A Prayer for Those Who Are Mourning
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A recent survey reports over seventy-five percent of Catholics think it's okay to live together without being married (called cohabitation). Living together in a sexual union is a false promise without a Godlike covenant, while marriage is a special design of God's planning. When people can't see the difference, we have failed to teach.
Teaching properly takes hard work. Some students fail. Some only understand half the facts. But without the effort to teach, we would have an illiterate generation. No one learns unless they receive proper and sound instruction. Still, we hear things like: “everyone knows what the Church teaches.” No one wants to talk about things that are embarrassing or personal, but we must if we love God.
We listen to teachers because we recognize they help us. But if they remain silent when we error, then we continue to be misinformed. How to proceed in the given age? The Church will never be completely free of sin; teachers teach despite their weaknesses.
Teachers would never say two plus two equals five. Why? Because it's false. To prove it's false, the teacher will demonstate four apples can be put back into two groups of two, but five cannot. Teachers drop an apple to the ground to prove there is a law of gravity. Theories are accepted by seeing visible results. We know that morality exists based on the results of disobeying it, just as the apple falling demonstrates gravity.
The superior nature of living a moral life protects us from things like: Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV and certain cancers, emotional distress, divorce, violence, abortion, and general unhappiness. Yet, society still hasn't made the connection that living immoral lives has led to much suffering.
Many choose to ignore moral truth and make up another explanation. Yes, we could find ways to deny gravity, like if we launch a rocket into space. We can ignore God's moral laws too. Still, we have to live with the results of ignoring them.
God is invisible. We can't see with our eyes what awaits us when this present life passes away. It's difficult to demonstrate why certain things are sins and what ends these things will bring upon us.
Modern freedom is misconstrued to mean: do whatever feels good coupled with mutual consent. Is it any wonder Catholic moral truths are rejected? The way of moral behavior goes against our natural desires. It comes down to delayed gratification to follow Jesus, which is to live for the next life, not the present. That's hard to do.
The best way to explain the effects of sin is to compare it to a disease. Cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure oftentimes have subtle warnings that something is wrong in our bodies. A doctor may even tell us we have these diseases, but since we may not feel their effects, we may choose to ignore our doctor. The same is true for sin.
We may have certain sins on our souls, but we can't understand why they are hurting us. Doctors do not back down on their diagnosis because the patient feels fine. Our Church should do the same.
A good school would take a hard look at itself if say, only 30% of students believed in gravity. Then the teachers would find a better way to convey this truth to the next generation of students so that the truth gets back into the general population. It would be negligence if a school would move forward even though it failed to teach about gravity and instead turned to teaching about pollution.
Should the Church be held accountable for misdiagnosing the sins of the faithful (like when we find many believe cohabitation is fine)?
Our pastors double down on “God loves us.” But that is like stopping at phonics without putting together words into sentences and then paragraphs and finally reading a book. Teachers who find students have reached an advanced age and never really learned to read have double the work to do to play catch-up—and the same is true for our Church.
Those who reject God teach our youth it is fine to sin. They aren't embarrassed. Why are we embarrassed to teach what we believe?
We need leaders who love us enough to diagnose our sins. Until we find the courage to teach again, we will remain in the Winter of our faith, never returning to Spring.
Who is willing to teach us?
A long time ago I thought I was a writer. Because my parents were practical, I went into teaching. About ten years ago, I began to write again.
I hold a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Penn State University (University Park). I enjoy gardening, reading, Pittsburgh sports, and cooking, but not in that order. My regular job is being a wife and mother.
