IF ONLY THINGS WERE LIKE THEY WERE

 

One of my responsibilities as a pastor is to help the faithful to respond to the specific challenges of the times, that is, challenges to their faith and morals that are presented by the wider culture.  Church history teaches that every culture, in every generation, poses in different ways challenges to faith and morals.  This includes even cultures where the majority of the population believed in God and His judgment.  We should not be surprised since “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  The effects of sin are present in every generation.

            The wise sage Qoheleth of Ecclesiastes tells us, “Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these?  For it is not out of wisdom that you ask about this” (7:10).  If we are tempted to look with longing at the past, we might consider the words of St. Augustine: “You hear people complaining about this present day and age because things were so much better in former times.  I wonder what would happen if they could be taken back to the days of their ancestors – would we not still hear them complaining?  You may think past ages were good, but it is only because you are not living in them.”  I hear parents fretting over the dangers that today’s culture poses to their children.  “Things today are so much worse!”  I agree that in many ways they are worse, and I sympathize with them.  But let us not exaggerate, or we will quickly be discouraged from doing good.                 

            Every generation of disciples face challenges to faith and morality.  This is not all bad.  It gives us opportunities to bear witness to Christ.  Wherever the darkness is darker the light burns brighter!  After being flogged the apostles “left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name” (Acts 5:41).  Their experience reinforced what they had learned from Jesus, who had told them that persecution would lead to their giving testimony (cf. Luke 21:13).  Just like the apostles, we have the privilege today of giving testimony to the truth in a hostile environment, knowing that, like the Saints of old, we do not stand alone.  Christ is with us, affirming the promise he made to the apostles: “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute” (Luke 21:15).  Like the Saints, our motivation must be love for God and love for neighbor, which extends even to our opponents.

            In the coming weeks I will be writing and speaking about some existential threats to the well-being and salvation of our children, many of which I am sure you are already aware.  I want to encourage us not to surrender but to confront these threats.  Some of our parishioners are already on the front line, determined to defend our youth, who are targets of an ideology that will sear their minds, rob them of their innocence, and confuse their moral understanding.  Like apostles, martyrs and confessors of previous generations, we must stand for the truth and be willing, by the grace of God, to suffer for it.  The truth is always salvific, and it is good for everyone.  In this struggle let us pray for the virtues of courage, perseverance, and magnanimity, which, according to Marriam-Webster, is the quality of “loftiness of spirit enabling one to bear trouble calmly, to disdain meanness, and to display a noble generosity.”  May we lovingly and generously act to defend the youth.        

 

                                                     FATHER SCOTT