Oath to the Death

An African priest was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel in his small village. A gunman entered the chapel and ordered the priest to his feet.

“Why do you kneel before a piece of bread?” the gunman asked. “Kneel before me instead.” .

“This is not a piece of bread,” the priest responded boldly. “This is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will only kneel to him.” .

The gunman laughed. “Do you actually believe that is Jesus?” he chuckled. “I will prove to you that it is just bread. When I shoot it, it will just crumble and break. It will not scream. It will not bleed. If I shoot you, you will scream and bleed and plead for your life.” .

The priest stepped between the Blessed Sacrament and the gunman. “If you must shoot someone, shoot me instead,” the priest begged. .

“Are you willing to die for this piece of bread?” the gunman said in disbelief. .

“When you look at the Blessed Sacrament all you see if a piece of bread. I believe that this is Jesus himself. I believe this because he tells me it is so. I trust Jesus when he says that this is his body and his blood. I believe in my head and I trust in my heart. I love him even more than I love my own mother. He died for me. I am willing to die for him. You think the worst you can do is to take my life from me but in doing so you free me to be with him. I do not fear this. Do what you came here to do.” .

The gunman lowered his rifle and stared at the priest. He stared quizzically for a moment. He shook his head, and turning, he walked out of the chapel and left the village. .

In the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation. In Greek, the prayer asks that we not be put to the test. The test we ask not to be put through is the test of Peter. When facing death, will we deny Christ? As bold as we believe ourselves to be, none of us knows how we will answer that question until it is put to us. If a gunman were to walk into Mass and order anyone who believes that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist to stand and be shot for their belief would you be willing to stand when simply sitting would save your life? .

Yet, that is the statement we make when we present ourselves to receive him in Holy Communion. We don’t go to communion just to get something. The Eucharist is a Sacrament and a Sacrament begins with an oath to the death. Before we receive the Lord in the Eucharist we renew our oath to live for him and die for him if necessary. We reaffirm this oath with our “Amen” after the communion minister says, “The body of Christ.” .

There is a desire within the Church today to give the Eucharist to as many people as possible. There are many who support, and even demand, that the Church give the Eucharist to divorced and remarried Catholics, to those who embrace a same-sex lifestyle, to those living together playing house, and those who are transgendering, just to name a few. There are even those who want to open up Holy Communion to those who are not even Catholic. These desires are founded in a false sense of love. We want to be inclusive. To share Jesus with everyone regardless of belief. This is a noble thing but one that lacks understanding of what receiving the Eucharist actually is. .

To receive the Eucharist is to take an oath to the death that one will live for Christ and die for him if necessary. We offer our lives as collateral when we take this oath and when we willfully break this oath we forfeit that collateral. To live for Christ means to follow his commands and his teachings to the best of our ability. We believe that Jesus taught his disciples and that these teachings have been handed down to us through his Church. When someone disagrees with an official Church teaching they do not disagree with the Church. They disagree with Jesus. .

It would be wrong for the Church to demand that anyone take an oath to the death when they either do not understand what that oath requires or they do not believe what the Church teaches. You cannot be in communion with Christ and his Church if you do not believe what they proclaim and teach. .

The Church is currently in the middle of a three-year Eucharistic revival. This is meant to renew our love and reverence for the source and summit of our Catholic faith – Jesus in the Eucharist. This renewal has to begin with a proper understanding for what the Eucharist is and the oath we take when we receive him. We need to receive Jesus on his terms, not ours. Even the manna that came down from heaven to sustain the tribes of Israel had rules for its collection and consumption. The Eucharist is the true bread that comes down from heaven. To receive him properly is to have life within you. We eat to our condemnation every time we receive him improperly. It is false love to allow someone who is not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion. .

We are called to love one another with the same love God has for each of us. We are called to love one another with sacrificial love. True love is not giving someone something that will do them harm. To truly love someone is to keep from them something that will do them hard regardless of how much they want or demand it. .

