OP ED - MOST REV. EDWARD SLATTERY & BILL BECKMAN

How Can We Wake the Sleeping Giant?
Two experts explain how to revive the youth of the Catholic Church.

By Most Rev. Edward Slattery, Bishop of Tulsa

The "sleeping giant" in the Church today is the young people. In my opinion, the giant is already waking up. When Pope John Paul II came to Denver three years ago, he saw the depth of idealism in the youth of America. Many thought his trip would be a failure, but it was a great success, not only because of the size of the crowds who came to be with him, but also because of the faith and enthusiasm of the young pilgrims. The inconveniences of scorching hot weather, rain and other discomforts didn't dampen their enthusiasm in the least.

In America today, many young people are redefining the meaning of leadership, and they are doing so using the Gospel as their standard. Increasing numbers of them are no longer attracted to the glamour of Hollywood heroes or the aura of famous athletes or politicians. Many young people today see that authentic leadership is profound, quieter, and always redemptive, and they find it attractive.

Several years ago, before I became a bishop, I had a conversation with a young man aspiring to the priesthood. He told me his main desire in life was to become holy - to be like Christ. I think there are many others like that young man. I asked if he remembered the moment when he decided to become a priest.

"Father," he recalled, "I was praying, when suddenly a deep sense of gratitude for all God's goodness swept over me. It nearly carried me away it was so strong. I realized, as never before, that I had been on the receiving end all my life. I had good parents, good health, received a good education, and had been given some talents to work with. I was overwhelmed by God's generosity to me, but even more so by the awareness that I had received from God the forgiveness of my sins, not one time only, but countless times. That's when I knew I had to do something special for God.

"My decision was difficult because I was in love with a beautiful woman at the time. We had even talked of marriage. But I found my whole life had been turned around. I wanted to be a priest, a missionary priest, because I wanted to imitate Christ in His total gift of self to the Father.

"It really blew me away when I realized that my decision to give myself to God was in fact His greatest gift to me. I was still on the receiving end."

This young man went on to talk about the importance of celibacy. He said, "Because I have made a vow of celibacy, I will have a greater opportunity to spend my life loving more deeply, loving, in fact, as Jesus did. My love will never be focused exclusively on any one person but will have to be open to everyone, especially to those who are unloved. And since love always leads to a commitment, my love will lead me to a deeper commitment to the prayer of the Church.

"I'll need to be committed to prayer because, as a missionary priest, I'll have close contact with many people whom our society dismisses as worthless and undeserving. My whole life will be focused on loving the sinner, the beggar, the sick, and the dying. Without prayer, I could never make the sacrifices that Christian love demands."

I believe this young man is typical of young people entering religious life today, even though they are fewer in number than in past years. And that's why we should be filled with hope for the future of the Church. This hope should, in turn, deepen our gratitude to God and renew our zeal for holiness.

Just like that young man, no one can hope to become a saint without being grateful to God for having forgiven us. This applies to each of us, whether we're consecrated celibate, married, single, or widowed. And this gratitude has a snowball effect. If fostered, it keeps growing within us, because the more we focus on the wonder of God's mercy, the more courageous we become in discovering and facing up to our sins. As we face our sins, we also come face-to-face with Christ's mercy, and this will give us greater courage and new hope. This is why the saints of old were filled with such great hope, while at the same time, they were acutely conscious of their sinfulness.

In fact, this cycle of forgiveness and renewal implies a great movement forward, a progression in holiness. Yet the experience of most of us is that we confess the same sins, in the same way, without ever really experiencing much change in the way we live. Why is that?

I think it's because when we examine our conscience, we focus entirely too much on our sinfulness. The saints, on the other hand, examined their conscience in the light of the Cross. They looked at their sins and acknowledged them sorrowfully, but they always looked beyond them and fixed their attention on the Cross - the proof of God's merciful love for them.

They were moved as much by gratitude as by shame and, inspired by confidence in the Lord's love for them, resolved to make greater acts of charity with purity of intention. They realized that their sins were missed opportunities to respond to God's generosity with acts of charity and love. The wood of the Cross became for them, as it should for each one of us, the Tree of Life.

