Remaking Society 

   “Many souls fail to find God because they want a religion which will remake society without remaking themselves.”  (Fulton J. Sheen) 

   Most of us would like to see changes in today’s society.  But society can only reflect the people who are part of that society; until we remake ourselves we will never remake society.

   Everyone  complains about the evils in society, in politics, and even in the clergy and churches.  But each of these entities are merely a sampling of the people from which they are populated.  If the populace is one of faith, there will be less evil, when the people reject God and His ways there will be more. 

   Right from the beginning, in the book of Genesis, we are told what we are to be.  “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1: 27)  Though we can never be a true reflection of the image of God in this life, that is the goal we must strive to attain.  Until we make a serious effort to apply it to our lives we will continue to live in a dysfunctional society.

   Remaking ourselves in the image of God, taking to task our laziness, our lukewarmness, our outright rejection of God’s commands, is difficult.  It requires determination, perseverance and, most of all, trust in God.  The kind of trust that refuses to allow us to give up on God and His will for us.  We will often fail in our efforts, but those failures are opportunities to get back up and, with the help of God, to try harder.

   If we want to remake society we must endeavor to make ourselves into the image of God as we were intended to be.  As long as we remain the same, society will as well.

 To Follow Christ 

   “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt 16: 24) 

   It is my greatest desire to follow Jesus all the way to heaven.  He has told me how that is possible; I must deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Him.

   How am I to deny myself?  I must submit my will to the will of God and seek His guidance in all that I do.  There will be times when I don’t understand, but there can never be a time that I do not trust.  There will be blessings but there will also be hardships.  I must praise Him for both.

   Praise and thanksgiving for the many blessings of God and all He has done for me is the easy part.  No one finds it hard to thank another for the good things they have received.  But that is only part of what “follow me” means.

   I must also accept, acknowledge, and give praise for the hardships which may befall me in this lifetime.  In matters of faith and trust in God,  accepting these difficulties and crosses that come is far more important than accepting the blessings He bestows on me.  It is in the difficulties that my faith is tested and, if I accept all as the will of God, increase my faith and draw me nearer to Him.

   If I am to follow Christ I must understand that He suffered greatly in His life.  He was betrayed by one of His chosen, abandoned by the others at His arrest.  He was scourged, forced to carry His cross to Calvary and there suffered the horrible death of the cross.  He was willing to do all this to give me the opportunity for redemption, forgiveness of my sins, and eternal life in heaven.  How can I not accept and give Him thanks when I must suffer the minor tribulations of this life and refuse to follow Him; even if it means all the way to the cross? 

 The Voices Within 

   I hear voices.  The voices attempt to guide me in the way they would have me go.  One wishes me to pursue the joys and pleasures of this fallen world and the other desires my salvation and eternal life in heaven.

   As you might suspect one is the voice of Satan and the other is the voice of God.  It reminds me of a scene in an old movie; a person with an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other, fighting for his will.  Sometimes I feel that if I looked in a mirror I would see the same thing.

   Satan has by far the loudest voice.  He tries to convince me that his thoughts and ideas are my thoughts and ideas, that I am making a choice of my own free will.  Satan speaks to my mind and the inherent sinfulness within all humans.  The things he proposes may not at first glance seem to be evil, but with further thought they are trying to draw me away from those things that are good for the soul, tempting me to be worldly.

   The other voice, the voice I choose to listen to, is that of the Holy Spirit.  He speaks not to my humanity, but to my heart and to my soul.  He urges me to follow Jesus, not the world.  He is never loud or pushy, but quiet and loving in His urgings.  His goal is to help me resist the temptations of the devil and live my life in the will of God.  His desire is to lead me away from the worldly way of life.

   Two voices, two choices; good or evil.  We are all faced with this dilemma every day of our life.  We must choose who will we listen to.  Will it be the loud, almost demanding voice of Satan, or the quiet, loving voice of God?  I pray for the strength to shut out the voice of evil in my life and listen only to God.

 Defeating Temptation 

   “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and his might power.  Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.” (Ephesians 6: 10 – 11) 

   There isn’t a day that goes by when I am not tempted by Satan.  He is always near urging me to do or say something that shouldn’t be done or said.  I need the armor of God if I am to have any chance at all of defeating the evil one and the evil desires he tries to put within me.

   But where do I find the armor of God?  Where is it kept and how do I access it?  All I need to do is ask and God Himself will provide it.  In the words of scripture, in the writings of the early Church Fathers, and in the lives of the Saints are the weapons needed to defeat Satan.

   I once wrote that when I pray Satan cringes.  I believe that to be true.  When I pray, when I call on God and all His strength, Satan knows that he has lost that battle.  God will never ignore the pleas of the faithful, He will always be with me in the fight.

