Anyone who looks at the Church in our countries from a purely sociological perspective should look for a new job soon. Because things are not looking good. Here in Vienna, we often talk about our very sobering figures of young Catholics who are still practicing their faith (somewhere around 1% of those who have not yet left). And you can get discouraged and say: What future does this faith have? Why stand up for it? And perhaps it even gnaws at your own relationship with God. Does he really still have the reins of history in his hands? Are we not simply managing the downfall?
We must learn to see the world differently. Through the eyes of the Lord. Analyzing sociological factors can help us to do this, but „they tell us little about the future existence of the Church. They inevitably ignore faith, miracles and the Holy Spirit. They are therefore inevitably wrong when it comes to the effectiveness of a spiritual organism that has its roots in heaven.“ So say the authors of „Reset Church“ (our recently published translation of the original is available here and the original can be found here). They continue as follows:
„Let’s take one of many possible examples from history: France around 1800. Everything looked very bleak for the Church. As the authors mentioned above remind us, „A careful observer of the state of the French Church around 1810 or 1815 would have seen nothing but decline and, given simple sociological data, would have predicted a catastrophic effect on vocations in the future, with all that that entails. However, things turned out differently. In 1808, there were 12,300 religious sisters in France. In 1878, there were 135,000. In 1830, there were about 3,000 priests of all kinds in the service of the French Church. In 1878, there were around 30,000, a tenfold increase in 60 years, and their average age in 1878 was significantly younger than 60 years earlier. Whatever one may say about the fate of the Church at that time, it was obvious that it was not about to perish. […] If the Church and faith are seen as a purely human construct, the figures naturally have greater predictive power, and the usual gloomy predictions are more likely to come true.“
God is much more interested in this world, infinitely more interested than I am, than we could ever be. He will do his thing. How and when and where is up to him. But we can join in. We can look at where he is building waves that we can learn to surf. We can look at what he is blessing and try to participate in it, to make ourselves available. God does not fail! How wonderful it is to be able to willingly place ourselves at his service, to respond to the challenge of the times with the creative power of the Holy Spirit at all times! And how beautiful it is when people, even in the dark hours, go into prayer as individuals but also together, with an attitude of joyful and at the same time persevering expectation that he, the Lord, will show up.
