By Kristine Schroeder
Lessons Learned
“They bend their tongues like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land” (Jeremiah 9:3).
The song “I Did It My Way” debuted in 1969. Sung first by Frank Sinatra, it became the anthem for my generation. Doing it my way coincided with this American independent, freedom seeking generation. After all, this was the dawning of a new age.
On Aug. 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival introduced a decade “where the baby boom generation formally broke with the past and established its own cultural references.” The Vietnam War divided our country. Birth control became readily available, and, in 1973, the Supreme Court granted women the right to abort an unborn child. Drugs were easily accessible on and off college campuses and music promoting permissive sexual behavior pervaded the air waves. Previous social mores were flipped upside down in a mere decade.
The general consensus of the 70s generation was that anything goes. Erase the social and moral rules of our parents and grandparents and live in the now; future consequences were not considered. We were stronger. We were wiser. We were freer, or so we were encouraged to believe.
Full of pride, many of us came to think that our accomplishments were solely of our own making. We controlled our destiny. We had the knowledge necessary to succeed. A rebellion against the true source of all power and knowledge, God and his Word, began and has continued to this day. Many have forgotten that all of our gifts — intelligence, leadership skills, station in life, success and so on — are really by the grace of God.
Do we acknowledge God as the Almighty Power, or have we walked away because we refuse to take the time to study and understand God’s laws? When Jesus explained that he was the living bread came down from heaven, John 6:66 stated, “After this many of his disciples drew back and did not walk with him.”
How would I have responded? Initially, it sounds outlandish. Eat his flesh? But, these disciples had been with Jesus for some time. Surely they knew that Jesus spoke in riddles. Turning away, however, was an indication that they lacked a maturity of faith and trust.
Why then did Peter and the other eleven stay when they too were confused by Jesus’ bold proclamation? The answer lies in the depth of their faith. Through the virtue of docility, a willingness to be taught and an openness to God’s word, the Apostles recognized that Jesus was the true Messiah and, therefore, trusted what he proclaimed. They believed Jesus was the truth. St. Augustine once said, “Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. Understanding is the reward of faith.”
Our world today is rampant with untruths. Many say, some in positions of authority, that the Church is archaic in its teachings on birth control, premarital sex, abortion and marriage to name a few. Therefore, like the disciples in John’s Gospel, some people choose to walk away from the Church, while others remain, trusting that God, through his precepts, desires only what is best for us.
As a young person, I also questioned some Church teachings. However, by the grace of God, I continued in my faith and through much study of the Scriptures, Catechism and other Catholic books, I am convinced that our Church is a beacon of hope in a world full of lies. Thinking of the 70 million Americans that Bishop Robert Barron mentioned at the National Eucharistic Congress, I imagine a world of justice, truth and peace if all baptized Catholics chose an alternative mantra, “I’ll do it God’s way.”