Don't Worry, Be Happy.

Concerning. That is a word that many today will consider an understatement when watching what is going on in the world, especially the US today.

Tonight, it was reported that a Catholic University in upstate New York was circulating a petition to disinvite Cardinal Timothy Dolan from speaking at commencement....for "not sharing our values". This, again is a Catholic college. Within the last couple of days, a Pew Research study has reported that the Christian faith of the population of the United States has dropped like a rock in the past seven years. The country is wrestling with issues like Gay Marriage, which is no doubt coming. Even in Catholic Ireland, the folks have chosen to redefine marriage to fit the popular agenda. The question is how long it will be before the Church is required to recognize a marriage of two people of the same gender because civil law will demand it. It is, of course, an impossibility for the Church to do so.....so it is no doubt one of the many showdowns that is coming.

Abortion is accepted. Anyone who opposes it is a "woman hater". Anyone who opposes Gay Marriage is a "homophobe". Anyone who is concerned about radical Islam and it’s penchent for violence against ‘infidels’ is an "Islamaphobe". On and on and on. It’s the world we live in. I see so many people of faith worried, wringing their hands...upset with the direction of the world, and specifically the country.

I’m convinced that it is not going to change. I am convinced that the die is cast....and evil and forces that dislike Christ and His Church are going to get even more brazen. And, I’m not worried. I know what the end will be, I only pray on a daily basis that I am up to it. I also know that if I rely on my own strength to remain faithful, I will fail. I know that prayer is the only way....the Rosary, especially.

We can all only be concerned, and account, for our own relationship with Christ and His Church. We can do no more, except to live our lives, perform service, as He directs, through His Church and through His Mother. We cannot worry about other folks’ actions....we can only pray for them, and try to influence them toward Christ as best we can. That’s it. We must live our personal lives as He directs....allow Him to work through us, and trust Him.

In the Garden of Gethsamene, Christ told to His disciples an often overlooked statement...."pray you are not put to the test". Think about that for a reason. The time is coming for all of us when we will be forced to choose, to pick a side. For some of us, it may come quietly and without difficulty, for others it may come as it did to St. Peter, who denied Christ three times the night prior to His crucificifixion. For some, it might come in the peace of their death bed, for others it might come in front of TV cameras in front of an abortion clinic, or in a situation at your place of employment.

Other folks have been put to the ‘test’.....the great martyrs and saints. In today’s world, we see Middle Eastern Christians being beheaded and burned alive for not renouncing their faith. Compared to them, the ‘test’ that we may have to face pales in comparison. However, be assured the ‘test’ is coming, the point in time where there will be no more fence sitting, when we are going to have to pick a side. On some level, we all have to do that each day.

A Baptist minister asked me one time if I ‘knew’ I was going to heaven. My answer was this. Why worry about it? If you trust Christ to take care of you, as He said He would, why would you even ask the question?

So, don’t wring your hands and worry what will come. Beyond a certain point you can do nothing but practice your faith personally and trust. Let Him handle it. He’s better at it, anyway.

Pray that Rosary.