There are those who believe that the best way to “fill the pews” is to change, or at least conveniently ignore, the Church teaching that is unpopular with the world today. The argument goes that by appearing to be more in-line with modern sentiments, more people will see the Church as a welcoming place.
Jesus is not one of those people.
In today’s Gospel, the Lord is lamenting the fact that the people are like children in the square who refuse to dance when someone plays them a jig, but they also won’t weep when played a mournful tune. They reject John the Baptist for his fasting, and they reject Jesus for His feasting. In other words, this world is never going to accept anything from God!
We will never succeed in giving the world what it wants because the world actually has no idea what it wants.
“But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
There is a delusion today (and in every generation) that the world has all the answers – it is in the things of the world that you will find true freedom. But we, who are not of this world, know better. We know, as Isaiah tells us today, that it is in God’s law that we find true prosperity that never runs low. We know that it is in adhering to the Truth, the Word made flesh, that we find real freedom.
If the Church were ever to change or ignore the Truth that she was established to uphold, not only would all of us become like chaff driven away by the wind… there would still be empty pews.
Anna Mitchell is the host and producer of the Son Rise Morning Show on EWTN and Sacred Heart Catholic Radio. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband Will and their two children.
