It's Not a Political Problem
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The problem we face today is not a political problem – it is a spiritual problem. To adore something is to act as though that thing is the most important thing there is. Idolatry is where you pick the wrong thing to adore.
If a people stops adoring God, ceases to live as though God is the fundamental principle that unites, governs and organizes their society, then the state will become their idol.
Why is this? Because the individual and society must have some thing that is the most important thing – the thing that organizes and governs their life.
Deep down we all know that none of us are totally self-sufficient. I cannot control, or govern the world, or even my world alone. I cannot provide all I need for my soul let alone for my body, and I certainly cannot save myself from sin and death. I need God. I need God to watch over me and provide my daily bread in His providence. I need God to guide my life according to his infallible and perfect will. I need God to save me from eternal death.
That is why God is the most important thing in my life. That is why God is the one non-negotiable thing in my life. That is why God is the one person I never want to transgress.
However, if God is not the most important thing and if we do not let God through His Church govern our life, then we will let human governors govern our life.
There are only a very small percentage of people who want the risk and responsibility of governing their lives. Most people need some authority to govern them. If God through His Church is not governing their lives, then they will look to another – they will look to human governors – they will look to the state to provide for all their needs.
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When people know they have a soul and that eternal life is more important than this passing life and the needs of the soul are more important than the needs of the body and further that no human earthly reality can supply for the needs of the soul, then we make God the most important thing in our life.
But, once a people forget they have a soul, they will focus only on their body, and bodily and material needs and this will result in forgetting about God.
Once a people forget about God – they will turn to the State because they see that the State has the power:
a) To supply for more of their needs
b) The power to threaten them with punishments greater than any other on earth.
Basically, if we will not rely on God and fear God, we will rely on and fear the state.
Every time in human history the Catholic Church is weak and becomes an obstacle through its weakness to God governing their lives – the state becomes the god for society.
This was the case with Henry VIII, Napoleon, Lenin and Stallin, and Hitler.
So how strong is the Catholic Church today.
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At first government will not explicitly attack God or religion. It will only say your belief and religion should not have any affect on public life.
It will not attack Christ and the Church but remove all its influence from society. You can practice your faith, but you must keep it confined to your private life.
But it is imperative to the Gov’t that religion offer no resistance to the supreme control of the Gov’t.
Eventually, since the Catholic system believes that Catholicism is true and those who disbelieve are in error, the state will say that even the expression of Catholic ideas is against the values society depends upon and therefore society must be protected against the corrosive influence of Catholicism.
Eventually believers will be subjected to punitive measures for not giving in on abortion, an all male priesthood, homosexuality, transgenderism, ect.
All we are doing here is outlining a logical sequence of consequences that occur once a society forgets it has a soul and forgets about God.
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Even if we can outline a logical sequence of events – backed up by history – we can’t predict the future. So we don’t want to foster anxiety about a future that may never arrive. What we want to provide are solid reasons for peace and Hope in God.
The first reason we should have peace and hope is that no matter what happens, God is in charge. It is God’s will and plan that is being accomplished even when the power of evil seems to have the upper hand. This was especially true at Calvary. The apparent moment of Satan’s victory was precisely his defeat.
As our freedoms are curtailed our lives will become more simple, in fact they already have. And simplicity is the bedrock of contemplation and virtue – the very freedoms to act well. Simplicity gives us the opportunity to think and act well.
One example. I lost the freedom to lead five international pilgrimages since COVID began. Because of this loss of my freedom to travel I have had way more time for prayer, for family, for thinking and creating and to grow in virtue. Simplicity is the bedrock of contemplation and virtue.
Prior to 2020 we had too many options; too much work, too much entertainment, too much travel ect.
As we are detoxed from these, we will have the freest lives we have ever known.
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The origin of the problem in the world is not political – it is spiritual – we have forgotten our soul and we have forgotten God.
When we lose sight of the priority of the needs of our soul – which only God can supply, then we become consumed with the needs of the body and we look to the government to supply for them.
That is why this is not a political problem with a political solution. It is a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution and Jesus gives us the answer in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:25 'That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them... Are we not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?" …Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well.
I believe that if we all submit names of family and friends who need deeper conversion to our prayer list and then we commit to offer our daily Rosary and sacrifices for those people – and if we do this all together from now until Easter with 14k+ people praying and sacrificing we would reap a big harvest of deeper conversions. So I’m inviting you submit names of family and friends and to join me in offering prayer and sacrifice for their conversion.