Articles of the Month
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Why  are  so  many  young Catholics  not  going  to  church nowadays  or  following  their Catholic  faith?

     It's true that many young, single Catholics are not going to Church or following their Catholic faith like they used to.  There are many reasons for this growing trend.  We will cover a few reasons in this article.  It is truly unfortunate that many single Catholics are not attending Mass or following their faith as they should.   The first reason is that there is a growing trend toward secularism.  Many people no longer believe that God, Our Lord Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, the saints and angels exist.  
     Many young people and even older Catholics fill up their lives with the  day to day trappings of this life that they no longer give time for Our Almighty Father, Jesus or Our Blessed Mother as they should.  They believe that since "society and everyone is doing these things", then not going to Church and other things must be okay to do.  Because of this reason, some single Catholics fall prey to committing sex before marriage, cohabitation with their boyfriends/girlfriends, abortion, greed, lust, etc.  These single Catholics are following the ways of the world rather than following the Laws of God and the Catholic Church.  This leads to serious mortal sin and can lead to eternal damnation if not confessed to a priest. 
     The second reason is that many young and older single Catholics  too believe in moral relativism.  For example, they may think that the application of morals depends on each individual and that they are not universally applicable to everyone.   This means that they believe that each individual has the right to determine whether an action is moral or not and that there are no set standards of moral behavior.  Moral relativism is an enemy of God, Our Lord Jesus and the Church because the people who follow this type of thinking are more or less saying that God's Laws, the teachings of Jesus and His Church have no bearing on how one should live their lives.  This way of thinking and living is very dangerous and can lead to serious moral sins as well.
     A third reason is that many people no longer believe that Satan exists.  Society has been very successful at masking the works of evil by hiding it with superficial pleasurable images and terms such as euthanasia with "mercy killing" and substituting the word abortion with "having control over your own body".  Also, today, some young, single Catholics are more or less being coerced into thinking that homosexuality and same sex unions are fine and accepted by God.  These terms and ways of living are in direct opposition to God, Our Lord Jesus and the Holy Catholic Church.
     Do not be misled by what our current world, secular or relativist people are  trying to convey as being "good for you" when they are moving further and further away from the Way, the Truth and the Life and from God and have no concern for our ultimate salvation.  True happiness and salvation can only be found through following the Commandments of God, the teachings of Our Lord Jesus and the Catholic Church.   If you or someone you know is not living by the 10 Commandments, the teachings of Jesus or following their faith in the Catholic Church, be determined to change your life or help someone else change their lives toward God and Our Lord Jesus and the Holy Catholic Church.  Make them understand that going against God is futile and will only lead to misery, pain and may even lead them to destruction.  Take care and may God bless you as you go through this life doing good and following Christ and our Catholic Church.     

We  Must  All  Try  To  Live
Saintly  Lives

     It is difficult to be a saint.  There's no disagreement about that.  But, we must all try to live saintly lives every day of our lives.  How can we achieve this great task?  Well, we as Catholics have many examples set before us to help us on our way to sainthood. 
     First of all, we should take time to read the lives of the saints especially the life of the saint that is our particular patron saint.  You may be saying, "I don't have a patron saint."  Well, if you were confirmed as a Catholic, we were asked to choose a saint to be our patron saint for our confirmation.  The saint that you chose for your confirmation is your patron saint.   By reading the lives of the saints or the life of your patron saint, we can find out the ways in which those saints behaved, how they contributed something to the Catholic faith and what specific virtues they possessed that made them a saint and we can try to imitate those virtues.
     Another way to help us on our way to sainthood is by trying to let go of things that are keeping us from being saintly people.  In other words, if your boyfriend or girlfriend is always tempting you to go against your Catholic faith and is preventing you from being the best Catholic you can be, it probably is better to look for a Catholic boyfriend or girlfriend who is concerned with your salvation and wants you to be a saint too.  And, if your job asks you to do things that are unethical, you should probably look for another job.  In this way, we can begin to put the teachings of Christ and Our Almighty Father's Laws first in our lives.  This is the first step on the journey to sainthood.
     After we have separated ourselves from the large obstacles which are preventing us from choosing Christ in our lives, we can then begin to look at our own particular faults such as habitual lying, the habit of not attending Mass on Sundays, using swearing words, talking back to parents, gossiping, taking little things from work, getting overly angry at people, not loving our neighbors, etc.  We begin to get rid of behaviors which cause us to fall into habitual sin.  If we can take care of the little things that cause us to fall into sin every day, we are well on our way to becoming a true Catholic and follower of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
     We should also be saying the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet every day as well.  Prayer is another step in preparing us to become saints because it shows our dependence on God, Our Lord Jesus and Our Blessed Mother.  Jesus said that He will elevate the humble and lowly and cause the mighty and arrogant to fall.  This means that Christ loves a humble heart and those who make Him first in their lives.  It takes effort to make time for prayer but when you do take time for Our Heavenly Father, Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother, you are telling them by your actions that you are keeping them as the #1 priority in your life.  This is the way it must be.   Many people put money, power, lust and position as the first priority in their lives and those people must know that such things are fleeting and concentrating on them for the rest of one's life will not get one into Heaven.   In fact, concentrating on these idols may even lead us in the opposite direction--Hell.
     All Catholics should be thinking about where they are headed and where their ultimate home will be after this life is over.  Hopefully, Catholics are choosing to become saints in this life because if they want Heaven to be their home, they must become saints in this life to get there.  It's better not to choose to go to Purgatory but to choose Heaven instead.  Why choose second best when you can go straight to Heaven?  Never stop striving for Heaven because if you constantly choose God, Our Lord Jesus and Our Blessed Mother and choose the straight path that leads to Heaven, you will surely receive your Heavenly reward.