They ain't making men like Jesus or John Wayne anymore...

Tuesday, Charlene C. added this comment to my blog bit…“Thinking about the Catholic 'Man-Crisis' ":  “Are some men afraid of the emotional aspect of our faith?”  That is a terrific question Charlene!
This is a question that if answered could lead us to resolve not only the “man-crisis” within the Catholic Church but also within our secular culture. 

Let’s face it…they ain’t men like Jesus or John Wayne anymore.

So guys…what are you afraid of?  The emotional aspect of being Catholic or faithful?  I have to think that there is much more to it.  Once the thoroughly secular man turned Roman Catholic Writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote:  My conversion to the Christian faith, or to be precise my conversion to Christ, is something I have always regarded as a radical liberation from the delusions and obsessions of modern man and his society.  (New Seeds of Contemplation, 1962)  Is that what you are afraid of?  Giving up an idea of who you wish you were or membership in a “fraternity” that inevitably disappoints (anyway)? 

To be liberated from delusions and obsessions sounds like a healthy pursuit.  I know what keeps men (and probably many women) from hurdling over or crashing right through these obstacles towards a life of peace, joy and contentment. Bad habits.  Being stuck.  An unwillingness to open one’s hand and discard what’s broken simply because something, even if it is something broken, it is better than nothing at all. 

So there’s the problem!   The fear of “ nothing-ness”.  And yet we are creating a secular society or allowing secularism to seep in simply because we don’t have what it takes to stop the leak.  We are too tired, too distracted, and too wishy-washy to lift a finger to plug the hole.    Once again, as I ponder all of this I hear the words of that father quoted in Mark 9:24:   “I believe; help my unbelief.”

These men call themselves Catholics.  They are soon to be labeled “casual Catholics”.   But to me...they seem to be more chameleons than Christian.  

So what do we do?  Women, you who have a father or have sons, a husband,  or  brothers who have lost their sense of conversion to God in Christ-- pray.  Pray constantly.  Pray that The Spirit effects change in their hearts... then changes their lives.