Self-love and cultural corrosion

The late Pope Benedict XVI once said, “Medicine has extended man’s time. But do we really have time? Or does time have us? Most, in any case, do not have time for God, they need their time for themselves, for their “business.””

In the United States the push in the mass/social media, popular culture and the schools to self-indulge, explore self-pleasures and reach the maximum of self-fulfillment–without any regard for others–is the religion of today.

The cult of self-esteem has finally flowered and now bearing its rotten fruit: a society of selfishness and the cultural corrosion of the Western world.

The problem with selfishness is it prevents love–both receiving the love of God and giving it to others.

Living for self-satisfaction also cuts off one’s capacity to experience joy.

Age of isolation

Though we have more means in human history to connect with one-another, we, as a society and individually, have never been this lonely.

Gone are the days of friends and neighbors dropping by to “check in” to see how we are doing.

Or the frequent social gatherings with family and friends just to see each other and share what’s happening in their lives.

Or the easy, small-talk conversations with strangers and acquaintances (without getting strange looks).

Ours is an age of isolation and loneliness.

Yet, the Catholic Church teaches that people were made for community (CCC 775-776), and therefore, we were made to love others.

Therefore, when we don’t make our lives a gift to others, we become lonely.

And what’s worse, we don’t know how to climb out of our isolation.

Divine intervention

So how do we get ourselves out of this mess?

The truth is, we can’t.

Just as God has intervened throughout history–from the Israelites enslaved in Egypt to the French Revolution to the ending of World War I and II–God must rescue us from our own spiraling self-destruction.

In order for our society to survive, it’s important to recognize we need divine intervention.

We need God.

The only question that remains is, just as a physician asks an alcoholic or an addict, “Do you want to be set free?”, will we, as a nation, ask God for this rescue?

The remedy

The answer lies with us, the ones who claim to be Christians.

We must think back to the remedy that God has given to us over and over again: turning away from a lifestyle of greed, beginning a habit of daily prayer, and turning towards our Mother, the Mother of God.

She and Jesus cannot be separated: wherever Jesus is, Mother Mary is there.

Her love for her Son is also given to us, her spiritual children (Rev 12:17).

We must help her to wage war on the diabolical forces that overwhelm our culture today, but how?

In all of Mary’s apparitions through the ages, she has said the same thing:

to stop the large-scale evil of nations (such as wars, sanctioned killings of abortion and euthanasia, eugenics, persecution, sexual abuse, lustful perversions, violence, greed of nations, genocides and terrorism), pray the Holy Rosary every day, make small sacrifices, and return to God.

But we can’t stop there.

These are public sins incorporated into our society, built-into our government, our communities and our cultural norms. They have become woven into the fabric of our daily living and, like a spider’s web, cannot be undone one string at a time; they must be torn down.

Spiritual war

Let’s face it: there’s a spiritual war going on, and we’re right in the middle of the crossfire.

And God expects all Christians to help in the cause of right.

Since these cultural sins are not private, but public, we must “up our game” and match weapon for war by pulling out the “big guns” to be effective.

The systematic failure as a nation to address our own cultural genocide has enabled unprecedented levels of isolation and loneliness.

This is the Enemy’s (Satan) primary weapon: to isolate us in our pain, and lead us to fear and despair.

So what can we do?

We must remember we are not alone.

And that, as Christians, it’s not enough to hide away or simply drag ourselves to church once a week.

We must pull together as families and faith communities to fight evil with God’s weapons.

It’s also not enough to “call people out” on their contribution to the sinful culture–whether it was unwittingly committed or not.

Make it public

No, Christians must make it public.

We can fight back against these cultural evils with public prayer.

In doing so, we will learn that we are not alone, friendless, or isolated. That there are others who want to fight on the side of God and will stand by our side.

We will know that the saints and angels have our back, and that our Blessed Mother still leads the charge in the battle to win souls for her Son.

We will know that our prayers and sacrifices have power when we do them with love for one another, and for those who will not.

So with the help of God, let us take courage and begin the crusade of public prayer, Rosary processions and Eucharistic processions (like the one in Manhattan on October 10th).

This will not only strengthen us, but transmit hope to the people who have fallen into despair.

And lead us out as a nation towards God.

St. Luke the Evangelist, pray for us.