Within the past 10 years, I’ve heard a lot of people comment, “How did we get to this point?” We all look around and things look…well…bleak. Nothing seems healthy or thriving–not people, not families, not institutions, not countries.
To be fair, we all can have a bit of a romantic view of the past seeing it as seemingly idyllic and problem free. That isn’t true. Each time period has its major challenges, sufferings, and tragedies. However, the current state of things do seem crazy chaotic. Sure, there have obviously been chaotic times before; history is ripe with wars and rebellion. Our current state, though, is laser-beamed focused on the utter destruction of everything that is good and right. Relativism is wildly popular. Immorality is promoted. Vices are deemed the new “virtues.” Nothing makes sense and that’s the point. It is difficult to argue with people that deny any absolute truths and condemn moral virtues.
And because of all this, everything seems sick. To add to that, this is how civilizations crumble. There’s a reason why we study history. The idea is to learn from it, but it seems we, as a species, struggle with this concept.
Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote in his book Way to Inner Peace: Infidelity in little things deteriorates the moral sense; it makes a person untrustworthy; it loosens the ties that bind society together, and it is a counteracting agency of that Divine Love which ought to be the cement of good human relationships.
That’s how we got to where we are: Little by little people practiced infidelity in little things. Mostly on purpose in order to activate the change they wanted to see; sometimes not completely on purpose. This made us untrustworthy to each other and it has eroded our faith in our fellow man. When I don’t trust you, I can’t have a good relationship with you.
Many of us sit around and wonder how do we take back society and our culture? Wrongly, we think that we need to do something big or we think that if we just elect the right leaders we’ll get back on track. But no one human has the ability to right so many wrongs. They do not have the power to heal the deep-seated cancer that pervades countries around the world. We forget that politicians are not Jesus.
We need to let go of the idea that we need to do something “earth shattering” to set things right. The answer lies in doing the exact same thing that got us into this mess–change things little by little. We need to be committed for the long-haul and realize we may not see full change in our lifetime. But, we need to do the right thing in the moment whether we see the full fruits of it or not.
“The conflicts which we have to endure either against evil in our own soul or in the moral circle where our influence would seem to be trivial are in reality the struggle of the battle for life and decency.”
We deem doing the little things as insignificant but how many Saints have shown us that this is exactly the way?
St. Thรฉrรจse of Lisieux talked about the “little way.”
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta told us to do “small things with great love.”
Venerable Bishop Sheen tells us:
“In like manner, humans will find little to do if they save their energy for great occasions.
In every direction the great is reached through the little.“
We take things back little by little, focusing on our own lives and our own families. Collectively, if all Catholics did this, the impact would be enormous. Definitely more impactful than waiting around for the right time to do a seemingly great thing.
Examples of little things: Eat together as a family, go to Mass, go to Confession, be present, reach out to a friend, speak truth, watch morally upright things, find time for prayer, etc.
“To live by the day and to watch each step is the true pilgrimage method, for their is nothing little if God requires it.”
Live the faith boldly, Catholic Pilgrims, and travel well.
Listen to this week’s podcast where I read from Bishop Sheen’s Book Way to Inner Peace.
