Making Sense Out of it All

Making Sense 
Out of it All

       I would never have believed it was this bad.  I would not have guessed that our culture had already reached such a level of decline.  But Tuesday night proved it.  The American people chose to extend the worst presidency in the history of our nation.

          Barack Obama’s campaign was entirely based on attacking his opponent, and he literally made abortion the focal issue of his campaign.  And the American people reelected him.  The media was criminally complicit by burying stories like Benghazi, and misleading people about Obama’s response to Sandy, among other things.  But there is no excuse.

          I believe I can understand today what Christians in Germany must have felt when they learned that Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor.  They knew all hell was going to break loose, but they really weren’t sure what it would look like or how bad it would be.  At least that’s how I feel today.

          It would be easy to despair today, but I doubt that is what God wants of us.  There have been times I have wondered why God didn’t just create me in the thirteenth century.  What it must have been like to be a Catholic in that century of faith!

          But it is no accident that God did not create me in the thirteenth century.  He placed me in this time and this place for a reason.  As Christians, we are called to be the light of the world.  There may be dark days ahead, but God has called us to be light in the midst of darkness.  What an honor that God would entrust us to be a light in these days!

          God created St. Gregory the Great in his time, and his light illuminated the Dark Ages.  St. Francis of Assisi was a light that reignited faith in the Middle Ages.  And St. Ignatius of Loyola shone in the 16^th century to bring real reform to a Church in desperate need of it.  Now, my friends, it is you and me, we have been called to this time and place to be a light in this culture, to bring Christ to a world that has grown dark with apathy, narcissism and unbelief.

          I know that today we can feel beaten, and I think it’s okay to mourn what was lost on Tuesday.  But our period of mourning must be brief, because this is our age; God has given this charge to us, and we must answer His Call.

          There is something else to remember.  The Holy Spirit has said, in Scripture, that “all things work for the good of those who love God.”  All things.  That means I have two choices: I can either believe that if I remain faithful to Him, He will bring good out of this, or I become an atheist.  There is no other choice, because either it is true that God can bring good out of all things, or there is no God.  I am no atheist, so I will take Him at His Word.

          Now I know He never said anything about it being easy.  One thing He has promised all of us is a cross.  But He will never abandon us.  May we answer the call to be a light in this dark time; may we bring many souls to Christ; and may we, with childlike faith, be assured that our Father keeps us in the Palm of His Hand.  May God bless you.