As I walked through the heart of European cities Cologne, Brussels and Amsterdam, I saw so many gothic church buildings standing in the midst of high energy bustling crowds below. Many of these churches are no longer functioning as worshipping places but museums for tourists to admire as ‘relics’ of once-upon-a-time civilisation of Europe.
Though church attendance is significantly dwindling, those church buildings stand solemn witness to Christian values that build up the very fabric of today’s western society, values that attract people from all over the world to this place and call it home - home to so many migrants and refugees. Human rights, human dignity, equality… are surely rooted in Christian values that build up today’s Europe. So, why are people, especially the young, turning away from their Christian roots? Is there anything the Church can do to redeem the situation? Reasons are many but I want to reflect on two:
Called to renewal. Let’s not be nostalgic about the glorious past. Whatever goes up has to come down eventually. That’s the natural cycle of life. Not going to church doesn’t mean people stop believing in God as spirit. The common slogan we hear from many is ‘yes to Christ, no to church’. By Church , they mean the organised and institutional churches. ‘Yes to Christ’ could mean the original message of Christ, the gospel, has to be rediscovered and lived. The Institutional Church with all its authority and privileges cannot override the essential message of Christ who demands service over authority and power. Paul in the 2nd reading today admonishes us “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect”.- Dying in order to be reborn. Renewal is part of the dying, of letting go of what may hinder the light of the gospel from shining before all people. Jesus in the gospel today calls for dying by denying oneself and carrying our cross and following his path, not our own paths. Unless a seed falls and dies, it remains a seed, and no life comes out of it.
To conclude, recent scandals have caused much damage to the Church. The Church has to repent and be renewed. At the same time it cannot remain a sorry Church forever. I believe Christianity remains very much relevant, and it has to, because it has a lot to offer to this wounded world scarred by division and hatred and violence because of difference of ideologies and ethnicities, and the increasing gap between the rich and the poor who are often ignored, yet who are the heart of God who calls for mercy and love. The Church that embodies the message of Christ has to prevail, not as human will but of God’s Spirit.
The founder of the Divine Word Missionaries, St Arnold Janssen, when facing the seeming collapse of the Catholic Church in Germany during the Cultural Struggle of his time, didn’t give up, but instead, famously said, “When things are collapsing around us, something new must arise.” - But certainly not by whipping the dead horse.