From the Pastor March 8/9

Encouraging News for Christianity

Two recent surveys, one from the Pew Research Center and the other from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gorden-Conwell Theological Seminary, an Evangelical seminary on the Massachusetts North Shore, provide encouraging news for Christianity worldwide and in the United States. 

The Religious Landscape Study for the United States, released by the Pew Center, found that the number of Americans claiming to be "nones," people espousing no religious affiliation, seems to have leveled off. Today, 62% of Americans profess to be Christian, down from 78% who claimed Christianity as their religious affiliation in 2007. According to the Pew study, there is a significant generational gap, with only 46% of younger Americans professing a religious affiliation, while 80% of older Americans claim one. The study could not conclude if younger Americans will become more religious as they marry and start raising a family. 

The Pew study found that only 5% of Americans claim to be atheists, 6% agnostics, but 19% say they are nothing in particular. That 19% group doesn't seem to have rejected faith entirely and could be fertile ground for evangelization. The study also found a high level of spirituality in our country: 83%  of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, 86% believe they have a soul, and 78% claim to believe in Heaven and Hell. The study found that 40% of Americans profess to be members of a Protestant denomination, 19% Catholics, and 3% Mormons, Orthodox Christian, or some other smaller Christian group.

The Global Vision Study found that worldwide Christianity is growing .1% faster than total world population growth. Like the Pew study, they also found that the number of non-religious people seems to have leveled off worldwide. Christians number 264 billion souls today and are expected to grow to 300 billion by 2050. This survey also reports a worldwide decline in the number of atheists. 

The number of Catholics worldwide grew by 1% between 2021-24. Much of this growth is happening in Africa and Asia. Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestantism is also growing in that part of the world. 

While this growth is a good sign, it has challenges for our Church. One is the ability to finance missionary work in Africa and Asia. Many African and Asian countries have a wealth of vocations but lack the resources to educate them. In years past, missionaries from the global north would return home to raise funds for evangelization, but their declining number has hampered that funding source. 

Many of us get solicitations for missionary groups. Please consider supporting them and their work. I contribute to the Maryknoll, the Catholic Foreign Missionary Society of America. While initially a group of American missionaries, today, many members come from the southern hemisphere. You can support many other excellent missionary societies with your donations and prayers.

With the beginning of Lent, Easter is around the corner. It allows us to evangelize the none, fallen away Catholics and seekers in our midst. As we did at Christmas, we plan to offer parishioners invitations to Easter Masses they can share with unchurched friends and neighbors. Start considering good candidates you can evangelize and encourage to attend Easter Masses with you this year.   

Living A Spiritual Lent

Registered Holy Redeemer Parishioners received a Lenten letter recently with several suggestions to help us make Lent 2025 spiritually productive. Included with the letter was a pamphlet, Hope in the Cross, A Lenten Experience, which illustrates how important embracing hope is. Hope isn't dreaming some wild fancy. Hope is looking forward in faith even in the most challenging situations. Please read over the pamphlet and put into practice some of its suggested ways to practice prayer and fasting this year. 

Many parishioners make attendance at our 8 am daily Mass. Please consider making daily Mass attendance part of your Lent. Maybe it will become your practice all year long.

As in past years, we will recite the Stations of the Cross followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday afternoon at 4:30. Each week, a parish ministry will lead us in a different setting of the stations. This Friday, St. Vincent de Paul Society members will lead the stations using the Social Justice Stations. A simple soup supper will follow in the Parish Center. There is no charge for the meal. Come pray and share fellowship with other parishioners. 

The letter also announced that rejuvenating the Sacrament of Reconciliation is part of our Lenten efforts. Fr. Sullivan is setting aside extra time to be in the Reconciliation Room at the back of the church. In addition to the usual Saturday afternoon time frame of 3:00–3:45 pm, he will be there on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30-4:30 pm. Later in Lent, we will schedule a Reconciliation Service. 

Filling Your Lenten Folders

Parishioners received a Lenten Letter before the season began. It included our annual Lenten Folder. Parishioners are encouraged to use the folder as a Lenten almsgiving activity. Please put aside 25c each day for a total of $10 over the course of Lent. We will donate proceeds from the folders to the Cape Cod Foster Closet. The Closet is a charity that provides clothing and other essentials to foster parents welcoming a child from state custody into their home. Providing a home for a foster child is a very generous gesture from these people, and we need to support them. 

Recently, I have seen some wonderful public service announcements on television  describing the rewards people get from providing a welcoming home to foster children, especially teenagers. Your donation to the Lenten Folders can tremendously impact many lives.