What is coming upon this earth of ours? Eleven thousands pseudo-scientists tell us that the world is heating up at an alarming rate. Meanwhile they are collecting millions from the scared populace and purchasing houses on the sea coast (e.g. Obama). Wars are going on that no longer seem to end. Storms are tearing apart villages and cities. Earthquakes are shaking up populations. Now we have to take over the territory of outer space to keep us secure on earth. What must a Catholic do in the face of all of this?
Our Lord tells us to take account of the signs of the times and realize that this world is futile; it is not meant to be eternal. Every sign tells us that our hearts must be directed to the true end and not a false goal. We were created for the love affair that will last forever. We were created to know our Lord. Hence we must study creation’s beauty and mystery in union with the study of the Words that come from our Lord. Knowledge begets love which alone satisfies the human desire. We want to be loved and to love and this is impossible outside of our relationship to our Savior. Love begets service which is the natural expression of our response to divine love. Love of God and love of my neighbor sum up the goal of our lives here in this troubled world. Finally, as knowledge begot love and love begot service so the service begets an eternal love affair with the Beatific Vision of the Triune God.
Therefore in spite of all the sinful expressions and the tremors in the earth we are bound to conquer the world with divine love. Certainly we resist the errors of this modern world and we understand that only Truth must reign but frustration sets in when we focus more upon the nonsense instead of our goal. Note that the spiritual life requires a consistent reflection of the presence of God marked by our desire to do all for His greater glory and the salvation of souls. With this resolution we pass from the purgative life to the illuminative life and then to the unitive life. We will never go toward the illuminative life if there is an attachment to sin or to the world. Detachment and disinterestedness mark the pathway to the light of God’s love for us.
When the light shines upon us then we will look up and recognize that the Savior bids us to come to His wounded side that we might be healed in His Blood. All the signs, all the disappointments, all the suffering was only meant to cleanse us of the desire for the world and its pleasures. So look at the trees and when you see the new leaves budding forth you know that summer is near. Just so is eternal life rising within your soul when you maintain your calmness in the face of the troubles strangling our world. Just as a tree cannot deny its nature and put forth its fruit at the end of the summer season so it will be with your soul. At the end of all this tension is the peace that only God can give.
In the opening sentence of Leon Bloy’s work, The Woman Who Was Poor, the demonic character cries out, “This place stinks of God.” The final line of the same work states: “The saddest thing of all is that we did not become the saints God wished us to be.” In between these two sentences are pages and pages of suffering, contemplation and the sanctification of the Woman Who Was Poor. It is the story of our Blessed Mother living in the soul of one poor young lady. You will find her everywhere you go but especially in the poverty and the simplicity of sincere Catholics today. Look for the signs around you and penetrate through the sign to its meaning. The result will be an eye opener for you shall begin understand God’s plan for you. Remember the amazing truth that “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt
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