Remember this the next time you present yourself to receive Holy Communion. Ask yourself, “If I had to be shot after receiving Jesus would I still be in this line?” If the answer to that question is no you shouldn’t be in that line. .

Conduit of Grace

I am not big into crowds. Luckily my favorite grocery store is open twenty-four hours so I can do my shopping during the hours most people are curled up on the couch watching T.V. During one such visit I noticed a man and his son also doing some late-night shopping. It was easy to see that the son was autistic. One thing he liked to do was to go up to the strangers in the aisles and introduce himself. His father tried his best to keep his son away from the other shoppers.

It wasn’t long and our paths would cross. When the son saw me, he immediately made a bee-line straight towards me. The father quickly came around the cart in a vain attempt to intercept his son. I could see the worry in his eyes. I just nodded and said it was ok.

The boy came up to me and stuck his hand out. When I shook his hand, I understood the father’s fear. He had the grip of a bear and the hands to match. He was not only a big boy, but one with great strength. Given his mental capacity he could easily hurt someone without knowing it. I am sure the father’s fear was twofold. First, he was worried about how strangers would react to his son. People can be cruel and I am sure he had seen his share of that cruelty towards both himself and his son. He also had to be worried about what his son might do to someone less than thrilled to make his acquaintance.

The son would take my hand and shake it. Then he would let go for a moment and then grab my hand and shake it again. He kept doing this until his father was able to guide him back to their cart. I asked him his name. It was John. I smiled and told him I was very pleased to meet him. Then I turned to his father and asked his name. He was Russ. I told Russ that he was a good father for caring for his son the way he was.

This would be the first of several encounters I would have with Russ and John. The next time I ran into them John rushed over to shake my hand as if it were the first time. Russ quickly came over to guide his son back. The worry in his eyes went to surprise when I greeted John by his name and asked him how he was doing. His mouth hung open when I turned to him and did the same. He sheepishly looked down and told me that he did not remember my name. I assured him that it was fine; that it was he and his son who made an impact on my life.

Recently, I took communion to a man who had just suffered a severe stroke and was recovering in a rehab facility. I saw the look of sadness in his eyes that I often see in people in his situation. There is a feeling of shame that they have to be cared for by others. This is especially common in men who have provided for the people they love their entire lives. Now they themselves need to be cared for and they feel like a burden on all those around them.

I encouraged the man not to be downhearted. He was not useless. He was not a burden on his wife or the caretakers at the facility he was in. He did not understand that he was serving a very important purpose. People like John and this man, those who require the assistance of others, they act as conduits of God’s grace to flow to those who care for them. God is sacrificial love and love is never wasted with God. God’s favor shines down on those who care for others out of love.

The look in the man’s eyes suddenly changed. I saw a sense of relief come into them. The man realized that his suffering had a purpose and that purpose was to bring God’s grace to the woman he loved the most in this world. This was something he could be thankful for.

We do not suffer for suffering’s sake. Our suffering isn’t without purpose. It is if we hold on to our suffering, refusing to offer it as a gift. The devil wants us to turn our suffering inwards, to keep it as our own. Suffering is the currency of love. Money we keep in a jar under our bed has no value. The value of currency is what we choose to spend it on. The best spent money is the money used for the betterment of another. Like with any other currency, we can offer our suffering for a greater good. When we allow others to care for us in our suffering God’s favor flows through us to them. They receive a blessing for the love they show and we receive a blessing for our cooperation with God’s will.

This is what made Christ’s passion so powerful. Jesus held none of his suffering back for himself. He offered all of his suffering for the love of us. It is through his suffering that the wages of sin were paid, death was conquered, and the blessing of everlasting life flow through him to us.

Jesus gives us the perfect example on how to embrace our suffering with joy, offering it to God so he can use it to deliver his grace to those who care for us with love. It also gives us reason to be joyful and loving caregivers to those in need, especially those who are the most difficult to care for. Both the caretaker and the cared-for receive grace when suffering, the currency of love, is offered for the other.

