Focus on Christ

Being a Catholic in our present age is deeply difficult. The fact of the matter is that being Catholic in any age has been difficult. Our time seems worse because the world is capable of more widespread evil thanks to advances in technology. Don’t get me wrong, technology is a great blessing, however, sinful human beings do not know how to use it well.

Anyone who has their attention tuned into world events both within and outside of the Church can see that the world is completely and totally upside down. We do not know which way is up or down. We call what is evil good and what is good evil. Very aggressive forces are knocking at the doors of the Church demanding that we change or face the consequences. This, of course, is nothing new, and after much pain, the Church will be here while the forces of evil of our day will have died off. Things are going to get hard, and much of it will be self inflicted, but the Church will emerge stronger.

For the faithful, it can be difficult to follow our leaders. Some Bishops and priests boldly proclaim the counter-culture Gospel of Jesus Christ, while others seem to enable our secular society. It confuses many, while the faithful shake their heads in frustration. I myself have moments of asking God where the St. Padre Pios and St. Pauls of our day are in this time of distress. I see a very deep hatred, yes hatred, of the Church emerging in the West. Largely because of lies and ignorance perpetuated by academics and politicians, but being believed by scores of people. These same lies have been ingested by vast numbers of Catholics who choose to ignore Church teaching and who in turn will persecute their own Church. It is not just something in headlines, it is in our own parishes.

So what can we do? I know that when I start focusing too much on the storm Christ tells me to focus on Him. Stop watching the disaster unfold and focus on Him. We must pray and pray hard. We need to attend Eucharistic Adoration and Mass as much as our vocations allow. Pray Rosaries and Divine Mercy. Serve others and be an example of what Christ calls each one of us to. Continue teaching our families the Faith, authentic Faith. Keep following Christ. That is what we must do. I am telling myself this as much as I write to you. We must pray that we will pass the test.

As Catholics, we must also trust in Christ’s promise to St. Peter that the powers of Hell will never prevail over the Church. That means taking secular reporting on the Church with a grain of salt. Our Holy Father has not changed Church teaching. All social teaching is the same: abortion and homosexual acts are still gravely sinful. All our Holy Father is trying to teach is that in following Christ we will want to abandon our sinful ways and that includes the hard stuff, which for our culture are the sexual sins.

So let’s pray hard and trust in Christ. I know it is hard. My husband has to take my hand sometimes and tell me to trust. I can get righteously angry easily. I love Christ and His Church and my fighting personality stands at the ready to take up in battle. But, right now, Christ wants me to trust and pray. To give all to Him, so that when the time comes I am ready, and so are you.