To the Editor:
People may scoff at my claim that the Catholic Church is even capable of a renewal. Don’t I read the newspapers or look at the percentage of young adults rejecting Christianity? How about the moral collapse of traditional marriage and the continual disregard for human life from unborn children to elderly? What about the behavior of some of its leaders?
Why am I so confident that the Gospel message will catch fire in America and the rest of western civilization? My simple one word answer is “persecution.” Christianity seems to flourish when the prevailing culture is at odds with the moral teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church. The light of truth always shines brightest in the dark void of a culture on the brink of imploding.
The rejection of the God of life will inevitably lead a society to depression and hopelessness. Our culture is falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of despair. Like a drug addict seeking its next fix, our society rushes head first into even more depravity.
Authentic Christianity offers our culture a way out of this darkness. Like a lifeboat on a sinking ship, Jesus reaches out to our world with love, mercy and the light of truth. He reaches out through the hands and feet of his modern-day disciples and followers. These disciples and followers may seem insignificant in number, but this remnant of the Church will be the seeds of new life and hope. This remnant will face opposition and hatred from many. Two thousand years of Christian history has shown us that many will face imprisonment, abuse and even death. Modern society will try and silence the truth.
The truth of Jesus Christ can never be silenced. It will rise above our depravity just as Jesus rose from the dead. The persecution of Christ and his Church will offer our world a new spring time. This new spring time will be “the Catholic Church’s finest hour.”
Mike Gannon
Coralville