   I can call on Michael the Archangel to do battle with me.  He who battled Satan and exiled him and all his followers from heaven is an opponent Satan can never overcome.  He and his angels are a bullet proof vest against the slings and arrows of the devil.

   I can turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  She who gave birth to the Messiah is a mighty warrior against evil.  I believe that just the name of Mary sends Satan away.  When Jesus looked at Mary from the cross and said, “Woman, behold your son.” (John 19: 26) He wasn’t referring just to the apostle John, but to all Christians throughout time.  We are her children; she will never abandon us, and she will defend us with all her might.

   I can never defeat Satan by my own efforts, that is an undeniable fact.  But with the armor of God to protect me Satan can be overcome, his temptations resisted.

 To Know Christ 

   “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” (St. Jerome) 

   I can never come to know and follow my Lord if I fail to study scripture.  In scripture, the inspired word of God, is where I will find Him and come to better know and love Him.

   Both the old and the new testaments proclaim Christ; the old in prophecy and the new in the reality of His presence among us.  The first prophecy of Jesus appears in the first book of the Bible, “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring.  It will crush your head and you will strike at its heel.”  (Gen 3: 15).  This was the prophecy given to Satan after he had tempted Eve and Adam and they had eaten of the forbidden fruit.

   The ”woman” is not Eve, but the new Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God.  It is Mary who will reverse the disobedience of Eve with complete obedience to the will of God.  The offspring spoken of is not the offspring of Eve but of Mary, Jesus Christ.  This was the first but by far not the only prophecy of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

   If I wish to follow Christ I must know enough about Him to know where He is leading.  The gospels of the New Testament give me that knowledge.  They tell of His life and all that He did when He walked among us.  His desire to obey the will of the Father in all things is the desire that must also have.  The Acts of the Apostles and the rest of the New Testament writings show me the example of the first Christians, how they devoted themselves to worship and the spreading of the word.

   If I am to know Christ I must know scripture.  If I am to follow Jesus, I must follow the path He followed and only in the scripture will I find the way to God’s heavenly kingdom.

 The Easy Life 

   I am totally convinced that the easy life is one of the biggest causes of the problems we face in our society today.  Nothing that comes easily has lasting value.  What is truly worthwhile will always require effort and even hardship.

   The easy life says we shouldn’t have to work hard to succeed.  We look at hard work as punishment rather than the honest effort to better oneself.  Consequently, our work ethic, that willingness to work as hard as needed to succeed, has essentially disappeared.

   Gone are the days of taking a job, any job, in order to get work experience and the opportunity to move up.  We expect our first job to be well-paying with a bright future and if we don’t get it we might just as well sit at home and depend on the government to provide for our needs.  The sense of well-being that comes from working one’s way up the ladder through hard work and effort is rarely seen.

   More importantly, our spiritual life is also affected by this attitude.  Spending time in prayer and contemplation takes time and effort that many refuse to offer to our Lord.  Church on Sunday morning is the best they can muster and even that is often seen as a chore and a distraction from the fun-filled plans for the day.  Respecting and honoring the Sabbath, keeping it holy, is just too hard it seems.

   What comes easily often disappears just as easily.  What comes from God through the sometimes hard work and difficulties of Christianity is eternal. 

 Lessons to be Learned 

   If we ever stop learning we will have given up on life.  From our earliest days until our last there are lessons to be learned; lessons that can guide us and direct us on the right path.

   Of course, the greatest lessons to be found are in Holy Scripture.  There I learn of the life of Jesus and am enlightened by His teachings and the examples He set.  In my opinion the greatest of these is to put the will of the Father above my own, that His will, not mine be done.

   But there are many worthy lessons in life outside the scriptures.  I’m not referring to what we learn in school, though we certainly need a proper education.  I’m referring to lessons of life, those most often learned from the example of others.  As we observe those around us and their examples we can discern many truths.  We can see the falsehoods and the damage they cause, and we can greatly benefit from those examples which edify us in what is right and just.

   Examples, both good and bad, are of value in life.  Good examples help us to grow in our faith and recognize our own faults, hopefully giving us the courage to change to those things that need changing in our life.  Bad examples can help us to choose more wisely how to live our lives by avoiding the mistakes of others.

   I’m in my 70’s now and I am still looking for the opportunity to learn.  The writings of the Church Fathers and the saints have taught me many truths.  From the examples of holy men and women I've known, I have learned how to better live my life for God.  Most of all, the lessons found in scripture and in prayer have enabled me to grow in my faith, trust, and love of God.  If it is His will I hope to still be learning as I take my last breath on earth.