When the Chips are Stacked Against Us - We Have to Keep Our Heads!

Osmar Schindler's David und Goliath

In several ways, the Western World seems to be losing its mind.  The culture is turning against its foundations in natural law and Judeo-Christian morality.  With the national news only a couple of hours behind us, Brennan (age 11) and I read the story of David and Goliath for the first time.  Brennan has known the story since childhood, from religious books for kids; but this was his first reading of the story from Scripture.  And there is so much there for an 11 year-old boy to love!

[David] took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine ...  David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.  So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.  David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. (1 Sam.17:40, 45-51)

What lesson do I take, do I want my son to take, from David?

1. Remember that the battles we are facing in our culture - battles which are sure to multiply in the years ahead - are not ours; they are the Lord's.
2. And because the battle is the Lord's we must engage in it always cognizant that we are His representatives.  We must avoid taking personal offense when we are attacked and misrepresented; these wrongs are ultimately done not to us, but to Jesus.  (What an honor for us to suffer for Him!)
3. Like David, we can go forward boldly, knowing that we are speaking the Truth.  It is logical; it makes sense.  (That doesn't mean it will be respected or recognized though.)
4. David did not go against Goliath using the giant's type of weaponry - sword, spear, javelin.  No, David approached him with a staff (symbolizing Christ's love, teaching, and authority) and a sling with five stones (Jesse Romero tells people they represent the Rosary with its five decades).

Christ has equipped us with more powerful weapons than David!  Because "the battle is the Lord's" we conduct ourselves, as St. Paul taught, "with innocence, knowledge, and patience, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love as men with the message of truth and the power of God; wielding the weapons of righteousness with right hand and left, whether honored or dishonored, spoken of well or ill” (2 Cor.6:6-8).  

In the heat of the moment, don't go "losing your head" - that's a Goliath thing to do, not a David/Jesus thing.
    

Stopping Violence - What Is the Answer?

How do we put an end to the violent acts that seem to be increasing in frequency?  Even if we collected and melted down every firearm in the nation, it would not solve our problem.  (On the same day 20 children lost their lives to gunfire in Newtown, CT, an intruder at a  Chinese school used a knife to slash 22 children.) The violence we are seeing will not be stopped by greater gun control, humanistic counseling, a government program, nor sophisticated ad campaigns.  Its cause goes way too deep.

What we're dealing with is the evil that can reside in the human heart.  We're dealing with a global, cultural devaluation of human beings - from the sacred nature of the sexual act that produces them, to the dignity and importance of having a mother and a father in every home, to the legal killing of unborn children and the sick aged.  The problem is within the human heart, it is sin, and in and of ourselves we human beings are powerless to fix it. 

We fool ourselves by thinking that if we treat the symptoms, then we will solve the problem.  Better gun control, better mental health programs, a better-educated public, etc., etc.  Take away all the guns, throw all the money and services we can at the problem - and at the end of the day we're still left with mis-functioning human hearts.  As obviously needful as it is to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands and to teach people acceptable ways to deal with their anger and pain, at its deepest level, humanity's problem is spiritual:  "from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man” (Mk.7:21-23).

What is the answer?  "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (Jn.14:6).  The answer is Jesus - we counter the culture of death, with Life Himself.  He is the only One with the power to reach into the human heart and regenerate it from within!

Some readers, fellow Christians, rolled their eyes as they read that.  "Simpleton," they think.  But honestly, if you do not believe that Jesus is the answer to this question - to every question - I do not know why you bother to identify yourself with Him.  

I am putting a challenge out there:  What would happen if each of us truly lived the Faith we claim to possess?  What would happen if we truly positioned ourselves so as to encounter Jesus Christ in His word and sacraments?  (It's not hard!) What would be the effect on our nation if every Christian, or even just every person who identifies him or herself as Catholic ...

• Made the non-miss event of their family's weekends not the kids' sporting events, but receiving Jesus in the Eucharist?  (And maybe even going to Confession beforehand?)

• Read and re-read the four Gospels the way we do popular novels?    (Honestly, if you have read the Fifty Shades trilogy, at over 1600 pages, but not the four Gospels, a mere 200 pages, then it is time to remedy that - consider it a Christmas present to yourself!)  

• Memorized the Ten Commandments the way we do sports statistics?

• Made time to for the Rosary, the way we do for a workout - or prayed the Rosary while we got a work out?

• Instead of bemoaning how "backward" our Church is, actually challenged ourselves to study what Jesus said and why our Church teaches what it does on sexuality, marriage, and family?  (The Catechism, right here, is such an easy place to start.)

• Talked to God with our children before they left for school, when they arrived home, and again at bedtime?

• Talked about our belief in God even a quarter as much as we talk about what we saw on t.v. last night? 

If we lived the Faith, if we made Jesus present in our own lives and invited others to do the same, then our nation and world would be transformed!  It happened to ancient Rome - a culture that practiced infanticide and watched gladiators fight to the death for entertainment!  But it took Christians who loved Christ Jesus more than life itself to bring about its conversion.  What about us, do we love Him that much?  Do we really believe that He is the answer to every question? 

We need to examine ourselves as we listen to these words of the Risen Christ: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.  Would that you were cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth ... Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent.  Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:16, 19-20).