We live in a era that emphasizes leisure. We are sinners. Sibylline talking heads reinterpret the Bill of Rights. Byzantine parrots joke about how complicated our lives become as each new technological advance allows us to stay connected with each other. We murmur communication to ourselves in barely audible tones. We are trying to improve our lives.
Our lives still contain mistakes, failure, sin; modern society has removed public morality from the public’s conscience. Every behavior is accepted, every behavior is expected. Many people live moments of great compromise and confusion behind faded brocade curtains of sin and vice.
We live within great metropolises with malignant friends leading us into subterranean antechambers, crumbling and dark; our subways offer a glimpse of purgatory, a noisy chaotic moment when we must depend upon prayer, our own and our neighbors. Flattering acquaintances present florid complements to the bad weather, our bad natures revolving in the revolving doors, revolving with jealousy, revolving with avarice, revolving and revolving.
There were prayers to say on Sunday, hymns to sing on Sunday, and ideas and ideals to reflect upon, to incorporate into our lives. We listened on those poetic Sunday mornings to lessons about goodness, about morals; and we decided which restaurant we would be best for our brunch party.
Urban life beckons us with unending choices and sweet popular possibilities preserved within television commercials and glossy magazine advertisements present unending promises of happiness, fulfillment. Ironically we live with an era of typographical and grammatical errors.
The secular color of the moment remains an aggrieved gray, mourning, weeping like a discarded courtesan demanding the attention and courtesies from a younger yesterday. The sound of this discontent does not disturb us as it tries to attack our hearts and souls.
There are prayers before and after Communion for us to listen to, for us to think about. Being Christian is sometimes like being a travelling salesman moving from room to room, searching for leads, laying foundations for future sales. Being Christian is always examining ourselves, always trying to apply the Gospel teachings to our lives.
Sibylline coffee cups with enticing whipped cream wait to protest social justice, wait to lead you astray with words of discouragement, words of discontent.
But the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are beautiful yet ancient; they both offer and gently encourage love. We are asked to look within the unopened rooms within our hearts to find and release all of our love. Sharing our love will improve our lives.
There is always talk of murder and mayhem. Euthanasia, contraception, abortion have become accepted as natural modern living rights with slogans, supporters, and advertising campaigns confusing and/or losing the issue of the value of each life.
The hateful, profanity covered lyrics from some popular songs attack the pedestrians with machine gun like intensity from behind tinted glass. The faces on the street are lost, disillusioned, desperate and so much denim and so many people simply moving between eutectic points, freezing or melting, sinning and regretting. . . . We pray at twilight.
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