Remember

These are my first days of life in examination, full of change, full of wonder, but the fatigue and exasperation that develops in my mind is completely opposite of how I imagined that I would feel.

My mind is concerned about the rising anger, apathy, angst in our society. The world that I see tries to hide its fear and despair behind all types of psychobabble. Nervous tension rules; common sense and decency wait in the wings with sleep and exercise. This is a time of opinion, of complaining; this not a time of discovery, of truth. Our society wants us to lead a life of a marionette, controlled by different puppet masters at different times. Free will is best when directed and influenced by Madison Avenue or some other nameless hidden individuals.

As Catholics we are Christians. We are both God’s children and God’s believers. Prayer is not a sedentary activity. Prayer leads us to the streets where we show our concern for the oppressed, the forgotten, the dying.

Our society presents us with all types of social justice gaps, potholes which we try to mend with hands and hearts.

As Christians we are asked to love our neighbors; our society suggests that we love ourselves, pamper ourselves, forget our neighbors, forget the world for a little while and only concentrate on ourselves, our self perception, our self image, our self worth.

Eventually all of this self appreciation is destined to lead us into dangerous places, to create a sense of over confidence. The real war that we all should fear is a simple one of moderation versus excess, humility versus decadence, morality versus indulgence. Free will is easily perverted and directed toward every vice and sin. Free will is not always free; there is a price, a responsibility to be awake to the different forces in our lives, to be cognizant and involved in our communities.

What we need is prayer; what we need is silence; what we need is love; there are so many people using so many words to influence us that we need time to analyze each word, put everything into context.

Remember Christ. Remember love. Remember prayer.