Book Recommendation - American Church - Russell Shaw

I just got around to reading this interview in OSV from June. Though I have not read the book yet, the interview forces me to conclude it is a must read.

What is happening to the American Catholic Church is obvious, but Mr. Shaw puts it in clear terms. We Catholics are being assimilated by the secular, materialistic and relativistic Godless American culture. We shy away from religious truths, we are not teaching our children our faith. We are turning away from the teachings of our Church and picking and choosing what we will follow and what we will not. We want the church to conform to us, not conforming ourselves to the magisterium as Francis did and taught. It is in our Franciscan Rule.

Remember what happened to the lost tribes of Israel – they were assimilated by the local and surrounding anti-Jewish culture. In large part by intermarriage, but also by letting go of their faith. Will this happen to the American Catholic? For the most part it has already happened in Europe.

My answer is that we need to embrace the New Evangelization and start reminding our fellow Catholics what the Church teaches. It is not a time to be politically correct, or silent, or wishy-washy moderate. It is time to embrace our faith and make sure we are vocal. We need to be public about our faith, we need to be a model to others – our family and friends.

Shaw assesses the dangers of assimilation for American Catholics

Longtime Catholic journalist examines the state of the Church in America and how it can be renewed

By Matthew E. Bunson - OSV Newsweekly, 6/30/2013 

One of the great ongoing questions in the history of American Catholicism has been that of cultural assimilation. Has the embrace of American culture and values been a good thing or a bad thing for Catholics in the country, and, indeed, is it even possible for an American Catholic to be both American and Catholic?

It is a challenging question, and it is one worth discussing at a time when American cultural influences of materialism, secularism and relativism seem so diametrically opposed to everything we are called to be as members of the Catholic Church.

Read the rest here.