There are countless ways in which this implicit materialism manifests itself in the Church today. Youth sports on Sundays (even in “Catholic” leagues!) downplay the spiritual importance of this divinely-ordered day of rest; Catholic schools prioritizing public school educational standards over imparting the Faith to children undermine the importance of their spiritual health; attempts to make the Mass more “relevant” instead of more transcendent fashion a man-centered, rather than God-centered, liturgy; emphasizing “social justice” as the top priority of the Church diminishes its spiritual mission; and, of course, agreeing to classify the Sacraments as “non-essential” services (while Home Depot remained open) undercut the very purpose of the Catholic religion.
What young people need most right now is not so much understanding, compassion, antidepressants, or therapy; they need a good belly laugh, preferably at their own expense. A good start would be for them to watch the skit “Stop it” by Bob Newhart, one of the last of that tradition of great comedians. Check it out on YouTube; it’s a good laugh and good therapy.
The second, equally sad, misunderstanding is to fail to see that any possibility for “social justice” depends on strong, stable families within which the virtues can be developed. This mistake is especially inexcusable given the prominent place the family occupies in every major Church document on social justice...As these documents point out, and as Pope John Paul II repeated unceasingly, it’s in the family that we learn the faith and develop the virtues. It’s in the family that we learn to care for others rather than merely about ourselves. Without strong families, we can no more have strong communities characterized by mutual concern for the common good than you can have a healthy body with unhealthy cells filled with toxic chemicals.