EYES OPEN
When human beings know the Lord Jesus in a personal, meaningful way, they are able to partner with the Creator to dignify and improve their very own, truly personal lives. They are able to help others meaningfully and make a positive contribution to their own generation.
As long as men and women of good will everywhere possess a horror of sin and are very well aware of the eternal destinies—heaven or hell—their eyes will remain open. And they will honor their own dignity and the dignity of others. They will open their minds and hearts to the call of God, to conversion.
IRREDEEMABLE ANGEL
The Holy Spirit en-courages each of us to see and to act whenever we become aware of deeply-rooted and pervasive wrongs—evil—occurring within the scope and activities of our lives.
The strife among nations and peoples is a reflection of the great conflict between good and evil in the cosmos. The realm of the loving, just, provident and living God is totally and absolutely opposed by the evil, corrupt, meaningless and irredeemable angelic figure of Satan—who is as good as dead—standing as though alive—but dead.
FACE OF EVIL
We must never permit, intentionally or otherwise, for the face of evil to become our own. If a person encounters evil face-to-face and does nothing—God will judge him harshly. For he hides the face God has given him with the very mask of evil.
If a person encounters evil face-to-face and does nothing, that person heaps upon his own soul a serious share of the responsibility for that evil—it is as if he himself were its principal draftsman, if not architect.
GOOD FOR ALL
The good that we must give to any individual is two-fold: 1.) all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God; 2.) therefore, all are deserving of the good which God wills for them precisely because of their humanity.
It takes insight to understand just how important little children are to our well-being. It takes courage to understand that what is good for children must be good for all human beings, or else we make a mockery of our humanity and children remain only the property of their parents . . .
1.) If we cannot tolerate surrendering a child over to complete strangers, we must never sell ourselves to any person, or to the slavery of “idols”, “strange gods”, addictions and material goods or lead anyone to do the same thing.
2.) If we cannot tolerate physical violence against a child, we cannot tolerate anyone who seeks to divide and conquer spouses, and marriage relationships, and families or the CHURCH for their own ends.
3.) If we cannot tolerate offenses against a child’s sacred space, we cannot tolerate the same against any adult, or the holiness of God’s own sacred space which is called the “Sabbath” and the “Lord’s Day”.
. . . we have to let the Lord “instruct us in his way” that “we may walk in his paths”. [Isa 2]
WHEN IS ENOUGH?
We have “instruction” from every direction, from every discredited source in our lives. And the “works of darkness” grow just as they did in the time of St. Paul—orgies, drunkenness, promiscuity, lust, rivalry and jealousy.
When do we say enough! and no! and turn to the Lord’s own “Word”? When do we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and shake off disgusting displays—a flood!—of greed and luxury as we have seen on the very day of Thanksgiving—when we are called to give national “thanks” to our Creator for our great nation and for all the graces and blessings that he has bestowed upon us?
WRANGLING AND MILITARISM
WRANGLING AND MILITARISM
We have learned over the past twenty years that never-ending political wrangling and the easy militarism of elected politicians (neither of which requires an ounce of courage) cannot focus the mind and heart of our nation towards to the good that we must become and the good that we must accomplish.
Endless wars and conflicts have drained the life out of our nation, our people, our young men and women. And it has robbed the vitality of our commerce and our government. Our national “soul”—and we’ve always thought that our United States possesses something like this—will never be healed or restored until we put on the VIRTUE of COURAGE and wear it faithfully:
From the Holy Spirit, we must seek the COURAGE to turn away from narcissistic self-love and the corruption and idolatry of American individualism.
From the Holy Spirit, we must ENCOURAGE a spiritual way, a “holy way” by which all of our citizens are encouraged to one again consciously choose for the good of their greater community.
The Holy Spirit ENCOURAGES us to seek the “peace which only Christ can give” by which we will renounce the glorification of personal aggression and violence, destruction of property, and the degrading humiliation of any one of God’s children.
MEN AND WOMEN OF GOOD WILL
COURAGE is required. A society may be said to be “courageous” only to the extent that its members are themselves courageous —both individually and as a society.
The Christian community stands out by its witness, that societies and nations will tend towards meaningful peace if their own citizens live this out in their own lives and demand such from their leaders. Only when individual men and women of good will unite to choose “plowshares” instead of “swords”, “pruning hooks” in place of “spears”, and not raise the sword to each other, then we may demand that the “training” of our leaders be moral and ethical and not mindlessly political and militaristic. It is not a law that leaders will be better than those who elect them.
SIGN OF COURAGE
The call of God is unmistakable. There is still time for individuals, people, and a nation to repent of our offenses against his and our own inexpressible dignity. There is still time to “throw off the works of darkness”, “put on the armor of light” and “walk in the light of the Lord”.
The voice of St. Augustine echoes with new urgency in this generation we are to remember that the VIRTUE of COURAGE is the “irrefutable sign of the existence and power of evil in the world”. [Pieper ANTHOLOGY 1989, 25]
PERSONAL RISK
Human stamina or endurance cannot be called courage, for example, climbing a mountain, swimming a channel or ordering a battle plan.
Courage has true meaning only when it commits one to take great personal risk for the cause of justice, that is to say, upholding the “right” of all human beings to receive justice—what they are due in the eyes of their Creator.
HOLY WAY OF LIFE
Never to be forgotten, courage like all virtues, is a moral strength which contributes to the right order of the human person and the right order of his society.
This moral strength called courage inevitably will falter without the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit. By “grace”, I mean a “share” in the divine life that each disciple of Jesus may know through living a “holy way of life.”
ACCEPT ALL THAT IS ALIVE
It is impossible to understand courage meaningfully if we fail to accept the guidance and instruction of God’s Holy Spirit. In this season of Advent, our loving God gives us a grace-filled opportunity in life to examine our consciences and lives, to purify ourselves through the Sacraments, and to draw closer to God in love and service.
I urge you with all my heart to change things in your lives, to let go of all that is dead, to embrace and accept all that is alive in Christ. Let us resolve together to let go of our human pride, our numbing indifference to the things that matter, and to remember always people who are poor and crushed under the weight of their circumstances. Reach out to one another in love and in kindness. Reach up to God in adoration and in fidelity.
OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH
Realize that our Christian faith must be personal, intimate and filled with the peace, righteousness and joy of God’s Holy Spirit or it is no faith at all. Let us not bring dishonor to our faith or allow it to wither away, forgotten and mocked. Maybe God look upon each of us and our parish community as worthy of the name of Jesus Christ.
