Religion Not a Private Affair Says Papa!

So our wonderful Pope has been in America the last couple of days and he is already facing some serious issues head on!

In one of the Pope’s addresses, he encourages Catholics and young Catholics alike to not allow religion to become a private affair. Rather, it should be public! This idea related a lot to our class this past week. One of the topics of discussion concerned that of the community. What we do affects our community; we are the Body of Christ. Therefore, our sin and our actions are not just our own.

Pope Benedict XVI stated:

While it is true that this country is marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior.

Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel.

Later on, Pope Benedict addressed some obstacles that were keeping us from encountering God. These obstacles are materialism and the overemphasis on freedom and autonomy. The Pope said:

People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God.

It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty.

The overemphasis on freedom and autonomy makes it easy to lose sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we bear toward them.

This emphasis on individualism has even affected the Church, giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community. If we are truly to gaze upon him who is the source of our joy, we need to do so as members of the people of God. If this seems counter-cultural, that is simply further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture.

Following this, the Pope addresses the bishops reminding them further of their role, encouraging them to get involved in the public realm. Gently encouraging, he states:

In the United States, as elsewhere, there is much current and proposed legislation that gives cause for concern from the point of view of morality, and the Catholic community, under your guidance, needs to offer a clear and united witness on such matters. Yet it cannot be assumed that all Catholic citizens think in harmony with the Church's teaching on today's key ethical questions.

Once again, it falls to you to ensure that the moral formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic teaching of the Gospel of life.

Addressing the family, he continues:

How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it altogether.

To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong commitment, is simply absent.

It is your task to proclaim boldly the arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage. […] This message should resonate with people today, because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved 'yes' to life, a 'yes' to love, and a 'yes' to the aspirations at the heart of our common humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others and with the Lord.

How perfect and what a wonderful call to action! The Pope, as some might argue, is NOT out-of-touch! God bless, Pope Benedict.