Furthermore…

When I woke up this morning I heard a broadcaster named Roger telling about he and his wife have been involved in opening up a “Christian” radio station to begin broadcasting in Ireland. It sounded so strange. I’m not used to the restricted useof the term “Christian” to designate a limited group which has a defined approach to the Bible, prefers a certain  kind of music, and  uses an agreed upon in-group vocabulary to talk to one another about matters of church and faith.

As I listened, I kept hearing imaginary conversations among priests and Catholics in Dublin reacting to this arrival of Christians in their land where there such a lack of recognition of Christians (!). It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Catholic Church in Ireland is falling short of what might be expected of it.

 While that’s true of the Church in many countries today, it seems particularly bitter in reference to Ireland. But then, today’s Ireland is a far shot from what it has been in the past, in many additional arenas, besides Christianity.