Pope St. John Paul II called our Western culture a "culture of death." According to the prophet Ezekiel's vision, we live on a plain of dry bones. However, some people are so brainwashed or naive that they don't notice the death indicated by a few hundred thousand bones. These people are living in a fantasy land.
Others see the carnage and chaos, but are in denial. They say they are "innocent bystanders," who have no responsibility to do anything other than their own thing. Still others are paralyzed by the immense brutality of the culture of death. They have become unforgiving, discouraged, depressed, bitter, cynical, or resentful.
Finally, others look beyond the culture of death and fix their eyes on Jesus, the Lord of all cultures (Heb 12:2). They are in love, even in the midst of death, and this love impels them (2 Cor 5:14) to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). They obey the Lord and miraculously displace the culture of death with a "civilization of love."
Are you in fantasy land, denial, paralysis, or love? Love is stronger than death (see Sg 8:6). "Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind" (Mt 22:37).
| PRAYER: | Father, I will abide in love and in You (1 Jn 4:16). |
| PROMISE: | "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." –Mt 22:39 |
| PRAISE: | St. John Eudes had the gift of preaching. He later determined the best way to win souls was by forming zealous priests. He also encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College