This has been a year, hasn’t it? If we’ve learned anything from the past few months, it’s that the ground is crumbling out from under our feet. One tragedy after another seems to be hitting and it’s now become the joke to say that the end of the world is upon us. But, whenever it’s said, it’s always with a nervous laugh because in many ways it definitely feels like things are tenuous.
As I’ve watched this year unfold with the pandemic, and then the terrible incident of police brutality, then the destructive riots, and all the while being kept from Mass for a long time, I’ve come to realize that we have little control over matters.
And, yet, I’ve watched as so many of us have run around desperately trying to find the “fix.”
We’ve looked to our leaders to save us.
We’ve looked to the government.
We’ve looked to doctors and experts.
We’ve looked to laws.
We’ve looked to shaming people to get them to comply with our demands.
Some are clamoring for the tearing down of important institutions.
Some think socialism with fix all our ills.
And here’s the thing, none of these things will fix what is broken, because the problem is sin.
Leaders can’t save us from our sin.
Governments can’t save us from sin. They can outlaw it but people will still gravitate in its direction.
Doctors can possibly cure a physical ailment, but they can’t heal a sick soul.
Laws merely keep some sins in check…for a bit.
Getting rid of the police will not save us from our sins.
Socialism most certainly won’t fix our sins. But, make no mistake, unchecked capitalism breeds sin, too. And, no, I’m not saying we need to ditch capitalism, it’s just that it only works well when we are a moral people.
What this country needs is Christ and for Catholics to get with the program. For far too long, we have allowed the secular culture to dictate the path for our country. As Catholics, we’ve sat by like frogs in a warm pot of water. The heat has continually been turned up and we’ve just backstroked around the pot content to boil to death.
Well, our country is sick. It’s limping along…no, it’s crawling along and it’s about to crawl right off a cliff. If there is any hope to stop this cliff-dive then we, as Catholics, have to show up to the party. What is the point in claiming to be religious or even spiritual if it’s not going to be a transformative force in your life? What is the point of a lackluster, mediocre, bland faith life? Who are you inspiring? Nobody, not even yourself.
We need courage. We need courage to speak truth. We need courage to say “no” to forms of entertainment that glorify sin and keep us distracted. We need courage to take the mockery that comes our way. We need courage to live out our faith lives with no apologies.
We need to have passion. We need to live our faith like we mean it. There is no reason to hide our faith in a closet and scuttle around like we are embarrassed by it. Too often we equate passionate religious people with goofy, dewby patty-cakers that come off all wrong. We don’t need maniacs or goobers. We need intelligent, confident, welcoming Catholics. We don’t need to be ashamed of our identity in Christ.
We need to get a little tougher and more disciplined. The people of our country have gotten soft. Everyone is offended by something; everyone wants a hand-out. Seeking comfort, pleasure, the easy way, and idle forms of entertainment are top priorities for a huge swathe of people. As Catholics, we know that if we are to grow and live out our callings, we must sacrifice, put in the hard work, and be disciplined. This requires strength: Strength of mind; strength of body; strength of character.
We have the answer, Catholic Pilgrims, and it’s Christ. Christ heals our sin. He teaches us how to love well. Too many Catholics lead lives that look too much like the secular crowd. We can’t show them the light of Christ that way. And I’m telling you, with everything crumbling down around us, we need to lead lives that witness to the true answer of Christ. Yes, of course, laws are important and so is reform, but the root of all our problems is sin. As our country has sought to remove God, we have lost our ability to right the ship.
We do not want to be a people that blames everyone for our problems. We want to be a people that looks within ourselves and sees what we can fix to be better. We do not want to be a people that loses our minds to irrational thought and nonsensical ideas. We want to be a people that are ruled by logic, reason, and intelligent thought. We do not want to be a people that gives in to everything. We want to be people that stands with courage for the true, good, and beautiful. We don’t want to be a people that asks for a watered-down, easy Christianity that makes us comfortable and liked. We want to be a people that embraces the crosses of Christianity and accepts that we may not always be liked.
For the love, we are Catholics! We have all the helps necessary to show the world what it is missing. We aren’t doing anybody any favors by trying to hide in the corner and play invisible. It’s time to get to Mass and hold Sunday up for the holy day that it is. It’s time to gather our families and get on with the business of fighting the culture. It’s time to get off our phones and get our Bibles or rosaries out. It’s time to read and educate our minds with books on the faith. It’s time to get to confession and start weeding out the sin in our own lives because that is truly the only thing we can control.
We have the Eucharist, we have the Sacraments, we have Our Lady and all the saints, we have the sacramentals. We have what it takes to set this country on fire and, no, I don’t mean in the destructive sense as we’ve recently seen. I have lived a lukewarm faith life and it serves no purpose. Nothing done in mediocrity is inspiring.
People are walking around disheartened, lifeless, bitter, angry, hate-filled, lost, hopeless, and confused. As Catholics, we need to show them Christ. We need to show them lives that don’t back down to evil. We need to show them lives of conviction and confidence. We need to show them charity and clarity. And we need to show them that the ways of the world never satisfy that longing they are seeking to fill.
We definitely have a lot of work to do, Catholic Pilgrims, but I truly believe that we were made “for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14
So, I say, let’s get on with it.
“We give ourselves fully and entirely to Him so that He would be able to save souls ‘through me, with me, by me.’” This is the good, the greatest good, that we can wish and want for our fellow men. We want God for them, that they would live by the Holy Spirit.” —Servant of God Sister Ida Peterfy
