I was once talking to a group of college students about issues of faith that they were having. I found it interesting to notice that most of them were fallen away Catholics who diverged from the practice of their faith about when they entered High School. They had completely bought into the modern attitude about faith and religion. Clearly, the going moral premise on the life of others is to do no harm to others but do whatever it is that you want for yourself. They couldn’t understand the Church’s teaching on issues e.g. marriage and its sanctity or why the Church was so for Pro-Life issues when the rest of the world was so much for Pro-choice. I really enjoyed the conversation because I was able to show them the foundations of our faith and the reason for our trust in the Lord.

In this conversation I was reminded of a conversation I of-ten have with parents when they register their children for our Religious Education programs, preparing them to make their First Communion or Confirmation. I tell them not to register their child to learn a faith the family does not prac-tice because “we intend to cause great harm to the life of this child.” What I mean by “we” I mean both the parents and our program. When a child begins to learn about our Catholic faith, he/she will inevitably begin to question the religious practices of their own live and family. If what is lived is very different than what is being taught in the class and at the church, then the child has to ask the question: “who is telling me the truth?” Sadly, in this decision, the church is always going to loses. Indeed, the church is now going to be perceived as a liar because “mommy and daddy never lie to me.” The child will grow to distrust the church and soon its message of salvation in Jesus Christ. This is what I mean, by causing great harm to a child.

We call cause harm to others when we say we believe one thing but our behavior in life expresses another. Indeed, this is precisely what this generation of young adults is sick and tired of. They are tired of living in the madness of all thing relative. Everything is an acceptation. There are no rules and there is no truth in what people say since “it all de-pends.” This generation of young people has a very difficult time trusting anything or anyone precisely because too many adults have lied to them about the truth of things or have apostatized from their core beliefs and values.

Jesus talks about the importance of knowing the truth and living in the Truth. There can’t be any two ways about it. There is only one truth and that is always found in God. Loss of faith in what to believe in is a belief in nothing, but it is still a belief that will take you nowhere.