September would normally cause lots of activity around children going back to school and recent high school graduates starting a new major phase of their life at college. Also, remembering the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center and those killed on 9/11 in 2001. This year we have added the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida. The natural destruction was horrific, but the outpouring of assistance from first responders, volunteers and neighbors has been truly wonderful to behold. It is when times are the worst that the best comes out in human kindness to one another.
I have been thinking a lot about what is going on in our country and in our family. Of Pat’s and my 16 grandchildren we now have 5 in different colleges and universities. I think of the unrest and confusion of many of our country’s youth today. Many being incited by activist groups with an agenda to participate in rallies and marches when many have no idea of the real purpose of the activity to which they have been drawn in.
I was impressed to have the Governor of Florida say, as Irma was about to make landfall, “everyone should pray, and prayer should not be the last, but the first thing we all should do.”
Prayer should take place in times of life threatening events, but as importantly daily for general guidance in each of our lives, and for the future of a country founded on Judeo-Christian values which are being eroded due to secular humanism and abandonment of belief and trust in God. In fact, there are forces at work to remove God from, not just the public square, but from our way of life in America.
So many of the problems we are now facing in America can be attributed to the weakening of the family and the absence of a father in the home. I think back to the time of my youth when certain norms were expected:
- Each family had a mother and father,
- Couples got married first and then lived together,
- People believed a woman and man married, and a child was a blessing of the marriage,
- Youth knew the difference between right and wrong and took responsibility for his or her actions.
I do believe parents of our generation wanted so badly to make things better (“easier”) for their children that this contributed to problems we face today. This is true particularly when we take into account how the immediate availability of information through computers, cell phones and the internet has fueled the “if it feels good – do it” mentality.
There is still ”hope” for our country’s youth, but it is going to take the family – parents, grandparents and friends accepting responsibility to provide help in their education.
We must get involved in reviewing school curriculum, recommending good books to read, getting them away from in front of the TV, and preventing attendance at movies that are driving them to sex, drinking and violence to name some of the major contributors to our changed culture.
When I am around our grandchildren and friends’ children, I do see that we should be hopeful.
I just finished reading Michael Coren’s national bestseller “Why Catholics are Right.” It is a great book to read and gives tremendous insight into how the Catholic Church is worthy of defense. It is a great book to be exposed in some depth to a number of the “truths” of the Catholic faith.
Modern progressive society would have us believe there are no absolute truths. It is the Catholic Church that has more than 2,000 years of existence and history, during which time it was responsible for bringing together the Bible in the New Testament to set forth the teachings of Jesus Christ who completed the prophecies of the Old Testament.
I know of the struggle for purpose and meaning in life that I have encountered over the years. I see this “searching” of our youth. I am relieved and thankful when they realize it is God that they are seeking.
The readings from Sunday, September 10 were particularly instructive regarding what we need to do now as individuals, as a family and as a community.
In these readings, the Prophet Ezekiel was appointed by God as a “watchman” to warn the wicked to turn from his ways and should the wicked one refuse then the wicked one would die for his guilt. If Ezekiel did not warn, Ezekiel too would die, but if Ezekiel warned the wicked one, Ezekiel would live because Ezekiel was not responsible for the refusal to heed his message. This is a great invitation to evangelization and acceptance of the responsibility we have toward our family and others whom we might influence to do what is right.
Jesus even told us how to get our prayers answered!
Also, in the gospel Jesus tells us that “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” And Jesus says, “if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.” This very direct explanation of how we can get our appropriate requests granted should be used particularly by Catholic business women and men in our business relationships and activities.
Finally, Saint Paul relates Jesus’ belief in the most important commandment which sums up all the others, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”
This makes clear a roadway to change the direction we are going in America today through each of us being unafraid to share the truths of the Catholic faith, praying together for shared needs and showing agape love for our neighbor. Let us commit to accept this challenge.
RELATED RESOURCES:
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John Paul II Life Center and Vitae Clinic — Connect with Timothy Von Dohlen (see email below) to learn how to duplicate the success of this center in your local community.
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Timothy Von Dohlen is the founder and president of the John Paul II Life Center and Vitae Clinic in Austin, Texas. (www.jpiilifecenter.org) For a more robust bio, click here. – www.catholicbusinessjournal.biz/content/tim-von-dohlen. He may be reached at Timothy@CatholicBusinessJournal.biz