Good or bad?
In a culture where the terms “good” and “bad” have become obsolete, young people are searching for legitimacy, and find both the culture and organized religion wanting.
According to a recent Pew Research study, more Americans now describe themselves as becoming more “spiritual” than “religious” (41% and 24%, respectively).
Yet when rightly ordered, the virtue of religion inspires faith, and one’s spirituality grows in response to faith–not the other way around.
So, why the reversal?
Witchcraft/Wicca and Neopaganism
Since we are spiritual beings, there is a deep hunger for the supernatural that scientism and secular humanism have done their best to kill (which we won’t go into here).
With the dominant (and false), “Being nice is sufficient for you” platitude that has reigned in modern Christianity for decades now, everyone knows it is certainly not sufficient.
What is sufficient, is God’s supernatural grace that makes up for what is lacking in us, and helping us to overcome our own weaknesses, habitual sin, spiritual blindness and selfishness.
So, what “spiritualities” are the people in the Pew study talking about? What has taken the place of religion?
Witchcraft (i.e. Wicca, Neopaganism) has been regarded as one of the fastest growing pseudo-religions in the United States since 1990. There have been recent estimates of as many as 1.5 million people now practicing it.
Whether this is true or not (I can’t find any substantial measurable evidence other than social media and anecdotal opinions/assertions), it’s no less important to consider why this may be.
Let’s face it
Let’s face it: as religions become more and more subservient to the world, they become more and more irrelevant.
Today there is such a poverty of truth, depth and meaning in our superficial culture, that people are easily being led astray.
Pseudo-religions such as Wicca or Neopaganism are attractive to people because their principles sound good and are socially inclusive, so they fail to see the hidden errors and harmful contradictions before they get pulled in.
St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673-735 AD) called out this ingenious deception that can have no other origin than the demonic. He said, “The devil is an evil master, who always mingles false things with true, that the semblance of truth may cover the witness of fraud.”
In the end, all these occult spiritualities are destructive and lead down the path of grave evil. And the further one goes down that path, the harder it is to turn back.
“The four”
Wait a minute…. “Grave evil”, you say? “Is that even a thing?” I’m here to tell you yes. But don’t blame me–I’m just the messenger.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out four distinct mortal sins Sacred Scripture reveals to us that “cry out to heaven for vengeance” (CCC 1867):
- The sin of murder (Cain and Abel, Gen 4:10)
- The sin of sodomy and homosexual activity (Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 18:20, 19:13)
- The sin of oppression (Israelites enslaved in Egypt, Exod 3:7-10)
- The sin of defrauding workers of a just wage (Moses commands charity for the vulnerable and helpless in society, Deut 24:14-15).
Waging war
But why? Why are these considered gravely evil acts?
Well, what do they all have in common?
They all wage war against humanity. As we are all made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26), we are His creatures and belong to Him (Rom 14:8).
Therefore, when we wage war against humanity, we wage war against God.
These sins are so grave they directly attack the goods of marriage and family, snuff out life, prevent human flourishing, willfully obstruct love, and cause immense suffering to others.
They also intentionally reject mercy and justice due to all humankind.
Normalizing evil
Which of these are we seeing a concerted attempt at normalizing or at least tolerating in our world today?
The worker has a right to a fair wage, which means, the social constructs of communism and socialism are gravely sinful, because they seek to control the masses by denying the right to private property and the fruits of one’s labor (James 5:4).
With regard to sodomy and unnatural sexual acts (sexual acts that don’t lead to life) Scripture is very clear: “Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7 NRSVCE).
And: “The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body…. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor 6: 13, 19-20 NIV).
In the apparitions of Lady of Fatima on July 13, 1917, our Blessed Mother made it clear to Jacinta Marto that “more souls go to hell for the sins of the flesh than for any other reason” after showing her (and the other two children) a vision of hell. They were already promised heaven, or Sister Lucia dos Santos (one of the three seers) later wrote in her Memoirs that they would have “died of terror and fear.”
With the promotion of grave evil in the world, it’s no wonder we see a rise in confusion, anxiety, depression, suicide and despair.
But that also means we are living in a most opportune time.
We are presented with two choices: succumb and cooperate quietly with the ever-increasing vice grip of the culture, or double-down and seek the God of peace, joy, justice and mercy.
Do I want to be truly alive, or passively await death?
I will end with a quote I found from St. John Bosco (1815-1888), whose feast day it is today. He is a patron saint of the youth, and once instructed them in this way:
“Look, you will soon face a dangerous crisis; the devil will try to ensnare you. To start with, he will tell you that frequent Communion is good for children, not for adults, and that once in a great while is quite enough for you. Then he will do his best to keep you from sermons by making you feel bored by God’s words. He will convince you that certain things are not sinful. Then you’ll have to tussle with friends and what they might say, with [dangerous] readings, with your own passions, and so on. Be on your guard. Do not let the devil rob you of that peace of mind and purity of soul which makes you God’s friends!”.
What timely advice. St. John Bosco, pray for us.