I write this entry while my son works on some school projects in an adjacent room.
I can't help but think of the parent whose child may have attended a movie last night in Colorado.
It happens all the time,
The child/teenager leaves the house:
kid: "I'm leaving for the movie, see ya."
parent: "Whose going?"
kid mentions names
parent: "What movie?"
kid: "The Dark Knight Rises"
parent: "Okay, do you have your phone?"
kid: "Yes."
parent: "Have fun, love you."
kid: "Love you too."
At the theatre a gunman opens fire--
Evil, demonic, satanic--you name it--it is real and unleashed and has been killing lives and souls since that scene in the Garden.
At one point God became man, broke the chains of bondage and set us free.
BUT WE DIDN'T GET IT.
IT WAS TOO HARD.
So, like a moth drawn to a flame that promises warmth and freedom and another 'way' ---all lies--eventually the soul gets fried--eventually humanity gets fried.
What is our response when evil happens?
Shock?
Dismay?
Or maybe we just ignore it?
USUALLY THE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS GET IN AND EXPLAIN IT AWAY.
Just for the next 24 hours take note of the amount of evil that bombards your life via internet and media.
--the mentality and the jokes that it is all about you.
--that pride is good and that you need it to survive.
--that you can use others, talk about others, lie about others.
--music and shows and movies that play with the 'lite' themes of sexuality and promiscuity.
--everything is relative.
--envy and sloth and gluttony and lust are all explained and even excused.
Evil thrives on apathy and then eventually it goes for blood.
Like chumming the water--live life in the world of moral relativism--then eventually satan comes for the soul.
Just as Grace builds on nature so can Evil build on our choices that contradict God's will.
And others are left to suffer. Other innocent lives are lost. Families are torn apart.
This is a suffering that only God can redeem.
Usually, when evil happens we blame something else or we ignore it.
It would be easy to blame the movie--
But the movie is a sign of something much more insidious and the demonic is banking on the fact that 'freedom of speech will continue to provide the way for it to spread is culture of death'
Evil is also blatantly ignored as has been proven in recent events both in the church and in academia. Reputations become gods.
Only God can redeem this suffering.
(that's the second time I've written that)
But God's way is hard. It takes work. It means saying 'No' to the ways of the world that are not redemptive. God's way involves a passion and a cross. God's way is the way the saints took.
God's way is a way which doesn't ignore evil. Jesus didn't ignore it, nor should we.
Just the other day I had a conversation with a priest concerning evil. He really didn't want to talk about it.
"I prefer to focus on our redemption."
Nice. I agree. Redemption is good.
But--
Redemption from what??? eternal death, sin--and they are the products of what?
It's both. We can't ignore the elephant in the room. Evil must be named and called out and expelled AND redemption in and through Christ.
Come on people stop ignoring and excusing the obvious.
When evil happens today use it as a moment to turn away go to God and STAY with Jesus.
Start today, get on your knees, say an Our Father and a Hail Mary, Pray to St. Michael (click the picture).
Pray for the victims, pray for the parents, pray pray pray.
