Archbishop Sheen Warned Us
The other day I was reading a short reflection taken from a talk Archbishop Sheen gave. I am not sure of the date, but it was probably from the 70s. What struck me is how the Holy Spirit was working through him to show us the way the world was heading in order to prepare us for the times we are in.
"Besides apapthy and antipathy, there was empathy, the few chosen souls at the foot of the cross. You see, the cross unites not only the friends of our Lord, the cross unites enemies. We will begin to see as the world goes on a new kind of bigotry. We will be opposed not only because we believe, for example, in the supremacy of the Holy Father, but because we are standing in the way of the demoralization of the world. We stand for life against death. We stand for the family against divorce. We stand for purity against fornication. We stand for goodness instead of vice. We are the great obstacle to the world. The new bigotry will see that cross and will hate us. So we have to be prepared for it, and we will have to take our stand underneath it."
Like I said, the Holy Spirit gave Archbishop Sheen a prophetic insight into where the world was heading. What he said sure describes how the world is treating those of us who stand up for the authentic teaching of the Church on subjects like abortion, sex outside of marriage, etc.
We face that persecution when we stand up & proclaim the message of the cross. The world doesn't want us to speak up about sin & the need for repentance. It wants us to shut up & let it continue on its way. If we do, then we are attacked, condemned, called intolerant, etc.
In the context of this quote, it is clear that Archbishop Sheen was using the term "demoralization" in the sense of "corrupting the morals of" rather than the more common usage of that term these days. & isn't exactly what has happenned, an almost corruption of the morals of our society, our culture?
Archbishop Sheen's words reflect what Jesus said when He told us that that we should expect the world to hate us because it 1st hated Him. (John 15:18-19, John 17:14 & echoed by St. John in 1 John 3:13) It is clear that those who take a stand under the cross of Jesus will face persecution. The question each of us has to answer is, am I willing to take that stand & pay the price?
"Besides apapthy and antipathy, there was empathy, the few chosen souls at the foot of the cross. You see, the cross unites not only the friends of our Lord, the cross unites enemies. We will begin to see as the world goes on a new kind of bigotry. We will be opposed not only because we believe, for example, in the supremacy of the Holy Father, but because we are standing in the way of the demoralization of the world. We stand for life against death. We stand for the family against divorce. We stand for purity against fornication. We stand for goodness instead of vice. We are the great obstacle to the world. The new bigotry will see that cross and will hate us. So we have to be prepared for it, and we will have to take our stand underneath it."
Like I said, the Holy Spirit gave Archbishop Sheen a prophetic insight into where the world was heading. What he said sure describes how the world is treating those of us who stand up for the authentic teaching of the Church on subjects like abortion, sex outside of marriage, etc.
We face that persecution when we stand up & proclaim the message of the cross. The world doesn't want us to speak up about sin & the need for repentance. It wants us to shut up & let it continue on its way. If we do, then we are attacked, condemned, called intolerant, etc.
In the context of this quote, it is clear that Archbishop Sheen was using the term "demoralization" in the sense of "corrupting the morals of" rather than the more common usage of that term these days. & isn't exactly what has happenned, an almost corruption of the morals of our society, our culture?
Archbishop Sheen's words reflect what Jesus said when He told us that that we should expect the world to hate us because it 1st hated Him. (John 15:18-19, John 17:14 & echoed by St. John in 1 John 3:13) It is clear that those who take a stand under the cross of Jesus will face persecution. The question each of us has to answer is, am I willing to take that stand & pay the price?
posted by Al @ 5:24 AM
1 Comments:
At 20/9/11 10:09 PM ,
Patrick Button said...
The way I see it, Western civilization is in decline and it our job to educate what will become the moral remnant in an amoral world. That is not to say that we ought to adopt a fortress church mentality, but rather that we must put a lot of effort into chatechesis and evangelization with a view towards a dark age in the not too distant future.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home