IS GOD DEAD?

Fifty years ago, Time magazine asked in a famous headline, "Is God Dead?"  The magazine wondered whether religion was relevant to modern life in the post-atomic age when communism was spreading and science was explaining more about our natural world than ever before.  

Well, we're still asking the same question.  But the response isn't limited to yes or no.  A chunk of the population born after the article was printed may respond to the provocative question of, "God who?"

The religiously unaffiliated, call "NONES," are growing significantly.  National Geographic published an article in April 2016 entitled, "The World's Newest Major Religion; No Religion."  49% of those identifying themselves as "nones" indicate a lack of belief led them to move away from religion.  Religion is simply irrelevant in their lives.

The question that comes to my mind is, how did Jesus become irrelevant?  While there are many factors, in part, I believe it is because of how we, professed Christians, respond to conflict.  Consider today's Scriptures and see if you recognize the pattern in today's society.  In Genesis Sara asks Abraham to expel the servant girl and her son to handle the conflict, which creates conflict for others.  In the Gospel reading the town's folk isolate and avoid the conflict with the demoniacs.  Yet, when God intervenes and Jesus speaks, with a word people are healed and at peace.

How can we make Jesus relevant in our conflicted world?

• We need to take a closer look inside ourselves, do we allow Jesus us to touch our lives, no matter how messy or complicated, to transforms us.  Pope Francis writes in The Joy of the Gospel, "How much good it does us when he once more touches our lives and impels us to share his new life!"
• Stop and pray, to deepen our relationship with Jesus.  Jesus invites us in the Eucharist to seek him, his wisdom, his Spirit.  Do we listen, especially when we are in chaos and distress?  Can we abandon ourselves to and joyfully live in his holy will and accept his peace?
• Communicate our gospel values and witness in positive terms.  Share what Jesus means to you, how your personal relationship with our Lord and Savior helps you through the conflicts of life, share his promise to be with us always and carries us when our human abilities fail.

No, God is NOT dead!  He lives and breaths in us.  He nourishes us with his real presence in the Eucharist.  All so we can engage our conflicted lives and world with his out poured love for us and all of human kind.