Tag Archives: Vice

Trophies and Spiritual Atrophy

21 Wednesday May 2025

Posted by in Evangelization

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As I’m writing this, our parish school’s 8th grade class is having its graduation ceremony.  I’m sure our gym is filled with proud parents hardly believing their “baby” boys and girls will soon be high school freshmen; and those same sons and daughters, while also proud and excited, may be having some separation anxiety knowing that they and their friends will disperse to either our public high school or one of four or five nearby Catholic high schools.  

This has been a big year for these youths.  Tonight’s graduation is only two months after they received the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Unfortunately, many of them will consider their Confirmation to be synonymous with their “Catholic graduation”.  Now that they’re confirmed, they see no need for any additional catechesis, scripture study, or even prayer.  Many will begin to exhibit the onset of spiritual atrophy, and in four years, when they go on to college, many will cease practicing their faith.

Yesterday I attended a conference on evangelization at a nearby Catholic church which also has a school.  During a break I ventured into the hallway outside the meeting room and saw that school’s trophy case.  There were years of trophies representing championships and tournament wins for volleyball, basketball, soccer and other sports.  There were photographs, autographed volleyballs, and plaques with player’s names.  And as I admired this memorabilia, I wondered how many of those student athletes still practice their faith.  I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if a school had a trophy case that celebrated the graduates who continued to practice their faith in the years to come?  Perhaps they could display bronze medals or plaques for those who continued to be faithful for five years on, silver for ten years, and gold for twenty-five years.”

I was quick to tell myself, though, that the attrition in the faithful is not completely the fault of our Catholic schools or youth faith formation catechists.  Sure, some could be better.  They probably can improve at helping students build a loving and meaningful relationship with Jesus, a faith foundation upon which they will continue to build virtuous lives.  But, of course, there are other factors, as well, such as the pressures of the predominant secular culture that easily leads youths and young adults down paths of vice.  

And, then, there are the parents – what role have they played in instilling a strong faith in their children?  While it’s not a parent’s job to get their kids to heaven, it is their job, and in their control, to give their kids holy parents.  Have they provided an attractive example of how an adult lives a life of holiness?  Again, I checked myself so as to not put too much blame on the parents.  Many have good intentions.  The problem may not be with a lack of desire to lead their children deeper in faith, but that they can’t lead them past the point at where they are themselves.

I couldn’t help but see the hand of God in these thoughts.  There I was at a conference on how to evangelize adults, and because of a simple trophy case, I became fully aware that none of this is the kids fault, rather it is an adult problem.  Somewhere along the line we’ve lost the connection that the only way our children will develop and maintain a healthy life of faith is if us adults teach, guide, mentor and reinforce what that life looks like.  The teachers, the youth catechists, and the parents are all adults, and while youth faith formation is important, it is secondary to adult faith formation.  And to form adults who will form our youths, we need adult evangelists who will step forward and fill this void.  We need catechists for OCIA, competent leaders for Bible studies, willing facilitators to participate in adult faith formation programs, and spiritual mentors who will guide other adults to living lives of deeper prayer that will help them grow in holiness.  

I went back into the conference after the break with a renewed sense of determination.  I know I don’t have all the answers, but as our parish’s Director of Evangelization, there is an onus that goes with wearing that hat, a responsibility to put into place ways to lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus that will move them along the pathway from minimal maintenance to missionary discipleship.

“Heavenly Father, I give You thanks for your trust in me, that my participation will bear fruit for Your Kingdom.  Inspire me, Lord, to evangelize other men and women to be Your disciples who will lead others closer to You.  And I pray that You will put in the lives of our children who have fallen away from the faith someone who will inspire them and bring them home.  Amen.”

Envy, Unfairness, and Grace

23 Wednesday Aug 2023

Posted by in Vice, Virtue

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The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, Andrey Mironov

As I sit down to write it occurs to me that it’s been two months since my last post.  Time flies when you’re having fun!  Since June I’ve road-tripped about seven thousand miles and I hope to write soon about some of the blessings received on both sides of the windshield.  But, mostly, I’ve been busy at my new job trying to find ways to evangelize and bring people to Jesus through other people.  I told a friend the other day that, for the first time in a couple decades, I look forward to going to work every morning!  I am blessed!

Just because I haven’t written doesn’t mean I’ve not been inspired through reading Scripture and daily meditation.  Quite the contrary, my prayer life has been amazing.  But, I’ve put other things of importance ahead of writing.  Let’s see if I can fix that tonight.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Mt 20:1-16, Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the landowner hiring the laborers for his vineyard.  He hires some in the morning and then more every three hours during the day.  The last hired, at five o’clock, received the same daily wage at six o’clock as those who were hired first thing in the morning.  Those laborers who worked all day grumbled about the unfairness of it all, comparing their labor to those who only worked one hour.  The landowner reminded them that they were paid what they had agreed on and asked them, “Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?  Are you envious because I am generous?” 

Can you imagine that scene?  How would you feel if you were one of the laborers hired early and had worked hard all day only to be paid the same as someone who’d not yet broken a sweat?  If you’re like me, you’d have grumbled, too.  And we both would have succumbed to the deadly sin of envy.  

Envy is the vice of finding sorrow in the good fortune of someone else.  It can also be the feeling of joy at someone else’s misfortune.  It’s the vice associated with comparing one’s self to another.  And, when we grumble about the unfairness, we are directing our complaint to God.

As I read this passage this morning I recalled a moment some twenty-one or twenty-two years ago.  My youngest daughter, Grace, was five or six years old.  She had lost a tooth and placed it under her pillow in hopes of finding money left by the Tooth Fairy when she awoke the next morning.  The “Tooth Fairy” was, I think, very generous with the dollar he left under her pillow.  But, when Grace awoke and found the dollar, she threw it across the room and exclaimed, “Hannah (her best friend) got five dollars for her tooth!”, and, sobbing, buried her head back in her pillow.

Of course, Grace was too young to really understand the concept of finding joy in another’s good fortune; and too young to understand, appreciate and be grateful for the blessings generously bestowed upon her that others may not receive.  She was too young to understand that we have to combat the vice of envy with the virtues of gratitude and generosity. She was only five or six years old. 

Sadly, many folks haven’t improved much by the time they reach 25, or 40, or 65 years old.  They often still feel envious over someone’s larger and fancier house, of their new high performance car, of their luxurious vacation, or simply that they have more friends and get more likes on their social media account.  I think, though, that I’ve made some progress now that I’m 66.  I find that I am happy for another when they receive special recognition, or when it seems that luck has found them instead of me.  I’m happy with my state in life and don’t desire more than I need.  Through grace, I know that I am loved and that the Lord has been super generous to me, more so than I deserve.  And, I know it’s His business to decide the blessings He gifts to each one of us.  He’s free to do as He wishes with His own graces.  It’s not for me to compare what others receive to what He gives me.

Well, to be honest, maybe It’s more truthful to say that I feel that way most of the time. 

Oh, I didn’t mention that my daughter Grace not only received a dollar that morning for her tooth, but she also received the truth about the Tooth Fairy.

And the Easter Bunny.

And Santa Claus.

And then I went and had a talk with Hannah’s dad. 

“Gracious and loving God, thank You for all the blessings You so generously bestow on me. I know that I do not always say ‘thank You’.  Help me to always be joyful and sincerely grateful over another’s good fortune and the blessings they receive from You, knowing that You willed it out of love for them.  May I always rejoice in the many ways that You bless all Your children.  Amen.”

(Envy, Unfairness, and Grace was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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