Not to Burst Your Bubble, But...
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
As much as we hate to admit it, we are not immortal. Several events over these past few days have reiterated that fact. And there is no telling when, or how, or where, or why we will die. All we know, is that we will. Some day.
What I have noticed over these past few years, is that some of us (myself included) can become lukewarm, and passive in our Faith. And this is a danger to our immortal souls.
We say things like,
"I was too busy to go to Mass"
"I'm too tired to pray tonight"
"I have too much homework to do, I can't go to Church"
"I'll pray tomorrow"
"I'll go to Confession next week"
Christians, Catholics, are not called to put off what can be done today. We are not called to hide from our responsibilities which, are spelled out quite clearly, "Go and make disciples of all nations" Matt 28:19.
Life is too short to say "I'll wait till tomorrow"
We are warriors, we are fighters. Hence, why the Church on Earth is called the Church Militant. That is our name because we are still struggling against Satan. In Heaven, it is called the Church Triumphant, because those in Heaven, have triumphed over earth, and Satan... and then Purgatory, Purgatory is known as the Church Suffering, because they still have to suffer and be cleansed before they can reach the Church Triumphant (Catholicism teaches that Purgatory is a place of purging, and cleansing for those who are on their way to Heaven, but still have the stain of sin in their hearts. This purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven {Rev. 21:27} and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, venial sins and the temporal punishment-suffering that occurs either in this life or in purgatory that removes the punishment of sins already forgiven)*
On Earth, we fight constantly, even though we may not think so. Each decision we make is part of the war for our souls. God has given us the free will to consciously choose Him, or Satan. As much as we like to think these issues can be black and white, it is the grey area where we get ourselves into trouble. When we become passive, and lukewarm, especially on matters of the Faith, when we let sin happen and it is within our power to do something about it, when we knowingly decide to look the other way, we are as much as committing the act ourselves, because we did nothing to stop it.
You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.
-St. Therese of Lisieux
*For more info on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory as taught by the Catholic Church see The Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC 1021-1041 and for more information on different types of sins see CCC 1852-1876
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
As much as we hate to admit it, we are not immortal. Several events over these past few days have reiterated that fact. And there is no telling when, or how, or where, or why we will die. All we know, is that we will. Some day.
What I have noticed over these past few years, is that some of us (myself included) can become lukewarm, and passive in our Faith. And this is a danger to our immortal souls.
We say things like,
"I was too busy to go to Mass"
"I'm too tired to pray tonight"
"I have too much homework to do, I can't go to Church"
"I'll pray tomorrow"
"I'll go to Confession next week"
Christians, Catholics, are not called to put off what can be done today. We are not called to hide from our responsibilities which, are spelled out quite clearly, "Go and make disciples of all nations" Matt 28:19.
Life is too short to say "I'll wait till tomorrow"
We are warriors, we are fighters. Hence, why the Church on Earth is called the Church Militant. That is our name because we are still struggling against Satan. In Heaven, it is called the Church Triumphant, because those in Heaven, have triumphed over earth, and Satan... and then Purgatory, Purgatory is known as the Church Suffering, because they still have to suffer and be cleansed before they can reach the Church Triumphant (Catholicism teaches that Purgatory is a place of purging, and cleansing for those who are on their way to Heaven, but still have the stain of sin in their hearts. This purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven {Rev. 21:27} and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, venial sins and the temporal punishment-suffering that occurs either in this life or in purgatory that removes the punishment of sins already forgiven)*
On Earth, we fight constantly, even though we may not think so. Each decision we make is part of the war for our souls. God has given us the free will to consciously choose Him, or Satan. As much as we like to think these issues can be black and white, it is the grey area where we get ourselves into trouble. When we become passive, and lukewarm, especially on matters of the Faith, when we let sin happen and it is within our power to do something about it, when we knowingly decide to look the other way, we are as much as committing the act ourselves, because we did nothing to stop it.
We were not made to sit back and watch, we were made to be center stage, in the middle of the action. Our job on Earth, is to bring others to know the fullness of Truth, Who is Christ. When we are passive, and lukewarm, we ignore The Truth. We let souls slip through our fingers and one day, on that Final Day, we will be held accountable.
I don't want to scare or depress anyone, but I want you to realize that we need to act! We need to speak up! We need to do whatever we can to lead people back into the arms of their Father! We cannot afford to be lukewarm today, because we may not be here tomorrow!
Life is too short! This is quickly becoming a cliché statement, but oh how achingly true it is! If you were standing on the edge of a cliff, and you knew that you were in danger, but you saw others blindly walking straight off the cliff to their deaths, wouldn't you do anything you could to save them?
This is the same thing ladies and gents, the only difference is that we underestimate the Devil. He is sly and cunning, he knows our pleasures, our weaknesses, he knows where it counts.... and he knows how to deceive, he knows how to make it seem like life will go on forever, how to make it seem like he doesn't exist, how to make it seem like its not that bad to just let it go, to be passive, to be lukewarm.
We are on that cliff, teetering, or maybe we have taken a step back and are safe. Our choice is simple. Will we let the others fall, or will we pull them back and show them the Way?
You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.
-St. Therese of Lisieux
*For more info on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory as taught by the Catholic Church see The Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC 1021-1041 and for more information on different types of sins see CCC 1852-1876
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