Go and be a blessing to all those you meet today.

The Reason

“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the LORD’S Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 12: 1-13

The Passover is a holy Jewish holiday that remembers when God freed Israel from their slavery to Egypt. Understanding the Passover is essential to understanding the crucifixion of Jesus and the Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that followed. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is what sets Catholics apart from the rest of Christianity. If Jesus’ crucifixion truly fulfills the Jewish Passover, then the Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is essential to Christian salvation and redemption.

Christ’s crucifixion not only fulfills the Jewish Passover, but it also completes the Binding of Isaac. All four of these events, the Binding of Isaac, the Passover, the Crucifixion of Jesus, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, are all sacrifices prescribed by God for the salvation of his people. When Abraham was willing to sacrifice his first born to God, the son God promised to give him in his old age, he demonstrated the faith needed for God to carry out his plan of salvation for the world. Just as an angel held back Abraham’s hand from sacrificing Isaac, God held back the angel of death from taking the first born of anyone who observed the rubrics of the Passover. In the fullness of time, God sent his only begotten son to take the place of Isaac and those spared in the Passover, to complete the sacrifice necessary for salvation. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes Christ’s crucifixion present to us in real time so that we may participate in it. If we want to understand the requirements of salvation, we have to understand what a sacrifice is.

A sacrifice is a religious act, by which a visible gift is offered to God by an authorized person and then destroyed in some way, so that God may be worshipped and loved.

First, a visible gift is required. This is something material and tangible. The gift must be something of value. Offering a gift we hold no value in is not truly a gift. The greater the value, the greater the gift.

Second, the gift must be offered up to God. The sacrifice is not so much in the gift but the offering of it. The act is more important than the gift.

Third, the gift must be offered by an authorized person. God has said who is authorized to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. In the days before Jesus the authorization to offer sacrifice was given to the sons of Aaron, the men from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is the great high priest from before time began. When he established his Church on earth, he gave the authority to offer sacrifice to those he ordained for the task. He did so through the laying on of hands and by breathing into them the Holy Spirit. Christ’s priesthood is not through a bloodline but in the line of Melchizedek, a superior priesthood to the one of the Levites. This authority has been handed down through apostolic succession and resides in the Catholic priesthood today. Jesus did not make us all priests authorized to sacrifice of the behalf of the people. The priesthood we receive at baptism is one that allows us to live a sacrificial life for Christ.

Fourth, the visible gift offered to God by an authorized person must be destroyed in some way. Under the old law animals were slain and burned. Isaac would have been slain and burned. In the Passover a lamb was slain, roasted, and eaten by the people. Anything left over was burnt completely before sunrise. Christ was crucified. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the hosts, a word meaning victim, are consumed as part of the Sacrifice. The reason why the offering is destroyed, either entirely or partially, is to acknowledge God’s supreme dominion and to worship and love him as the Lord of life and death.

Under the old law, God had prescribed how the sacrifice was to be done, who was authorized to do the sacrifice, and where the sacrifice must take place. When the temple was destroyed, the Jews lost the ability to offer sacrifice to God. In rising from the dead, Jesus rebuilt the temple in himself and authorized a new priesthood to authorize sacrifice on behalf of the entire world. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes present to us in our time and place the one and only sacrifice of Christ on the cross at Calvary. His crucifixion is made present to us so that we may participate in it. It is only by being crucified with Christ that we can rise with him in resurrection into salvation.

The angel of death did not pass over any house of any Jew who did not follow the rubrics as commanded by God regardless of how righteous they may have been. Likewise, Jesus was also very clear when he said what was required for salvation.

“Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6: 52-58

Jesus did not mean this metaphorically. He did not mean this symbolically. Just as the Jews had to consume the Passover lamb, so too must we consume the Pascal Lamb of God if we do not want the angel of death to have claim to us when we die.

