Chastisement

From Monsignor Charles Pope:

We have become, collectively, unmindful of God. We have pushed him to the peripheries. Secularism is rampant; church attendance is at an all-time low. And even for those who do believe, there is a widespread tendency among many to engage in a kind of false religion which features a designer god, a god of their own making and understanding, who just happens to agree with them on everything. The Scriptures call this idolatry. Those who worship the God who reveals himself in Scripture are fewer and fewer. So we are an unbelieving and increasingly unfaithful nation.

And we are perverse. Indeed almost every kind of perversity is on display and worse yet is approved and even celebrated by many. We have aborted more than 50 million of our children. Promiscuity is rampant, as is cohabitation, divorce, and the outright celebration of homosexual acts by many. Whereas such things used to cause shock and shame, today they are openly approved and made the stuff of entertainment. A recent television show featured a woman getting an abortion with the song “Silent Night” playing. This is not only perverse; it is blasphemous.

And we are devoid of counsel and lacking in understanding. There are few today who either counsel or will be counseled. Even those who would counsel are weak and timid. Pulpits are silent. So are kitchen tables and other parental forums. And those priests and parents who do seek to give counsel are often resisted and even punished for their admonitions. Understanding too is on vacation since few really understand what ails us and why it is wrong. Even many who would defend the faith do not often understand what is taught or how to coherently apply the faith to life. Catechesis and teaching of basic virtue has been on vacation for so long that many do not even know the questions, let alone seek answers. (Read more.)

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