Lent as a coming home to your own vocation

It is Ash Wednesday! A note for you, reader: today is not actually a holy day of obligation. So, if you didn’t get to Mass to get ashes, you’ve committed no sin. For those who went, it sure is a fantastic way to immediately, through full immersion of the senses, enter into this season of penance.

I have been reflecting on how Lent serves to bring us back to our own vocation. Vocation is your state in life: married, single, parent, professional, religious, priest, sister. We focus on how Lent is the time to clear out all the noise and get closer to God, but at the same time, aren’t we getting closer to our vocation, as well?

For example: how does giving up gossip help me to love my family more? How does giving up social media make me more responsible and attentive to my job? How does giving to charity remind me to love those close to me more thoroughly, especially those in need? How does spending more time in silence make me a better writer? How does time spent in prayer make me notice and listen better?

Can you think of ways the penances, prayers, and observances bring you closer to your vocation - your calling - in life?

I will next be on Morning Air next Thursday, March 10 at the usual 8:10 am eastern time. I will be discussing that big survey that came out indicating that the American trend away from religion seems to have leveled off.

One other thing: there is a report going around that Protestants are a little concerned with the number of their own converting the Catholicism. Religion is not a competition, but if you believe in the truth of the Church, and believe in its goodness in the world and for mankind, then this is of course a good thing. Of course, always important is ecumenical getting along-ness. But given the news above about how Americans may have leveled off in their distancing themselves from faith, it seems something is going on. Something good!

May your Lent be prayerful, penitential, and fruitful, and may you come out the other side closer to yourself, your family, and God.

The state of faith in America

“After many years of steady decline, the share of Americans who identify as Christians shows signs of leveling off,” reports a Pew Research Center survey. While America is still reflecting an overall decline in religiosity, the rate at which Americans report that lack of religion has stabilized, at least temporarily. Also:

“Religiously unaffiliated adults – those who identify as atheists, agnostics or as “nothing in particular” when asked about their religion – account for 29% of the population in the new RLS. The size of the religiously unaffiliated population, which we sometimes call religious “nones,” has plateaued in recent years after a long period of sustained growth.” These are the “nones” Bishop Barron is always referring to.

Overall, a majority of Americans have a “supernatural or spiritual” outlook on the world.

Anyway, you can read all the results for yourself. I do think it’s interesting this is happening in the post-COVID world. There has been so much lost-ness and brokeness. The period of the pandemic was so isolating and bewildering, that it is natural Americans as a whole would be searching for meaning, comfort, and something bigger than themselves.

I will next be on Morning Air on Thursday, February 13 at the usual 8:20 am eastern time. It is possible I will be talking about this, which is yet another sign of hope in our culture. See you then!

Meet Nino

I do love the name “Nino.” And Last Thursday i went on Morning Air to discuss “Nino” Baglieri, the 20th- and 21st-century Italian who, at age 17, became paralyzed from the waist down. After a decade in despair, a prayer experience led him to new life - that is, a sense of peace, freedom, and purpose as he overcame his limitations and decided to serve others. Nino is now on the path to sainthood. Listen to my conversation with John and Sarah here. My part starts around 15:16.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day!