Scripture tells us that many of those who were following Jesus found this statement to be very offensive and difficult to hear. They left Jesus that day. The Twelve did not understand what Jesus meant, but they believed in him and did not leave. Later, at the last supper, Jesus would establish the Sacrament of the Eucharist and institute the priesthood, giving his priests the authority to consecrate bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.

The only place where we are given Jesus’ body to eat and his blood to drink is at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where a priest, authorized by Jesus through his ordination, consecrates simple bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus our high priest in the order of Melchizedek. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. This was the teaching of the Catholic Church for 1500 years.

Then the devil played upon the pride of the fathers of the reformation. He convinced them that it was no longer necessary to eat the flesh of the son of man in order to have eternal life. The first thing Luther did was to remove the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and he changed the Mass from a sacrifice into a service for the instruction of the faithful. Wesley, Calvin, and Knox did similar things when they formed their new churches. Communion became nothing more than a symbolic remembrance of the last supper. The only thing required to enter heaven is a simple profession of faith in Jesus.

The Jews who did not follow the rubrics given to them by God for the Passover woke the following morning to find that the first born of every creature inside their houses had been taken by the angel of death in the darkness of night. Those who refuse to consume the body and blood of Jesus can only rely on his mercy not to pass them over when he returns to judge the living and the dead at the end of this age.

The Eucharist is the reason to become Catholic. The Eucharist is the reason to stay Catholic. The Eucharist is the reason to live as a Catholic.

Which Cross Do You Choose?

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.” But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” –

Matthew 20: 20-23

I have written on numerous occasions about the supernatural nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is said that the Mass is the unbloody re-presentation of Christ’s crucifixion on Calvary. The supernatural reality of the Mass is that the Mass acts as a conduit through time and space making us present at the actual crucifixion of Jesus as it happens. One would ask why God would want us present at that event. St. Paul said it best when he said that he makes up in his body that which is lacking in the crucifixion. What could possibly be lacking in Christ’s crucifixion?

Quite simply, my participation in it.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes present in real time the crucifixion of Jesus so that I can participate in it. But how exactly do I participate in his crucifixion? Do I stand at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Mother? Do I stand jeering with the temple priests? Do I sit casting lots with the soldiers?

No, I participate by being crucified with Christ.

When we think of the crucifixion, our focus is on Christ on the cross. Our focus, rightly so, is on the sacrifice being made for us. But the sacrifice does not end with Jesus. We have to look past the cross to finish the sacrifice. When Jesus said, “It is finished” we are presented with a choice.

When reading scripture details matter. The Holy Spirit puts the details we read into scripture so that we can learn something from them. There were two men who were being crucified with Jesus, one to his right and one to his left. Both of these men were receiving the just punishment due for their crimes; death. We know that one of these men mocked Jesus. The other is known as the good thief, for in the end he only ask that Jesus remember him.

As with Jesus bar Abbas, we are presented with a choice. On one cross we have the penitent man. On the other, a man who turns from the Lord. Both men must die for their sins but the penitent man will be with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom. The man who turns away from God goes to hell.

Through our baptisms we die with Christ so that we can rise with him to eternal life.

As part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we are presented a choice. Which cross do you wish to die upon? God sends no one to hell. If we find ourselves in hell at the end of our lives here on earth it is because we have chosen to die on the cross of the thief who turned his back on God. If we want to live with Jesus in heaven for all eternity we have to choose to die on the cross of the penitent thief. We have to be willing to turn to Jesus and ask him with a humble heart to remember us even though we are deserving of death.

Easter is not just about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter includes the choice we have to make on how we will die; with Christ or without Christ.

Which cross do you choose?

