A little known fact is how much The Catholic Church all pulling together could affect this country. For instance it takes 68,000,000 to elect a President. There are 75,000,000 Catholics of voting age. So it goes to follow the Catholics of this nation could control the Presidency by force of vote alone. Yet in no election (including John F. Kennedy's election in 1961.) Why? The reason are perhaps more complicated than we are willing to believe. The main issue is flawed teaching in out CCD and RCIA programs and a loss of identity and union within our own Church. A fact which nobody wishes to address among the Priesthood or the body
The Priest fears internal strife within his church and the body wishes not to make waves and risk losing their social place within the Church. We have this condition in our Church due to one thing, selfishness. We want to have our faith as we want it. In a earlier post I called it a buffet type of faith, pick and chose what you want and don't have anything to do with what you don't want.
In today's world most will turn to themselves and say why not? I can go down the road to this Church and they say all I have to do is ask Jesus into my heart and I am good forever or what is called once saved always saved. What no Confession or CCD classes or rules about who I can and can't live with this is allot easier and plus all my sins are forgiven and I can do all I want to do without worry. Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. it is a shame that many are bought off for allot less. In a world that bombards us to look young by whatever means. That you have a right to have control over your body. Men who won't be men so women have to fill both jobs. As we are bombarded we need every new thing in site and all must be that perfect figure with that perfect hair and a computer that can do anything to include combing your hair. Pornography is readily available and if you can't get it online or in the store just stay up late and watch cable television in the wee hours of the morning.
With all this that we face can we be expected to conform to a 2000 year old church that has a rule or guidance on everything including things I like to do but can't by it's leaders? The answer is simple yes. God never said love your neighbor except when his family is starving and needs food and at the same time The Dallas Cowboys are playing. He never said do unto others except you just really don't have the time. Jesus never said at the Last Supper "do this in memory of me', Unless your hungover and there is a great game that starts at 10AM. And the second commandment has never said "I shall have no other God before me" unless something better comes along. To worship a graven image is easy today cell phones that text, IPADS that stream the Internet almost anywhere and MP3 players that are making our kids more hard of hearing by the minute. These destroy family communication and when we should be taking every chance to praise and worship God we are too busy listening to "The Safety Dace" or what ever other kind of music we desire. Yes there are still graven images they just come with transistors now and young America will someday in the not to distant future will learn to not care about anybody due to the dehumanization of society.
So with all of this working against us to include the evil one or the many things not mentioned above. Do we really have to do all that Catholic stuff when two blocks away is a Church that says come to Church get saved and your set ? In a word yes and you are still required to do more than attend Mass and sneak out right after Communion you are called to pray,Love everybody as you do yourself, help the poor,hungry,homeless and those in need of coats. And we don't just do it during a can food drive or a winter coat drive or a fan drive for when its hot, We do it everyday with deeds and prayers. All too often our answer is well I will do it later, and repeat this line of nonsense until we are out of later and are facing judgement. I can assure you the last words you ever want to hear is :"I never knew ye".
The Catholic faith has never been a faith of OK I will do this part but not that part. I will help the poor but not go to Church. You cannot bargain with God you are either a member of his Church of you are not there is no inbetweens and no half measures. You either practice the entire faith and follow all the instructions of the Church or choose not to and risk the eternal punishment that I pray nobody will ever face. Jesus said "The way to Hell is wide" so it is very very easy to get there. However the path to heaven is very narrow and few shall enter. Now I cannot say if you need to work on a few things but I sure know I need to. And this is the whole point of our faith we cannot do it alone we are dependant on God for our very breaths as well as his graces and mercies he gives us out of his love. The common notion is "well God loves man too much to send me to Hell". Are you willing to bet your eternal soul on that? I for one am not as I have found no proof of God saying to anybody "Your a great person and I love you too much to cast you into Hell. God it says wishes that no man see eternal punishment however it stops there and he speaks often of people he warns to change their ways or they will be in the eternal fire.
So what do we have to do? The playbook is in your hands in the four gospels and acts as well as many of the early Church Fathers Writings. We must be Catholic 24/7 not ever from 9 to 5. Praying,helping, working and serving God in all you do. I have in my Early years of being a Catholic been through a few times (well more that a few) times of being short on money. So often I was fond of saying "well I don't have the money I will wait till things get better". Sometimes my stupidity out paces my common sense by a mile. Will you ever be rich enough? The immediate answer is no, because the more money you have the more you have to do with it. By the time you are through and you remember you should give to the Church it's gone. If you do not have enough money to help and this is due to poverty in your house there is a simple answer. If you can't afford the money to help......pray!. Pray for everything not just yourself but the poor,the prisoners.the homeless and the sick or dying or even for the souls in Purgatory. For by this act alone you are lifting the situations to God who can do all things.
OK no money, pray easy! However it gets harder as stated in the very beginning of this blog when some more problematic things come into play. When you vote are you voting in a pro-abortion candidate and if you are, are you an accessory to the murder of our unborn children in this nation? I cannot judge weather you are or not however if the Church can at will together elect a man President by using just it's own. Then I ask why is there abortion in this nation today? You can also ask why is there a death penalty? The church is opposed to the death penalty under normal circumstance but will allow it in crimes of unusual cruelty or violence. Kill one man or two it is life. Kill your wife as well as your kids by starting a fire in your home and then locking them in so there is no escape. Death row. Now I live in Texas where we have a expressway to death row and before being re found to the Catholic Church I was very much in favor of death sentences in many cases. However because of my faith I must take a step back and look at it from a second point. It is in this way I avoid applying a death sentence against the will of God. You can apply this to all of the issues of today birth control, adultery,family abuse, and every other kind of issue we face today.
Sometimes we say " Well so what if I don't do these things, they don't affect me so why should I worry. I know that in our lives we have all seen shows like "Leave it to Beaver" or "Father Knows Best" . Many of us look to that point of time with a almost wishful thinking that we too want to be there. Dad went to work, Mom stayed home took care of the house and kids went to school and played on the streets until dark and came in only when Mom had called us to come inside and was on her third warning. We had no need of cell phones,texting and the thought of our parents ever divorcing was as remote as the stars. Many will argue this is true but now women are equal. Are they? The Single Mother population is raging out of control as are STD's and rapes. Women have not become equal the pill and abortion have made them so disrespected that they are now only tools to a mans gratification. Kids have no respect in schools and not much more at home. We both in our homes as well as a member of The Body of Christ must stand up together and say enough! It took fifty years to get this way it may take another 50 years or longer to fix it. I suggest we fix it before "I'll do it later" time has ran out and we all must ask the question why have you let my people come to this.
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