Bulletin Column from October 9, 2022

Dear Friends at Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish and Saint Frances Cabrini Parish:

Praised be Jesus Christ! We are so blessed to be Christians, who have through the Scriptures and Divine Revelation such deep insights about human nature and about the world around us. With faith comes critical and life-giving perspective for the believer. By no means is it the case that Christians do not experience suffering, or that we have no problems. We have our share of them just like everyone else does. We, too, live with the same unsettling events that occur in the world. Hurricanes, floods, plagues, and wars come to Christians and non-Christians alike. Christians get sick, Christians die, Christians lose loved ones, Christians experience the heart-ache of change. Yet, we experience it all while being sustained by a divinely-informed perspective.

There is much right now in life and in the world that seems hard. Politics, social unrest, economics, health threats, the threats of war, the talk of shifting weather and seasons, etc, etc. A Christian certainly feels the pain that is caused by these realities, but we do so knowing that there is a God in heaven, and that in Christ God is near us on this earth. We know from the Scriptures that we live in a fallen world, so we are not really surprised that we can just never seem to be free of problems. We know that there will always be problems. We do not subscribe to the modern illusion that if we just work hard enough, plan enough, build enough, spend enough money, and create enough systems that we will arrive at last at earthly paradise. The modern mind really does believe this falsehood. Christians know better.

As the culture becomes increasingly secular and overtly rejects religious belief, it is easy to forget that a Christian society approaches hardships differently. To a society that does not believe in God, there is tremendous pressure to keep working, working, working, working to solve, solve, solve all the problems because if we don’t, all that is left is frustration, despair, and the ongoing cycle of misery. One starts to look for a way out when one realizes that all of our recent so-called advancements have not really solved anything or left anyone any happier. This breeds social unrest, suicides, addictions, and the breakdown of mental health.

A Christian culture is different, and a believer sees things differently. A Christian culture still suffers, and still makes lots of mistakes, it is true. We have fought our share of wars, for instance, and we are not perfect. However, as hardships come to the world we know in our bones that God is in charge, that he has a plan, that there is mercy, there is a narrative, there is truth, and there is the possibility of heaven. Rather than trying to solve all of our social ills all on our own, the Christian prays. The public leader of a Christian society leads the nation in prayer and calls on God for help. That same leader acknowledges what a faith-filled population knows, namely, that no matter how ugly this life may become, God has not abandoned us. Therefore, under God’s steady gaze, we can get up, and keep going, and keep fighting the good fight. We have a standard of right conduct for our neighbor that we need to follow because God has willed it to be so. Moreover, we know there is always a new door that God opens. Human beings cannot permanently destroy anything, including the climate. God has shown over and over again that he can handle any curve balls that we throw at him. We work at our jobs, and at our vocations, and with our lives for a better world and a better tomorrow knowing that it can only come about as co-workers with God, not in opposition to him.

No one likes change, including Christians. However, Christians accept change as the invitation to enter into the dying and the rising of Jesus Christ, into the Paschal Mystery. We accept it knowing that God brings new life from it, and that he draws us to himself through it. He is our ultimate end, and the one thing that does not change. On this strong, firm foundation we rest. We rest in peace, and we rest in hope.

Our headlines are hard these days. But, there is nothing that God cannot lead us through. How blessed we are to know, love, and serve the Lord.