IS THE SOUL OF AUSTRALIA SHRINKING?

As I was driving on the recent long weekend I heard an interview with Rev Tim Costello that was few years old. He made that statement that jarred with me and has had me thinking all week.

He said that ‘the soul in Australian society is shrinking’.

What exactly does he mean? What long term effect will it have on our society?

I am a regular watcher of the news on TV and there seems to be a familiar formula with this, no matter what the channel – there are numerous, bad news‟ stories to commence the news and then the finish, after the weather, is normally a cute, good news story to leave us smiling.

Does this type of news really reflect a day in the life of Australia and its important events? In the last Census over a half of Australians say that they are Christian, and almost a quarter of the population say they are Catholic. Great numbers in a society that is increasingly secular and with the intense pressure and media scrutiny on Religions today in the wake of the Royal Commission.

But what does it mean to identify as a Catholic? How does the Census measure the way that we live as a Catholic person? Can the Census see the Gospels lived out through me? Can the Census actually measure the increase in crime and paint a true picture of an Australian society that is moving to a disassociation with caring?

We see things and do little because we don’t want to get involved. What was this like forty years ago? I can remember going to school and coming home and the back door of the house would be open all day. I knew the neighbours, we looked after each other and more importantly, they knew me.

I think of the terrible situation that has developed for asylum seekers and the indifference shown by our government and by us all to their plight. It was a political fight to see who could turn away the most boats. We walk past homeless people and pretend that we do not see them.

In the Church that I attend the numbers are very good. But the post Mass conversations that used to dominate the carpark are taken over by the race to get home. Not so thirty years ago.

However, despite all of this, religion is a strong force of good. Where would we be without the religious charitable works throughout the world? The Charity industry in Australia receives almost $50 billion per annum in donations. Does this giving of money replace our obligations to be good Christians? I think that for some they believe that it does.

All of the great religions of the world have an ethos of acting as a force for good. They move people from the care of the individual to the care of the communal and generate a social cohesion. Without this force for good we would have civil instability on a much greater scale.

So what do you think? Is the soul in Australian society shrinking?

WISHING ALL FAMILIES A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY BREAK

I hope that all families have a peaceful and restful holiday break filled with family time. I will be travelling north to see my daughter and her new baby. A time that I will cherish. Perhaps the holiday period would be a good time for students to make a call to an Aunty or Uncle or Grandparents that you will not be able to visit. A call just to say hello, that you care, and show connection. It could make a difference.

Principal