Saturday, May 9, 2009

Eternal Vigilance


Eternal Vigilance. That is the price we must pay if we wish to maintain our freedom and pass it onto our posterity. Our enemy is old and ancient, far surpassing us in wisdom and guile. He is an ancient demon who does not rest but "Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour." 1 Pet.5:8
 

Eternal Vigilance. We must guard our hearts, our minds and our souls. We have been given much as a people and much is required of us. Much freedom requires much vigilance. Unfortunately, judging from the current state of affairs, we American Christians, especially we Catholics have not been vigilant.

We have failed to guard our minds. We have allowed our educational institutions to exchange truth for a lie. We have allowed the enemy into the camp in the name of academic honesty when there is nothing honest about the enemy. We have exalted phrases like "dialogue" and "exchange of ideas", over the words of truth, logic and fidelity. We thought somehow that it made us stronger or more enlightened to allow the enemy to have unfettered access to our children. We agreed with the serpent, that the fruit does indeed look good.

We have failed to guard our hearts. We allowed our spiritual leaders to constantly feed us milk without demanding the meat necessary for growth. We wanted our ears tickled instead of our hearts challenged. We must pray for our spiritual leaders, and prepare ourselves to be spiritual followers. We must guard our hearts by praying the Rosary and the Liturgy of the Hours daily. We must truly commit ourselves to be "soldiers of the Cross" and stand our post spiritually.

We have failed to guard our souls. Have we traded our souls for the Madison Avenue version of the American dream; a big 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with 2 car garage, and 2.5 kids? The current state of materialism within the Christian community is a telltale sign that the answer to that question is yes. From the Protestant "prosperity gospel", (the belief that God really wants you to be rich, only your lack of faith prevents Him from blessing you with wealth), to the lack of charitable giving, (both in time and money) to the use of contraceptives by Protestants and Catholic couples alike (which really is a selfish and faithless act), the evidence is overwhelming. Our social standing has too often become more important than our spiritual standing.

We must be eternally vigilant in guarding our hearts, minds, bodies and souls because they do not belong to us. They belong to God. We are His creation, the works of His hands. We should "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." But we should also render unto God that which is God's. Unfortunately I believe we as Christians have rendered unto Caesar that which is God's.

We cannot save America from its downward spiral into tyranny until we as Christians return to our place of eternal vigilance. We must return to honoring God above honoring Caesar, fearing God more than fearing persecution and valuing human life above material possessions.

May God bless us, protect us and give us courage.

St. Michael, be our defense in the battle.

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