Convalidation.

I wonder how many of you know what that even means. I first heard this word a long time ago when I was becoming a deacon, but until more recently it didn’t really seem like an actual thing to me. Until recently.

I say recently because I now find myself presiding at convalidations.

A convalidation is a ceremony that makes a civilly recognized marriage valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. It’s more than a blessing; it is a new act of consent exchanged by the couple indicating their decision to have a sacramental marriage.

More and more people who were married outside of the Catholic Church are seeking to enter the Church. And there is some pretty good data out there, including from Pew Research Center, indicting that after years of decline, the number of people declaring themselves as Christians has actually started to increase. 

And get this, according to a State of the Church report from Barna, weekly church attendance by Millennials, that is those born between 1981 and 1996, has actually increased by 21 percent over the past six years. 

In other words, churches are filling up again with even more people attending Mass now than before Covid.

What in the world is going on here?

I don’t know the answer to that… but I’m sure that Jesus does. Let’s take today’s Gospel for example. It contains a tough love message – one that’s hard to swallow – with statements about setting the world on fire, about creating divided households, about turning father against son and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law. Yikes! 

This is some hard medicine. After all, isn’t Jesus supposed to be the Prince of Peace? The one who came to help us, not to hurt us? Getting scorched by fire and dividing families is not helpful, Lord!

What is happening here is that Jesus is setting a sharp contrast between what he offers versus what the world offers. The world offers us the endless and even addictive pursuit of worldly pleasures, possessions, quick satisfaction, achievement, wealth, whatever… but these are short-term gains only. Jesus is all about the long-term gains. And in today’s Gospel, Jesus is asking us to take the long view.

Psychologists say that one of the telltale signs of developing maturity in children is their acceptance of delayed gratification, that is their ability to postpone immediate rewards for future benefits.

I think people are returning to churches and choosing sacramental marriages through convalidations because they are finding that the short-term gains that our culture has to offer are ultimately unsatisfying. They don’t lead to joy, meaning, purpose, peace, truth… and they surely don’t lead us in the direction of eternity. I think people are starting to take the long view… and perhaps showing signs of spiritual maturity.

There’s something in the air and it seems to be catching on.

So, together… let’s look out beyond what we can easily see, feel, or grasp. It’s important that we stay focused on the present, that we remain in the here and now, but let’s trust that our Creator God has our backs and that the best is yet to come.

This is the essence of our faith and it’s the reason that we’re all here.

And perhaps it’s why more and more people are starting to join us.