“What do you people of faith think you bring to our society?”
That’s what I was asked while on a panel at a university a few years ago. The topic of the discussion was “The Role of Faith in a Pluralistic Society,” and it was a self-identified atheist who taught at the school who raised the question. While he was referring to a wide range of faith traditions, I responded out of my Catholic faith and as a public representative of the Church. The Church, I said, brings what it has always brought: an invitation to faith; an encounter with Christ; a way of living based on the Gospel; and guidance in building a truly good and just society.
My thoughts return to this exchange as we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday that reminds each of us of both the importance of freedom of faith and the role organized religion played in the founding of our nation.
Yet the Christian way of life and the Gospel vision of right and wrong, virtue and God’s love seem today eclipsed by an overarching shadow of “secularism, individualism and materialism,” as Pope Benedict XVI put it during his 2008 visit to this country. It’s a shadow so pervasive that today many never even hear the truth, richness, and joy of the Gospel of Christ. Pope Benedict told us, “While it is true that this country is marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior.”