By Judie Brown
When the emcee announced the results of a survey, everyone in the audience would applaud! That was all part of the excitement on every episode of Family Feud. Every correct answer depended on what a certain number of people also answered in response to a survey. Of course it was all in fun because that was a game, not real life. Yet apparently, far too many people still rely on survey results to form their views, including opinions on faith and morals.
The word games people play these days have little to do with fun and everything to do with eternal choices.
One example of this is the position Catholics take on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. According to a recent study, “Belief in the real presence was about twice as common among weekly Massgoers as among Catholics surveyed overall. Study co-author Mark Regnerus, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says disbelief may reflect a broader disengagement from the faith and urges priests to explain what happens at consecration.”
Now there’s a bright idea! Actually using the pulpit to teach the tenets of the faith rather than opining on popular topics in the news or personal stories that relate to a scripture reading. After all, the pulpit is an elevated stand from which the celebrant of the Mass can teach and/or preach the truth to his congregants.
As Father Thomas Dailey writes, “Our preaching is political—all the time!—because it’s meant to shine the light of God’s holy Word on the very real struggles and challenges that people face in this world (FCFC, no. 1). In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis calls this the ‘missionary’ task of preaching, because preaching is meant to have an impact on society (Cameron, pp. 8-9). As the Holy Father reminds us, we are set apart to give people that infinite love which alone can cure their infinite sadness.”
What a marvelous way to teach by not only helping people understand scripture but by shining a light on an area of their life that they might truly need the healing salve of God’s word.
Rather than surveying people who claim to be Catholic regarding a fundamental truth defining the Church’s mission, preaching truth without regard to polling data helps souls and gladdens hearts in anticipation of the reception of the blessed sacrament. No survey is needed there!
Turning to another topic relating to organizations and their views, we see that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists came out swinging in support of “self-managed” abortion, arguing against prosecution of those expectant mothers who choose to abort their children privately.
The article states, “The threat of prosecution may result in negative health outcomes by deterring individuals from seeking needed care, including care related to complications after abortion. ACOG also opposes administrative policies that interfere with the legal and ethical requirements to protect private medical information by mandating that clinicians report those they suspect have attempted self-managed abortion.”
In plain English, the membership of ACOG is more interested in protecting their abortion-minded client base than in dealing with the fact that an abortion kills one person and can maim another. ACOG’s devotion to abortion knows no limits, and we don’t need a survey to prove that!
Here we have two striking examples of relatively recent news items that reflect a degenerate population of self-absorbed folks who care little for the truth, preferring popular opinion to peeling away the layers of deceit to arrive at that kernel of truth that once helped folks think for themselves.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way: “God, who ‘dwells in unapproachable light,’ wants to communicate His own divine life to the men He freely created, in order to adopt them as His sons in His only-begotten Son. By revealing Himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to Him, and of knowing Him and of loving Him far beyond their own natural capacity.”
These words represent the essence of how we mere mortals should be responding to our brothers and sisters who may not realize that the miracle of the Eucharist as well as the miracle of life created by male and female cells are part of God’s wondrous gift to each of us.
Game shows exist to entertain us, but God’s love and His truth exist to enable our souls to experience eternal peace with Him. So, while surveys and opinions continue to thwart the reality of His love in favor of cultural disintegration, we humbly stand and speak the words that, we pray, will open hearts and minds to see that the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the real presence of the preborn child are miracles that cannot be denied.
Survey says: Love the Lord always!