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Reflections
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Three Idols That Continue to Seduce Pope John Paul II In a series of meditations, Pope John Paul II revealed three idols that the Psalm describes as “contrary to the dignity of man and to social coexistence.” The first false god is violence which, unfortunately, humanity continues to engage in also in our blood-drenched days. This idol is accompanied by an immense procession of abominable wars, oppressions, prevarications, tortures and killings, inflicted without a trace of remorse. The second false god is robbery, which is manifested in extortion, social injustice, usury, and political and financial corruption. Too many people cultivate the illusion of satisfying in this world their own greed. Finally, wealth is the third idol to which the heart of man attaches itself with the deceitful hope of being able to save himself from death and assure himself prestige and power. By serving this diabolical triad, man forgets that the idols have no consistency; what is more, they are harmful. By trusting in things and in himself, man forgets he is ‘a breath….an illusion,” he continued. If we were more aware of our perish ability and limitations as creatures, we would not choose the path of trust in idols, nor would we organize our lives on a hierarchy of fragile and inconsistent pseudo-values. We would opt, rather, for the other trust, that which is centered on the Lord, source of eternity and peace. To Him alone, in fact, power belongs; He alone is the source of grace; he alone is the author of justice.”
The Prince of this World It is to faith that Saint Peter the Apostle appeals when he urges us to resist the devil as men "solid in your faith." Faith tells us that evil is a "a living, spiritual being that is perverted and perverts others." Faith is also a source of confidence, for it assures us that the devil's power must stop at boundaries set for him by God. It assures us, in addition, that while the devil is able to tempt, he cannot exhort our consent. Most of all, faith opens the heart to prayer, wherein it finds its triumph and crown, for prayer wins for us the victory over evil, thanks to Gods grace. It is certain that the reality of the devil, as concretely attested by what we call the mystery of evil, is today, as always, an enigma surrounding the Christian's life. We are little wiser than the apostles as to why the Lord permits it and how He makes it serve His purpose. Yet, it may be that in our civilization, which is so secularized and so focused on the horizontal plane of man's life, unexpected manifestations of this mystery have a meaning not impossible to ascertain. For, such manifestations oblige us to look further and higher, beyond immediate evidences. The insolent threats with which evil darkens our path enable us to glimpse the existence of a beyond which challenges us to understand it and then turn to Christ so that we may hear from Him the good news of the salvation He graciously offers us. Vatican Council II + + + + + Suffering by itself is nothing but suffering shared with Christ's passion is a wonderful gift to human life. It is the most beautiful gift that we can share in the passion of Christ. Mother Teresa + + + + + Faith: The Work of God In believing, we entrust ourselves to the knowledge acquired by other people. This suggests an important tension. On the one hand, the knowledge acquired through belief can seem an imperfect form of knowledge, to be perfected gradually through personal accumulation of evidence: on the other hand, belief is often humanly richer than mere evidence, because it involves an interpersonal relationship and brings into play not only a person's capacity to know but also the deeper capacity to entrust oneself to others, to enter into a relationship with them which is intimate and enduring. It should be stressed that the truths sought in this interpersonal relationship are not primarily empirical or philosophical. Rather, what is sought is the truth of the person - what the person is and what the person reveals from deep within. Human perfection, then, consists not simply in acquiring an abstract knowledge of the truth, but in a dynamic relationship of faithful self-giving with others. It is in this faithful self-giving that a person finds a fullness of certainty and security. At the same time, however, knowledge through belief, grounded as it is on trust between persons, is linked to truth: in the act of believing, men and women entrust themselves to the truth which the other declares to them. Pope John Paul II + + + + + There is a world of difference between loving and liking. Liking is in the emotion; loving is in the will. Liking is not subject completely to our control, but love can be commanded. Liking is a kind of reaction like a hiccough; loving is a decision or a resolution. We cannot like everyone, but we can love everyone. Bishop Sheen
By Fr. Mario Knezovic in Medjugorje One morning, while working on my regular and daily occupations, I met a man whom I knew. I saw that he was nervous and I asked: “How are you?” He answered me: “I am really fed up with this snow and this ice!” I responded: “Why are you annoyed with the snow? We usually see so little of it in our region!”, and he said” ”How not to be annoyed? The newspapers did not arrive yet, and it is almost midday! I read the newspaper every morning, and this morning they did not arrive. How can the day start well?” Someone else told me that the day started badly because he was in a hurry and he did not manage to drink his coffee, without which he couldn't function very well. This is our reality. The things of this world and the practices without which we cannot live determine our temper, the day and the time that is passing. We are unable to live without certain things, unimportant in themselves. We become slaves. And when we speak about slavery today, we should not think of prison cells, camps, jails and colonization of people and groups. Contemporary slavery, is the slavery of the heart and the spirit. Our heart and our spirit are imprisoned. We live in our personal dungeons. We are tied by all kinds of attachments and bound by our own habits and traditions. We are slaves of reputation, work, false friendships, interests, money, insurance companies, banks, games of fortune, alcohol, drugs, the media. In a world, which does not cease announcing the personal freedom, we become modern slaves. When Jesus announces to His contemporaries that He has come to make them free in Spirit and in Truth, they rebel by saying that, being sons of Abraham , they are nobody's slaves (Cf:Jn8,31-42). However, once again the thoughts of Jesus were not their thoughts. Jesus speaks about slavery to sin, of the blind slavery to the law, which neglects the heart and the needs for the concrete person. Jesus advances towards the cross and death to make us free, to overcome sin, and to announce the time of the fullness of life. Each one of us can recognize his own prison and dungeon. Very close to us, a voice announces freedom. The way of the freedom, which is not limited by systems or the world politics, is to leave sin and human chains. The poet sings: “You are created for flying, my soul!” true freedom does not consist in the absence of walls and bars. Freedom is lived in the heart. At our time, certain prisoners are more free than those who live in freedom. There is no freedom without God, because the free will is an inalienable gift that comes from God. Confessionals, in particular in Medjugorje, are today places of freedom, which give witness of the victory of the mercy of God over the sin of men. The words of the priest, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace!”, mean” “God renewed you in Spirit and in Truth, go and live free of any sin and any attachment!” 3/28/05 + + + + + |