Fr. Larry Baumann

Excerpts from his book

Applied Homilies

Introduction

Moral misery is on the rise in America, and, if you and I will lead it, a reactionary reawakening of religion is soon to follow.

There is a cancer in the heart of the churches in the United States. While they continue to be a powerhouse for widespread faith and good in our society, there is a disease eating away our spirit and disheartening us.

Ten percent of all Americans are former Catholics according to the PEW research. Many Catholics have left the church, partially because of being caught in the cultural misuse of freedom as license. As a result they have become stuck in seeking one pleasure after another. The financially secure live in comfort zones where they overindulge and easily remain unconcerned about events, situations, ideas and people. The marginalized poor focus mainly on survival. The drive to de-Christianize America threatens any public faith expression. Atheism is open and acceptable. According to the PEW research twenty-five percent of the U.S. population are considered nones--persons that do not belong to any religion. Crimes of greed, graft, and hidden stealing abound. Suicide and violence are high, and one in thirty-one adult Americans is incarcerated or has been. Children born out of wedlock number over fifty percent. Sexual abuse and computer sexting drag down morale. There always is the danger of religious worldliness for a people whose lives are driven by the market.

These factors sicken the spirit and the soul of the church. We need a new and healthier spiritual diet that allows the faith to be exciting, joyful, fulfilling and eternal. Being alive in the Spirit and in a passionate personal relationship with the Lord is foundational and vital.

Marriage and family life gets a short-shrift in the liturgical calendar. All of us come from families. Families today have to be heroic to pass on the faith. They need our moral support and guidance in our homilies. We must free young parents of their children by offering babysitting during the liturgy."1

Fr. Baumann's Books

References