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In this week’s Time magazine
essay, Charles Krauthammer describes the recent uprising in France. “On
the one side are the protester-arsonists, many if not most of them
Muslim, whom the Interior Minister called racaille (rabble) -- young,
restless, violent, angry, jobless, envious, and fecund. And on the other
side is an aged and exhausted civilization, the hollowed-out core of
European Christendom, static, aging, contented, coddled, passive and
literally without faith. Who would you think will win in the end?”
Krauthammer goes on to discuss the demographics of the situation. Old
Europe is literally disappearing. There are an estimated 5 million
Muslims in France, fast approaching 10%. The Muslim birth rate is
three time that of non-Muslim Europe. Young Muslims “want a future.
The rest of France has for decades been wanting only a present -- just a
few more years of fine wine and steady work in a superregulated, 35-hr.-
workweek, cozy social compact that makes it almost impossible for a
worker to be fired and almost impossible for the offspring of immigrants
to be hired.”
Our late Holy Father John Paul II called on European leaders to recover
their Christian roots as they unified for the 21st century. Instead,
they ignored their Christian heritage for what Krauthammer describes as
“the godless decadence of French secularism with its empty churches,
sexual license and existential ennui.” This is what has alienated
Muslim youths and sustains their contempt for old, dying Europe.
As our new Church year begins we hear from St. Paul that, like the
Corinthians, we are not lacking in any spiritual gift. In Mark’s gospel
Jesus reminds us that we must be on the watch, alert for the Master’s
return. The passage from Isaiah recalls the days when God’s people had
grown cold and lax in their faith, therefore God hid his face from them
and delivered them up to their guilt.
With all the gifts that God has given us we might want to ask ourselves
if we too have grown cold in the practice of our faith. Do we remain
alert and watchful about the work that Christ has given each of us to
accomplish? Do we make any effort at all to share our faith with others?
With spouses and children? With fallen away family and friends? Does our
social service and neighborhood involvement fulfill Christ’s command to
feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick
or imprisoned? We may think we know and understand everything about
Christianity. But do we know the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we understand the
call for a new evangelization? We can never say that our Christianity is
finished. It is not a course of study or even a way of life. If
anything, it is a whole new relationship with God through our Risen Lord
Jesus Christ.
As we begin this counter cultural season of Advent, let us make room for
Christ’s coming this year in our lives. Please make some quiet time to
invite the Lord into your life. You might pray a special Advent prayer
before meals or make a special contribution of a gift or a toy for a
needy child. Perhaps you could make a special effort to bring the entire
family together for church during the Advent season.
A beautiful Christmas is not so much about exchanging gifts as it is
about being there and being with the people you love.
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