We are tempted to get into a pessimistic mood, thinking that our Church is not what it used to be when we were younger. We wonder why the decrease in numbers of vocation to the priesthood and religious life, why our churches remain empty, why so many young people don’t practice their faith? And this may be true, yet most of us don’t know where the answers lie. Only God knows, and I hope He has His reasons. However, if we only focus on the sad aspects, we may not be able to see that there are also wonderful things happening in our church. There are many people who come back and start to believe; we have people who choose to be baptized at the Easter Vigil, people who may have been away, but now they are back with us, and with the Lord. Yes, there is that sad part of the rejection of religion and God, but there is also a great joy of welcoming people back. “And many there began to believe in him.”
