“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Loïs and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you.” (II Tim 1, 5)
The flow of the faith from one generation to the next seems to have stopped or, at least, to have been reduced to a trickle.
At my age I have witnessed five generations, ranging from my grandparents to the sons and daughters of my nephews and nieces. Ours was, and to a great extent still is, a typical religious family, and I believe that studying it can throw some light on what may be happening.
Of course, what I am going to say is based on pure observation; in no way is it a scientific study. Also, it has to be kept in mind that there is hardly ever just one cause for things to happen.
My grandparents’ faith was what I would call ‘conventional faith’. They never questioned their faith or the obligations that came with it; they simply participated in religious activities. This was also the faith of society of the time. Of course, some were more religious and some less.
The generation of my parents continued to live the faith transmitted to them in the same way. Although to our eyes this may seem to have been superficial, it did help them grow in their intimacy with God, and underneath their mumbled Hail Marys and Our Fathers there was a profound conviction that they were communicating with God.
Faith is more than morality; it is believing that we can live morally only because we are redeemed by Christ
The passing of the faith to my generation immediately after World War II was also smooth, although I am afraid that for our generation the link between the ‘practice of religion’ and ‘intimacy with God’ began to lose some of its strength. We began to distance ‘ritual’ from ‘religious experience’.
Coming to the fourth generation, a few continue to live their faith as their parents did but possibly in an even less felt way, while some have abandoned the faith. However, a few moved on to a personal level of faith, nourishing it through greater intimacy with the Bible, through prayer that is more dialogue than recitation, through a submission to God that is made with greater awareness. Post-Vatican II spiritual movements provide them with space where they can share their faith with others, strengthening it in the process.
Many of this fourth generation who still live the faith on a conventional level and even of those who have abandoned their faith, continue to live morally but often they do not link their moral life to their faith; for them, living morally is an effort of the will.
Transmitting the faith to the fifth generation is proving to be the most difficult of all. My hunch is that parents are trying to transmit conventional rather than personal faith. Conventional faith was relevant for the preceding generations because through it they could still find God. For the younger generations it is devoid of this experience; it does not help them get in touch with the great longing that they have for God deep down within them. Besides, the personal conviction by which these parents live their own faith may be somewhat lacking and often contradicted by the values they cherish. This does not help at all.
Introduced to experiential faith, youngsters would be more likely to withstand the pressure of our secularist culture. Inculcating a moral way of living in one’s children is excellent but not enough.
Faith is more than morality; it is believing that we can live morally only because we are redeemed by Christ. Speaking from experience, St Paul cries: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7,24-25)
Karl Rahner prophesied that Christians of the 21st century “will be mystics or they won’t be Christian”. I think that by ‘mystics’ he had in mind people who have a personal or experiential faith.
ajsmicallef@gmail.com
Fr Alfred Micallef is a member of the Society of Jesus.