Survey Says?

08-11-2024Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“We all do no end of feeling and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider a boon. Its name is public opinion. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God.” - Mark Twain

There used to be a time, not so long ago, when it seemed like many people would look to the Gallup Poll to gain some insight into what a majority of people believed or thought about a particular issue or individual. For instance, the Gallup Poll was seen as sort of the “gold standard” for determining the pulse of public opinion during elections. Officially, the Gallup Poll is viewed as the business of measuring and tracking the public's attitudes concerning virtually every political, social, and economic issue of the day. Nowadays there are polls for just about everything. Can I just say, I don’t trust most polls?

While polls have their place in our world for those who are into public opinion, not everything (especially important things) are best determined by public opinion. For example, faith is not determined by a poll. Truth is not established by the number of people who believe in the latest fad. Much of the world believed in many gods two thousand years ago. Only the Jews believed in one God. Clearly the Jews were outnumbered, but they were not wrong. No poll should decide whether or not something is to be believed or not believed. No survey should decide whether a course of action is moral or immoral. When it comes down to it, opinions are like belly buttons – everyone has one. Truth matters. God matters. The Lord never, anywhere in the Bible, promised us that we would be on the majority side of every issue, or, for that matter, of any issue; but Our Lord did promise us this: that He would be with us always.

In the Gospel, Our Lord says: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you shall not have life within you.” This message of Jesus was not very popular with many people. What was the result of Jesus’ “unpopular” words? “Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Jesus’ disciples might have thought that Jesus did not realize what He was saying. So, they said to Jesus, “This sort of talk is hard to endure. How can anyone take it seriously.” They wanted Jesus to tone things down. They wanted Jesus to become more politically correct and give the people what they wanted to hear. They wanted him to be popular.

But Jesus was not interested in being popular or politically correct. He wasn’t about to take a poll on what the people wanted to believe. He was not about to eliminate the gift of the Eucharist because it would take a great deal of faith to accept this belief. He was not interested in compromising the truth. When the disciple reported the reaction to His teaching on the Bread of Life to Him, His answer was, simply, “So, are you going to leave too?” He is the Eternal Word Made Flesh. He is the Source of Eternal Life. “Where else are we to go, Lord.”

When people are serious about life, they realize that they must choose God or not choose God. There are no other options. “As for me and my household,” said Joshua, in Sacred Scripture, “we will serve the Lord.”

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline