Marry This Age

Learning the culture of heaven

John 3:16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

           How do you learn more about your religion? How do you typically go about deepening your Catholic faith? We’d all like to answer that it’s through reading the Bible and studying the Catechism and through prayer. But if we’re really honest with ourselves, we’ll say we probably learn it through the evening news and google, or maybe watching movies or T.V. shows, or by reading Bill O’Reilly’s book, “Killing Jesus”! Recently, the Pew Research Center tried to define these “cultural Catholics” and said they basically depend on their culture to learn about Christ and Catholicism (“Who are ‘cultural Catholics’,” Pew Research Center, Sept. 3, 2015). But what happens when the culture becomes less Catholic? Well, just look at your kids and grandkids: how Catholic are they?

          I like to joke that living in Fort Smith is like going back to 1985 because our culture in this town is still stuck in the eighties. But I mean that as a compliment, not as a criticism. Why? Well, because it was a lot easier to be Catholic back in the 80’s, because the culture was more Catholic. But here’s the risk: if you live by the culture, you will also die by the culture.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen said succinctly: “If you marry this age, you will become a widow in the next.”

          Do you know where I learned today’s gospel passage from? It was at a baseball game! Have you ever seen that guy who holds up a sign with the Bible verse, “John 3:16” written on it? I’m sure it’s the same guy at all the different sporting events. But I kept seeing that sign, so I decided to look it up. It’s the first line of today’s gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In other words, I learned John 3:16 at a baseball game. Would I ever have learned that Scripture passage without that fan at a baseball game? Probably not. You see, if you live by the culture, you will die by the culture.

          My friends, we don’t need the Pew Research Center to tell us our Catholicism is mainly cultural. We see it in our families at home, and I see it in our parishioners at church. In sober and serious moments, I even see it in the face staring back in the mirror. So, let me urge you to take care not to be caught up in ANY culture: whether the modern American culture, or that of the 80’s, or that of the 50’s, etc. Rather, deepen your faith by actually reading the Bible (not just at baseball games), and studying the Catechism (not just when Bill O’Reilly quotes it), and spending time in quiet prayer (not just when your life is falling apart). Then, you will start learning a different culture, namely, the culture of heaven. And if you marry that age, you will never become a widow.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!