AMERICA IN 2012
THE CURRENT STATE OF FAITH
God made us to know him, to love him and to serve him in this world so that we may be happy with him forever in the next. Holiness is God's will for us. Below is a brief summary of essential Christian concepts which are critical for us to understand in light of current events and trends in the United States in 2012. These are quoted from Fatima for Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope, by Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2010.
BLASPHEMY AND THE REJECTION OF GOD.
Evil abounds in the United States in 2012, and it may seem that the "evil one" has theupper hand." The answer today, as it has always been throughout history, is to nurture a strong faith in God, recognize his infinite love for his human creation, to love him in return, and to glorify him by turning away from sin.
What are the sins we must turn away from? First, the sins of blasphemy, which are directed against God, our Lady, the angels and saints and those things that are sacred because they are associated with the honor and worship of God. These sins must be overcome by a lively faith of believers, along with their authentic love of God and neighbor. In Saint Paul's words, "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." (Rom 12:21) Remember, God's love is stronger than the world's hatred.
THE CULTURE OF DEATH
Second, there are the sins against life: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, assistaead suicide and the whole "culture of death." Add to this list murder, p hysical abuse, gang wars, ethnic and racial clensing, and all the other violent crimes that come from hatred in our hearts.
In the book of Genesis, we read the story of the first murder. Cain became jealous when his brother Able's sacrifice was more pleasing to God than his own. When they were walking out in the field together, Cain killed his brother and buried his body in the ground. Then the Lord said to Cain: "Where is Abel, your brother?" Cain answered: "I do not know! Am I my brother's keeper?" The Lord then said to Cain: "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground!" Abel's innocent blood was crying out to God for justice. What about the innocent blood of the thousands of unborn children who are aborted each day worldwide? What about the over 50 million innocent unborn children who have been aborted in the United States since 1971, when the U.S. Supreme Court made abortion a constitutional right? Isn't their blood crying out to God for vengance? Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said that u nless we reverse the destruction of inocent life by abortion we will come to midnight on the clock of death, which he said will be a nuclear war.
It is important to recognize the connection between Communism and the culture of death. Under atheistic Communism, Russia did not recognize any God-given dignity to human life. A person was imnportant only to the degree that he was useful to the state. Therefore, Russia became the first Christian nation in the world to permit abortion. It became so commonplace that there are women in Russia who have had as many as thirty-five abortions. Because the population of Russia has dropped drastically, the Russian government is now paying couples to have a second child.
As abortion has lessened the dignity of life, euthanasia to eliminate the terminally ill, the handicapped and the elderly has gained acceptance. In an etheistic society, these people's lives are seen to have no value, but only constitute a drain on the state's resources. Now in even formerly Christian societies, for many it seems too much of a bother to care for those in great need, while at the same time the Christian meaning of suffering is being lost.
THE ATTACK ON THE FAMILY
This is another name for the culture of death, which was fostered by Communism, and it is an attack on the traditional family. The family is the only place whre the weak, whether they be very young, very sick or very old, are cared for by those bound to them through love. The family is the building block of society. If families are strong, the society will be strong; if they are weak, then the society will be weak.
The authority of husbands over their wives and that of fathers and mothers over their children creat inequalities and are rivals to the absolute power of the state over the individual. This notion that the traditional family was the enemy of equality spread to Europe and the United States, where war was declared on those laws that supported traditional marriage. Little by little, the legal supports beneath marriage have been stripped away. First divorce was legalized, next cohabitating couples were given legal benefits that once were only granted to married couples. Now we see the push to give same-sex unions the same legal status as matrimony. Of course, when marriage is no longer honored and no longer understood as the only proper place for sexual relations, then sexual immorality runs rampant and weakens family life even further.
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