One day Mrs. Jones goes to have a talk with the minister about her husband who keeps falling
asleep during your sermons. "It's very embarrassing. What should I do?"
"I have an idea", said the minister. "Take this hatpin with you, and I will motion to you at specific times. When I motion, you give him a good poke in the leg."
The following Sunday, Mr. Jones dozes off. Noticing this, the preacher put his plan to work. "And who made the ultimate sacrifice you?" he said, nodding to Mrs. Jones. "Jesus!" Jones cried as his wife jabbed him in the leg with the hatpin. "Yes, you are right, Mr. Jones," said the minister.
Soon, Mr. Jones nodded off again. Again, the minister noticed. "Who is your redeemer?" he asked the congregation, motioning towards Mrs. Jones. "God!" said Mr Jones
The good thing about Jones is that he was in church Sunday morning. The ecclesia could still reach him. So many sleep elsewhere on Sunday mornings. The "whole ball game" hangs in the balance. How do we get a renewal to bring the faithful back to the church?
The Pope has announced a new synod of Bishops for 2012 to address The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. And it is aimed at countries where Christian faith and practice have declined, and where people "have moved away from the church."
"It's partly a question of belief" implies an article in the Prairie Messenger November 3, 2010, entitled "Hollywood probes spirituality without getting preachy". In the movie Hereafter, Clint Eastwood's latest drama, he probes the question of what comes next. Eastwood has sent dozens of characters to their graves in earlier movies but is now stopping to ask where they actually went.
"I've talked to people who claim to have had near-death experiencesbut I don't know," Eastwood said. "I mean, I just haven't been there. And I don't intend to go there before my timedoes it exist? I don't know."
There is a crisis of disengagement in our churches today. In the U.S. the largest religious denomination is the Catholic Church. The second largest is former Catholics. Engaged Catholics (actively involved in their faith) make up only 16 per cent. The statistics are no better for Canada.
In the statistical study by Gallup cited above, 35 per cent of American Catholics were "actively disengaged", many having left because someone or something offended or angered them.
Perhaps the first step towards rejuvenating the faith community is to realize what is going on and why. Prayer and reconciliation are a major part of future improvements.
But the greatest need is love; simply being open to others with a cheerful contagion that says, "I believe in Jesus Christ; that he suffered to save us, and that we must collectively strive to become his living body on earth". It is time to reach out to a "sleeping faithful" and all that is implied in the paradox of this article's title.
