No Big Deal

We all have them, the eight-inch votive candles of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. They keep us grounded in the real things that matter in our lives. And on February 11, another entry in the candle world: there he was, grinning like Jolly Jesus on an eight-inch votive with an image of what looked like a heart encircled with thorns on his breast: Travis Kelce – the new false god. The people rejoiced, the shopkeeper was in ecstasy at his haul of filthy lucre for a sold-out product, and when Christians protested, a voice on the newscast was heard saying, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

The event was treated like a “no big deal” moment. Fun! Fun! On the other hand, many wondered, where was the God Isaiah spoke of (64:1): “Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and wouldst come down! The mountains would melt away at Thy presence!” At the very least,where was a lightning bolt from the heavens in retribution for a grave insult to Jesus Christ? Of course, if a bolt stroked down from the skies it would elicit screams of “climate catastrophe” and “danger to the environment.”

A punishment from God for blasphemy? Get real, it was just good clean fun. God – any god – has nothing to do with anything these days. Party on!

Therein lies the problem. The concept of God has been deleted from our minds. Who deleted Him? We ourselves have shoved Him away. There is no fear of judgment among us, no thought of the world to come because none of that pertains to our live-in-the-moment existence. Thisexistential curse is on us, it is our fault, particularly the fault of those who profess to follow Christ. By cowardly going along to get along in society, by keeping our Christian mouths shut so as not to offend anyone, by standing for nothing that is good and pure and holy, we – priests, bishops, laity – have allowed evil to step into the void and evil is laying waste to the world around us. Sacrilege, such as that which took place in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, abounds.

These are the signs of our times. What else can we expect?

• The national leadership has no moral compass. Laws are ignored to accomplish the political agenda. People are persecuted and jailed – pro-lifers, protesters against the ugly corruption of children in our public education system – to silence their voices of reason. How far are we from police control of the populace?
  
• States are bastions of the anti-life and anti-God mentality. Minnesota, for example, is a perverse sanctuary state, championing death to the unborn, transgender services for children, and next up, assisted suicide with few safeguards for the suffering person. The proposed suicide legislation up for discussion comes without a true conscience clause. The legislation put forth allows a physician not to prescribe death medications, but demands he refer to a provider who will: a deathly lose-lose situation.

• On the world scene, war, threats of war, wanton crime, murder. The October 7 attack on Israel launched riots and campus uprisings by mindless students reminiscent of the violent and orchestrated protests following the death of George Floyd. The current issue, no matter how disguised it is, is against the Jewish people and Jewish life. Death – even of small children – as seen in the accompanying picture, is a desired goal. The news reports showed dead children like these following the raid on Israel on October 7. But this picture is from 1945 when Buchenwald concentration camp was turned over to U.S. troops. The photo, taken by an American soldier and given to me by our neighbor who was there, shows clearly the goal of the anti-Jewish mentality, whether directed by Hitler, Hamas, or Herod: death.

In truth, this current volcanic eruption of hate is directed not only toward anything Jewish but also toward Christians. After all, Jesus Christ was a Jew, a rabbi. Make no mistake about it, these protests and riots and wars are against the Christ, the Son of God and His followers; it is the next chapter of the age-old battle between good and evil.

And we’re losing. It’s as if mankind is saying “There ain’t no God. We answer to no one but ourselves, our wants, our pleasures.” And Satan cackles in the background at the chaos he has caused.

Isaiah was right so many centuries ago:

Behold, Thou art angry, and we have sinned…And we are all become as one unclean…and our iniquity, like the wind, has taken us away…Thou has hid Thy face from us and has crushed us in the hand of our iniquity”

(Is. 64:5b-7)

It’s time for our counter-campaign to begin, said our priest in his Ash Wednesday homily. True words for this Lenten season. We can wait no longer to enjoin the fight to take our world back to the light of grace. It is our time to defeat evil with our fasting and prayer, not just these forty days, but as long as it takes. Every time we fast, not just from food but other pleasures, the priest said, we are offering up to God that choice as a means to defeat evil. Every moment in prayer is safeguarding ourselves from our personal temptations and growing in grace to fight the battle for souls.

There is a God and it is time we acted like it.

This article, No Big Deal is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/no-big-deal/
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