Now, back to good news. I much prefer good news. Don’t you? And that’s the thing. I just feel like we’re in a moment here. A moment when so many people, the young especially, are reconsidering the faith and they’re being served this milquetoast lukewarm version of it that is non-sustaining or reads more like a UN Mission statement than a proclamation of faith.

Guys, let’s not blow this. The Holy Spirit is moving. Let’s live up to this moment.

So, that’s my thing.

Anyway, the Hartford Courant reports: “People are returning in droves to the Catholic Church in Connecticut, reversing a decades-long decline as particularly younger people search for deeper meaning and peace in a divisive world, priests in the state say.

Overall, attendance in the Archdiocese of Hartford has increased since 2021, with 76,428 families attending, up from 9,834 families, Archdiocese officials say. The number of men seeking the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Hartford has risen from five in 2024 to 18 projected in 2026, Archdiocese officials say.

Archdiocese officials note that while they have primarily seen an increase in young men attending Mass, they also are seeing more young families and others attending.”

Back to me now: Archbishop Christopher Coyne, of course, is taking all the wrong messages from this spike in interest. He says that it’s because the Church is “becoming more welcoming and actively connecting with people in the community.”

The Church is seeing renewed interest because as the world turns increasingly dark, the Church is the only source of light. As the world turns increasingly insane, the Church’s ancient teaching seems…well…sane. People are looking to be anchored to something real, something weighty and not get blown around like a cork on the ocean. They know there is more than the materialist world and are looking into spirituality. It’s not because the pastor is calling people by their preferred pronouns or wearing a rainbow stole. It’s because people are suspecting for the first time in decades that the Church may just be connected to a very real Jesus Christ who was born, died for our sins, and resurrected. So yeah, not the rainbow stole.

And it’s not just Hartford, Connecticut.

The NY Post reports: “New Yorkers turning to the church, number of Catholic converts soaring, according to priests.”

“Young people come to New York City to chase careers, materialism and pleasure. The pursuit of faith isn’t exactly on the Big Apple checklist.

However, at a recent, very crowded Sunday night mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, Father Jonah Teller, OP made a simple announcement indicating that times are changing.

According to Teller, the number enrolled in the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults — the process in which adults convert to Catholicism — had tripled since last year, with roughly 130 people signing up.

There’s a similar story at St. Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side, where their OCIA numbers have doubled since last year, swelling to nearly 90 people.

At the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, they’ve also doubled their head count with about 100 people. Their Sunday 7pm mass has become overcrowded.

“We’re out of space and exploring adding more masses,” Father Daniel Ray told The Post.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, they’ve also seen a surge. In 2024, they had 538 adults enter the church, nearly twice the amount of 2023. (All priests acknowledge some will drop off before the Easter Vigil, but they still expect numbers to remain high).

Since activist Charlie Kirk, an evangelical Protestant, was assassinated in September, there’s been reports that mass attendance is way up. And over the last year, Catholic churches across the country have cited more conversions among young people.

Me again: “My generation is watching things fall apart,” Kiegan Lenihan, who is in OCIA at St. Joseph’s told The Post. “When things all seem to be going wrong in greater society, maybe organized religion isn’t that bad.”

Kiegan gets it!!! Kiegan gets it more than Archbishop Coyne. The world’s confusion and darkness makes the Church’s roots in antiquity seem like a good thing.

We’re in a moment here, folks. Let’s do the right thing.