Last night, one such hour of ranting happened, where one complaint leads to another and another and before I know it, I'm feeling helpless in a world that's heading in the wrong direction. It is the specific intention of the devil to discourage me from feeling like I can do anything to help anything - but it is the specific intention of the Lord to encourage me with the fact that, indeed, I cannot do anything on my own, but with Him, I can do anything.
Last night's list of complaints began with a wish. I wished I could brainwave to people who I want to invite to Rise Up the idea of its awesomeness, because I felt that there was no way to convince people how amazing and worth it it is, especially this year being the 25th anniversary of CCO and Rise Up being in Ottawa. I anticipated reactions such as "oh that isn't for me, it's not my kind of spirituality" and the one no one says out loud, but you can hear them thinking it: "why would I spend my Christmas holiday at a conference?" But this ain't just any conference, folks - it's about six-hundred to a thousand or so university-age Catholics from all across the country gathered together to celebrate their faith and learn more about it. It's encountering God in a new and awesome way, and partying it up on New Year's Eve at the best New Year's Eve party in the country! After the Impact mission I did in the summer of 2012, Rise Up has been the best experience of my life. But last night I mourned the fact that some people aren't interested in discovering if it could be the best experience of their life too. I mourned the fact that people can judge something without giving it a try. And I mourned the fact that some people who are accustomed to a certain spirituality (within Catholicism) are not interested in trying out any other kind of spirituality.
This idea of a seeming divide within the Church led me and the friend I was ranting to last night to a greater issue within the Church - one that involves not differences of opinion that are equally good or neutral, but differences of opinion where one side is mistakenly not following actual Church teaching. Life Site News reported on the unfortunate circumstance of a certain Catholic parish in Ottawa openly engaging in something that blurs the lines of Catholic teaching - their participation in a gay pride parade. This parish breaks my heart, because they are missing out on something beautiful that happens when we serve the Lord according to His will for us - and His will does not include sexual sin outside of marriage, practicing homosexual behaviour, and sins against chastity. (Marriage, defined according to God's moral design for our lives, is the coming together of one man and one woman - "and the two becomes one flesh." Marriage and family reflect the love that exists within the Holy Trinity. Any sexual union that exists outside of this design for our lives is detrimental. God created a perfect plan for our lives out of His love for us, and we only hurt ourselves by breaking from it.)
The openness of this particular parish to people who identify themselves with the LGTBQ community is justifiable and wonderful, to a degree. The Catholic Church, following the example of Christ, opens its doors to everyone and welcomes anyone, without judgement. Christ said He came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5:32), and we see in the story of the woman caught in adultery (sometimes interpreted as Mary Magdalene) that Christ said "let the first among you who has never sinned cast the first stone," and once everyone had dropped their stones and left, He said "has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on do not sin anymore." As Christ welcomed and forgave the girl who was about to be not only rejected but killed by her society, so also should we. But this parish's participation in a Pride parade is a step too far, because here lies the distinction between being a sinner but trying to live as a Catholic, versus being a Catholic and trying to live as a sinner. Christ did not say to the woman caught in adultery, "has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you. So go ahead back to the man you were committing adultery with, and continue to commit adultery if you want to." That would be like having a child who wants to drink poison. "Please Mommy let me drink this!" "Yes dear, I love you very much and I want you to have everything your heart desires, so go ahead and drink poison to your heart's content." Unfortunately, some such alliances as what this parish has with LGTBQ communities do not support people in leading them to God, but rather support them in leading them to sin! And thus did last night's complaints and discouragements go from wishing people knew how amazing Rise Up was, and, more specifically, how amazing a relationship with God is, to despair in the face of today's gay culture. (And just to be clear, I mean no offense or judgement. I, along with my Church, would never judge or reject anyone's sexual preferences. But I do mean to be honest about what we are created for and how our own ideas can fall short of that!)
Then came a side-note complaint extending the division problems to Christianity at large. I bemoaned the fact that Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians understand so well the love of the Lord and the sacrifice of our Saviour and what it means to live for Christ, and yet they miss out on the graces God pours out upon His Church through the Sacraments and, most importantly, the Eucharist - the true presence of Jesus! And how much I appreciate non-Catholic Christians on fire for Christ, but how sad it is that the One Body of Christ seems so divided. And at the same time, you then have a vast amount of Catholics whose faith is dry, and who don't understand a relationship with Christ and the love of the Saviour. And while this issue appears to be on the mend, especially with so much evangelism for youth, new problems arise as I witness Catholics losing their culture.
Further onto this is the never ending complaint of abortion. How anyone can justify the ending a human life is beyond me. Especially the brutal way it is ended in the womb. How tragic, when a mother rejects her own child, and worse, when she is encouraged or coerced to do so, and not supported otherwise.
On a further side-note - Syria. And a whole world of problems in the whole world beyond my own backyard. And in the end it leaves me feeling rather small and helpless and afraid.
But then, as I said, does the good Lord pull me back onto my feet. And you've heard me say this one before - but it's like new, every time it comes up!
"In this world you will have troubles," he says, "but take heart; I have overcome the world!!"
So I do not need to be at a loss for how to help or where to start. One Haily Mary for right now will do, and marvelously. It is not I who am to overcome the world! But it is I who am to participate in the overcoming that God has already achieved through the Cross. Hallelujah!
"Jesus, Mary, I love you - save souls!"
P.S. It's Our Lady's birthday - Happy Birthday Mama Mary!
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