And that Life - Christ Himself - is what people want and need (even if they don't always realize it). People "wake up" when the Holy Spirit penetrates their hearts with the realization that they need Christ above anything else. That is what's happening to many young people today, just as it woke up that young man who decided to give his life to Christ as a priest. None of us, as individuals, has the ability to "awaken the sleeping giant" - the Church. Only the Holy Spirit can do that, and I believe He is doing that all around us, in the hearts of today's young people. He is calling them to authentic freedom and leadership and love, and in increasing numbers they are responding.

The sleeping giant is waking up. The future is filled with hope.

By Bill Backman, Director of the Office of Catechetics , Archdiocese of Denver

Calling the Catholic Church in America a "sleeping giant" may offend some people, but the metaphor fits. Numerically speaking, the Catholic Church is gigantic: 60 million nominal members. But many of them - perhaps most - appear to be "asleep" when it comes to their Faith.

Let's look at the situation. Studies show that 40 million U.S. Catholics admit they attend Mass infrequently and that they have minimal understanding or interest in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. A great number of Catholic young people (ages 5-17) are not enrolled in any type of formal religious education program. Standard assessment tools reveal that many of those who do receive religious education receive deficient formation and little actual content.

I know of a number of Catholic campus ministers who bemoan the woeful ignorance of the Faith among many of the Catholic college students they serve. This problem exists even among students who received 12 years of Catholic schooling.

What caused this erosion of faith among today's Catholics? I believe the root is secularism - the gradual loss of awareness of God's presence, leading inexorably to the denial of His sovereignty and, not uncommonly, the denial of His very existence. Pope Paul VI described secularism as "the religion of man who makes himself god."

Secularism is rooted in the first human revolt and has always been with us in various forms: lust for power, materialism, and hedonism. In our century, an increasingly secularized world view has come to dominate every profession, academia and, especially, media and entertainment.

What are we doing in the face of this deadly virus? Hopefully, more than just counting our casualties.

Let's call upon our only remedy - Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth. He won't wave a magic wand to effect an instant cure. He has entrusted that mission to His Church. We must sound the alarm. We're called to proclaim the Gospel everywhere. This sacred duty and privilege is not reserved to the clergy, but is conferred in baptism as the mandate of discipleship. That's right. You and I are called to be evangelizers.

If the idea of evangelizing scares you, consider our pilgrim Pope as the model evangelizer. At every stop on his apostolic travels, John Paul II proclaims the Gospel to people who are hungry for Good News. His message is simple: He affirms the eternal love of God, shown to us in Jesus Christ, and he repeats the holy Name of Jesus. Jesus, Who is the fountain of mercy; Jesus, Who heals us soul and body; Jesus, Who gives us true and lasting peace; Jesus, Who is our abundant life. The Pope speaks this message confidently, as an invitation, just as Peter did on the day of Pentecost.

The new evangelization demands conversion. Unless you and I convert, we will never be impelled to announce the Good News. If we can't demonstrate the difference Christ makes in our lives, why should others believe He will change their lives? The Church must convert from its complacency. The announcement of the Gospel is the primary task of the whole Church, no less today than in the time of the Apostles. For this to occur, all the programs and committees and bureaucracies that are ineffective or minimally effective should be replaced by new apostolic initiatives that will actually get something done - spreading apostolic zeal among lay people, catechizing, and evangelization. Of course, these initiatives depend upon the Eucharist as their source of strength and vitality. The Mass and the Holy Eucharist must be at the center of our efforts.

If we're to awaken from this dangerous slumber we must get serious about our personal duty to evangelize. Just as the Eucharist empowered the early Church's evangelization of the Roman Empire, the Eucharist is the strength of the New Evangelization. Our love of our Eucharistic Lord should impel us to go forth to share our joy and love for Christ and His Church. Priests must become more energetic and apostolic in their preaching.

The New Evangelization is the Holy Father's plan to wake the sleeping giant. He wants you and me to wake those around us who now slumber, encouraging and helping them to join him in his apostolic efforts. May we who are awake praise God for the gift of ready and watchful faith and beg for the grace to persevere. The sleeping giant can be awoken, but you and I have to do it.