Learning to search for a God, not of my own making.
By Mark Reidy
In a 2008 article, US columnist, Fr Ron Rolheiser made an interesting observation – “God made us in His image and likeness, and we have never stopped returning the favour”. It is a comment that, I believe, underpins the spiritual and moral decline that we are experiencing in society today. We have, to put it into a Darwinian perspective, evolved beyond our “need” for a Creator.
In many of the letters sent to newspaper editors regarding issues such as abortion, euthanasia, contraception and same sex marriages, those who oppose Catholic teaching often use words such as immature, childish and primitive in reference to the belief in a Divine Being.
God has been thrust, by an increasing number of people, into the same category as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy – mythical creations designed for underdeveloped minds that will inevitably be cast aside once one reaches the age of reason.
It is a concept that gained momentum throughout the latter half of last century.
Those I know who were educated in the fifties and sixties and have since left the Church, testify that the systematic and rote teachings of Catholic doctrine in schools, combined with the preaching of eternal damnation was a lot less appealing than the “sexual and political revolution” of the time. They had come to perceive God as a judgemental policeman rather than a loving and protective Father and left accordingly.
It was a time of great confusion and occurred within the backdrop of the Second Vatican Council to leave many Catholics vulnerable.
I was one of the early products of the aftermath of these uncertain times and if my experience in a Catholic school system was a true reflection, then it seems that the Church’s response was to swing the pendulum to the other extreme.
At the conclusion of my schooling I didn’t even know that the Catechism or Canon Law existed, although I was well versed in concepts of social justice and the need to help those less fortunate. That is not to say that these teachings fell outside the parameters of Catholic truth – in fact they were very much a part of it. However, in hindsight I realise that it was at this point that my peers and I began to live out the observation made by Fr Rolheiser.
Inadvertently we entered the wider world having reversed the order of the two commandments that Jesus said summarised the entire law. The “great and first commandment” (Matt 22:38) of loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds had been tragically relegated below loving our neighbour as ourself.
The undermining of this most essential foundation of the Church, in essence, allowed me to begin the process of moulding God into my own image, instead of the other way around. The result, sadly, was that God became irrelevant in my life and in many of those of my generation, because, in our minds, we did not need Him if life was simply about being kind to others.
The ensuing moral relativism has resulted in the One True God being increasingly pushed to the outskirts of society and self-serving impersonators taking His place. It is only when we, as individuals, remove ourselves from these self-appointed thrones that God will be returned to His rightful position and we will then discover the peace that we all long for.
reidyrec@iinet.net.au