To Eat Meat or not to Eat Meat - That is the Question

“Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you; this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 18:11

Once again, the Feast of St. Patrick has fallen on a Friday during Lent. In the weeks leading up to this feast, Catholics wait in hope for a dispensation from the requirement to abstain from meat on this particular Friday of Lent so that they may celebrate in the usual fashion of consuming corned beef. When those dispensations start coming out, 'holier-than-the-Pope' Catholics start voicing disagreement with their bishops about the dispensation. Like the Pharisee, they want people to know that they will still be abstaining and making the sacrifice of not enjoying all that delicious corned beef.

To eat meat or not eat meat; that is the question. What is the right thing to do? As with all things in our faith, it all comes down to the inclination of the heart.

We fast during Lent to strengthen our wills. When we voluntarily deny ourselves earthly pleasures, we strengthen the spirit’s ability to control the will. The more control we have over our wills, the easier it is for us to resist the temptations of the devil. We abstain from meat on Fridays because the Church offers this to God for the universal penance for sin. We remember the day our Lord died by offering a universal penance for sin by refraining from consuming that which most humans enjoy eating, which is meat. This isn’t a requirement for salvation, but a pious practice of being repentant.

The requirement of abstaining from meat is not limited to just the Lenten season. It is a requirement of all Catholics every Friday of the year. Like with the St. Patrick dispensation, a general dispensation has been given for Fridays that fall outside of the season of lent. Abstaining from meat is what is required but a Catholic can eat meat on a Friday if there is a good reason to do so. Simple desire is not a very good reason to take advantage of the dispensation.

The dispensation on St. Patrick’s Day, as well as every Friday that falls outside of the season of lent, comes with a requirement if you want to make use of the dispensation. If you eat meat on these days you are required to offer some other form of penance in its place. This penance has to be something you normally wouldn’t do. For example, if you pray a Rosary every day you can’t just offer your Friday Rosary as your penance. You need to do something on top of this Rosary. If you don’t pray a daily Rosary, you can offer a Rosary on Friday as your penance.

The problem is, many Catholics like taking advantage of the dispensation without fulfilling the requirements of it. They eat their meat and are either unwilling or unaware that they need to offer some other form of penance. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who think any dispensation from this practice is wrong and should not be given. The bishops differ on the subject. Some give the dispensation, some don’t. Those who are shepherd over discoes with large Irish populations usually lean to granting the dispensation.

There is nothing wrong with practicing abstinence regardless of the dispensation. It is a pious practice and, if your heart urges you to observe it, by all means do so. There is no need to voice disagreement with the bishop who grants a dispensation. There is no need to look down on anyone who takes advantage of the dispensation. In doing either you become like the Pharisee who looked own on the publican.

This is what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to think yourself better than the bishop or the common Catholic because you are making a greater sacrifice for God by observing a practice you are not asked to observe. When you do this, you exalt your own perceived holiness. Like with false humility, when you exalt your own holiness you are not being holy. When you do this you no longer make the sacrifice for God but for yourself.

Likewise, if you take advantage of the dispensation and you don’t offer a difference penance in its place you are using the dispensation as an excuse that takes you away from God and not as something that draws you closer. You are using the dispensation as a way of getting out of an obligation you don’t want to do in the first place.

This is where the inclination of the heart comes in. When we meet our obligations for love of God, they are truly a gift to him. When we meet our obligations just because they are obligations they are still gifts to God but ones that don’t have much love attached to them. When we meet our obligations because we want recognition from others they are no longer gifts to God but to ourselves.

When you do something for someone you love, it is never an obligation. The deeper you love someone the more you want to give to them to show your love for them. Love of God is no different. When someone asks what the bare minimum is that they need to do and still be Catholic they are showing a very shallow love for God. The deeper your love for God the more you want to do. The more you do the deeper that love grows. There is no competition with God and he never wants you to compare the love you have for him to the love someone else is showing him. Only God knows the depth of our hearts and none of us can judge the depth of another’s heart. But that is precisely what the devil wants you to do. He separates you from God by getting you to compare yourself to another in the way the Pharisee compared himself to the publican.

