A Sunday WAKE UP Thought - Round 2
Time to WAKE UP again, as discussed last week. Let's pick up where we left off last Sunday: Without us living as faithful Catholics, the society and culture keeps
descending into the pit. And as it drifts - no, rushes - lower and lower
- let's ask ourselves if God just watches it all as if it were some
kind of entertainment as He oversees His Creation. I don't think so. Our focus today is to look at ourselves and to look at the world in which we live.
First, ourselves: Do you really live your Faith as you should? If you're like me, the answer may well be no, so ask yourself this: Do you go to confession on a regular basis? Then this: Despite your continuing to come up short, to fall back into sin - indeed to do so again and again - do you have trust in God's mercy and forgiveness and understand that as long as you confess your sins with deep sorrow, and sincerely try to sin no more after your confession, your Father in Heaven will forgive you and welcome you into His loving arms every time you run to Him?
Next, the world: Look at both the wide world and your own slice of that world. If you look at the wide world, you cannot help but notice that - as has always been since the Fall of Adam - our world, while it remains God's creation, and therefore is filled with the beauty and majesty of His Mighty Hand, nevertheless brims with temptations to turn away from Him. We've talked a bit about the decline of our culture and society in our own time. That's the world in which we all live. To the extent we embrace that world, we're turning away from God. How much time do we spend absorbing the the plethora of time-wasting, soul-deadening offerings our culture serves up. How about our society's ever-growing depravities like abortion and "gay" marriage? If we don't endorse of agree with these, do we nevertheless try to somehow find ourselves somehow "tolerating" such abominations or trying to mute or downplay our opposition just so we can somehow "get along" with those who do accept them?
As for our "narrow" world, that's the world right around us over which we have some influence, for example our families, our friends and, yes, our workplace. Without getting into too much detail, most of us merely need to think about how often we think of ourselves and how little we think of Him. For most of us, our selfishness betrays us each day as we go about our lives, taking up all our time as we seek material and emotional comforts first and foremost, and think of others - never mind God - after we've sated ourselves.
Do you really think God just "sits back" and takes all this in - as if all of this was just fine? Well, as we saw last week in Isaiah 34, probably not. If last week didn't convince you, let's take a look at more of the prophet's harrowing vision, as he describes the Lord's reaction to His enemies and the enemies of His holy people - which, sad to say, is so much of our world today:
Next Sunday we look at this place Isaiah calls "No Kingdom There."
First, ourselves: Do you really live your Faith as you should? If you're like me, the answer may well be no, so ask yourself this: Do you go to confession on a regular basis? Then this: Despite your continuing to come up short, to fall back into sin - indeed to do so again and again - do you have trust in God's mercy and forgiveness and understand that as long as you confess your sins with deep sorrow, and sincerely try to sin no more after your confession, your Father in Heaven will forgive you and welcome you into His loving arms every time you run to Him?
Next, the world: Look at both the wide world and your own slice of that world. If you look at the wide world, you cannot help but notice that - as has always been since the Fall of Adam - our world, while it remains God's creation, and therefore is filled with the beauty and majesty of His Mighty Hand, nevertheless brims with temptations to turn away from Him. We've talked a bit about the decline of our culture and society in our own time. That's the world in which we all live. To the extent we embrace that world, we're turning away from God. How much time do we spend absorbing the the plethora of time-wasting, soul-deadening offerings our culture serves up. How about our society's ever-growing depravities like abortion and "gay" marriage? If we don't endorse of agree with these, do we nevertheless try to somehow find ourselves somehow "tolerating" such abominations or trying to mute or downplay our opposition just so we can somehow "get along" with those who do accept them?
As for our "narrow" world, that's the world right around us over which we have some influence, for example our families, our friends and, yes, our workplace. Without getting into too much detail, most of us merely need to think about how often we think of ourselves and how little we think of Him. For most of us, our selfishness betrays us each day as we go about our lives, taking up all our time as we seek material and emotional comforts first and foremost, and think of others - never mind God - after we've sated ourselves.
Do you really think God just "sits back" and takes all this in - as if all of this was just fine? Well, as we saw last week in Isaiah 34, probably not. If last week didn't convince you, let's take a look at more of the prophet's harrowing vision, as he describes the Lord's reaction to His enemies and the enemies of His holy people - which, sad to say, is so much of our world today:
For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch,
And her soil into brimstone;
her land shall become burning pitch.
Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up for ever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it for ever and and ever.
But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it,
and the plummet of chaos over its nobles.
They shall name it No Kingdom There,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
Next Sunday we look at this place Isaiah calls "No Kingdom There."
Comments