What comes to my mind is the corruption of the Church during the Late Middle Ages. There were two competing popes and Saint Catherine of Siena did not live to see the end of the Western Schism. At one point afterward there were even three popes. Efforts at Church reform had been ongoing for centuries. Eventually, the corruption in the Church erupted in the Reformation with its massacres and wars. One third of Roman Catholics in Europe turned Protestant. Today we are experiencing all the many ramifications of the Protestant revolution. Yet we can also acknowledge some salutary developments, each with its own difficulties and deficiencies—for example, the advancement of democratic ideals, such as human rights, the widespread industrial and post-industrial generation of wealth and the reduction of poverty, the rise of the Counter-Reformation and a reinvigorated Church spirit for centuries afterward. It appears that good prospers under the oppression of evil. The message for me is that we must pray that we remain on the side of good despite the high price of doing so. Let us not co-opt evil or collaborate with evil to advance it. If this election was won by the son of the dictator, it was with the propagation of lies in social media and huge payments tainted by blood and plunder. Let’s ask God to help us struggle on the right side of history. Let’s hope in the future with our spirit grounded in the life of God and consoled in prayer.
Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us!
SCRIPTURE FOR REFLECTION
Luke 18:1-8
Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
“For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”
The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
“Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?
“I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Reflection
God hears us and will answer us. No prayer is wasted. Someday we will have a strong democracy that cares for the poor.
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”—Padre Pio
SCRIPTURE FOR REFLECTION
ReplyDeleteGuide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:5)
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
We are called to journey together in truth, seeking the truth and speaking the truth—with courage and love, holding fast to God’s promise that our reward for doing so is in the next life, not in the present one.
The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. (Matthew 13:47-50)
At the end of the world, the angels will separate the truth-tellers from the children of the Father of lies, according to the perfect judgment of He who has been appointed by God to be judge and ruler over all.
Gonzalinho