So, on this feast day, if you have been given the dispensation, celebrate and eat your corned beef. Just remember to do an addition penance in its place. If you haven’t been given a dispensation, honor that in love. If you are moved to observe the universal penance of abstinence, do so in a way that no one but God knows you’re doing so. What the Lord sees in private he rewards.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Living in a Post Judeo-Christian Age

“In 1787 I'm told
Our founding fathers did agree
To write a list of principles
For keepin' people free

The U.S.A. was just startin' out
A whole brand-new country
And so our people spelled it out
The things that we should be

And they put those principles down on paper and called it the Constitution, and it's been helping us run our country ever since then.”

The Preamble, Schoolhouse Rock, 1975

If you were a kid who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons in the 70’s and 80’s you may have sung the above. If you were born in the new millennium there is a good possibility that, not only have you not heard it, but you don’t even know what it is talking about. Fewer and fewer people today can tell you when our Constitution was ratified. Fewer still can tell you the principles on which the United States was founded or why the articles and amendments of the Constitution are important. When we forget our history, we make it possible for someone to hijack our present and that is where tyranny begins. Our founding fathers would be so disappointed in what we have become that I would give odds that many of them would move back to Britain.

Most people I know just don’t care about any of this stuff. They don’t see how it impacts their day-to-day lives. It has been such a long time that we have had to live with any real oppression that it is a concept we can no longer understand. We feel entitled to our freedom. We keep our liberty only as long as we are willing to fight for it. The truth of the matter is that our liberties have been slowly eroding since the beginning of the progressive movement that began in the early 1900’s. We are frogs slowly being boiled to death and we don’t have a clue. Come on in. The water is nice.

It is no surprise that we are also seeing the eroding of faith-based organizations. Christianity in particular is seeing the number of practicing people decline sharply in the last twenty years. The number of people who claim no religious affiliation has been increasing incrementally year after year. This has church leaders wringing their hands, trying to find ways to bring people back to the faith. I know the Catholic Church has become as accommodating as possible to try to keep people in the pews to no avail. The pandemic has only hastened people's departure.

Why?

People turn to God during hard and challenging times. When times are good God is seldom thought of. Take for example the recent tragedy of Damar Hamlin. Damar was a twenty-four-year-old football player who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing in a Monday night game. While the EMT’s worked to save Damar’s life his entire team knelt around him in prayer. Everyone in that stadium that night and the entire country soon after also joined together in praying for Damar. This is a good thing but it wasn’t that long ago when another football player, Tim Tebow, was roundly mocked when he would take a knee to pray and thank God for his talent. We also saw Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach, lose his job for privately praying on the field after a game.

We talk about the New Evangelization and try to find new and engaging ways to bring the Gospel of the Lord to those who have not heard it. The problem is that there are few, at least in the United States, who have never heard about Jesus. You would almost have to be living off-grid somewhere in the wilds of Alaska to not have heard at least something about Jesus. Many will listen to the stories from the bible in the same way they watch a movie like Star Wars. They are great stories but they have little relevance or impact on their day-to-day lives.

Like with our Constitution, the greatness the Judeo-Christian faith brought to our world is considered common place and we reap the benefits with a sense of entitlement. As I stated in the beginning, when we forget our history, we make it possible for someone to hijack our present and that is where tyranny begins. We are seeing this happen in our society now. As we cast off the tenants of the Judeo-Christian faith, we see a world embracing untruth, chaos, and death. If left unchecked, this will lead to the destruction of our society and we will have to rebuild from the ash of what used to be.

When we look at the history of man, we find that this is precisely the cycle of how things happen. God calls man from chaos. Man becomes prosperous. Man turns from God to do it on his own accord. Man returns to chaos. Man turns to God for salvation. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Those who fail to learn from history and bound to repeat it. Those who do learn from history suffer from it when it is repeated.