Recent polls about the direction of our country are not very encouraging. According to Real Clear Politics, only 24.5% of all Americans expressed satisfaction that the country is on the right track. 67% feel that the country is going in the wrong direction. The reasons for this pervasive malaise are manifold.

In the 1970s and 1980s, some demographers were warning the world of a population explosion that would lead to the death of millions of people. However, they were wrong. Their theory was based on the false assumption that the baby boom of the 1960s would simply continue.

When gas prices soared in 2008, sales in big cars plummeted by 20% and small cars’ sales rose by 16%. The same trend occurred again in 2011. When fuel prices rise, the size of cars shrinks. And, since gas prices have been, for the most part, on a steady rise, car manufacturers are pushing smaller cars.

No one knows the exact date that the Pilgrims at Plymouth hosted 90 Native Americans and their chief, Massasoit, to celebrate an abundant harvest. History tells us that, in the autumn of 1621, their celebration lasted for three days. They feasted on fowl, brewed beer and enjoyed games.

Mozart and Verdi have set it to music in their Requiems. Berlioz and Listz have borrowed its sober tones for their own compositions. Even modern day film and TV composers have borrowed generously from its treasure e.g. “Young Bess,” “The Mission” and “the Shining.”

In one year alone (2012), Belgium boasted of 1,432 legal cases of euthanasia. Belgium even sanctions euthanasia for children over the age of 12 with parental consent. Now, delirious with the culture of death, it is looking to extend euthanasia to children below the age of 12.

Undoubtedly, the Second Vatican Council still remains the most significant Church event in modern times, not just for Catholics, but for all people of good will. In the entire history of the Church, there have only been twenty other such ecumenical councils.

After weeks of political rhetoric, ideological stand-offs and blame-throwing, the US government went into a partial shutdown on October 1, 2013, the first time in 17 years. Neither side of the political aisle was able to reach out to the other on the budget.

In 313 A.D, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, legitimizing Christianity and ordering the restitution of property confiscated from Christians. Yet, long before that historic day, the Church experienced remarkable growth. The times certainly did not favor such expansion. Christians were stigmatized, persecuted and martyred.

This past August, two men sat and quietly discussed major issues facing the world and the Church. Rev. Antonio Spadaro and Pope Francis. The one, the editor of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal based in Rome; the other, the head of the Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian Church. On September 19, 2013, their thought-provoking and engaging conversations ignited a media explosion. The New York Times headlined their story: “Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control.”

According to recent statistics published by the Pew Research Center, the numbers of individuals not affiliated with any church are growing rapidly. One-fifth of all those surveyed and one-third of adults under thirty claim not to be connected with any particular church. Various polling organizations have also discovered that Catholic students know less about religion than any other group.

Cluttered Complexity! That’s our world today. TVs with hundreds of options. Phones that double as cameras, web cams or notebooks. Blenders that cook. So many gadgets that are meant to simplify life, yet are complex themselves. Even the directions on medicine bottles, tax forms, vacation club memberships require more than a quick once-through reading.