seek? I think it can be summed up pretty simply. They are not looking for a feel-good faith - they are seeking what is good.
Often times we see a Jesus of comfort portrayed in Church and in media. The Jesus who says I love you just as you are, but leaves out the Jesus who says, but I call you to come further with me and be better. Have we shaped Jesus in the image of a man who will help us achieve our own political and moral ends, or do we still have a connection the the Jesus who resides fully in the Gospel, the Jesus who came so that we may have life and have it abundantly??
The more often I read the Gospels and the more I live and see of the world, I am beginning to believe that Christ has been hijacked (much like our solemn feasts, but that's a whole different story!). Yes, Christ does in fact love us - I don't for one second want to insinuate that this love is either conditional or false. What I want to do is look at what it really means - what does Christ's love mean in our lives?
We use the word love in American society as loosely as we do everything else. It is not a word used with care, and it has become tainted. The love that Christ gives is a gift, and though it does not come with conditions, it does come with challenges. To live in and for the love of Christ calls us to task more often than we would like. Yet, in our post-modern culture, love of a person has come to mean that challenging them to do better is to not affirm the person they are. If we are, as Catholics and Christians to pattern our life after Christ's love, that kind of love dishonors the heritage of Love we share.
The Jesus of the scriptures was not tolerant. He was compassionate and merciful, yes. He ate with sinners, he suffered with his friends and with strangers. What he did not do, however, was tolerate attitudes and behaviors that maligned God. "Go and sin no more" was always the challenge.
The Jesus of the scriptures was not unconditionally accepting and affirming. Yes, He always accepted and affirmed the inherent dignity and worth of every person, created in the image and likeness of His Father, but not always did he accept or affirm their behaviors.
The Jesus of the scriptures had righteous anger. Jesus called people to task. Christ's first concern was not being liked - it was converting hearts to a deep and true love of God. He was not popular by our standards, but he was always authentic and those who were able to strip themselves of their own pride and understanding were drawn to Him and the Truth and mercy He shared.
Our young people are no different. They are reacting now in the same way. The freedoms and joys promised by the sexual revolution, individualism, materialism, commercialization and the relativism of "I'm okay, you're okay" have not been realized. Instead of leading to greater happiness, those promises have led to a more chaotic struggle. Our young people are often finding that they are not okay, that they continue to search and thirst for something to fill a void in their lives.
What they seek are the timeless Truths, that which has stood firm against the test of time and criticism, the rock amidst the storm. They are seeking fulfilled promises, unconditional love and unending peace. What they are realizing for themselves is that there is one person throughout all of history who can give them what they are seeking - Jesus Christ.
Make no mistake, though. "The Way Things Were" is not their anthem song. This is not a regression in the deep recesses of the past in an effort to relive tenets that we've long since abandoned. It is a reclaiming of the faith that went before them, traditions and adherences that were brushed aside in the tide of change but never restored fully. It is discovering the past and infusing it into a faith that is constantly growing.
So...what is it we/they seek? I think it can be summed up pretty simply. They are not looking for a feel-good faith - they are seeking what is good.
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