IN the wake of the U.S. and Canadian elections, many of you have written, tears in your eyes, broken-hearted that genocide will continue in your country in the “war on the womb.” Others are feeling the pain of division which has entered their families and the sting of hurtful words as the sifting between the wheat and chaff becomes more evident. I woke up this morning with the writing below on my heart.
Two things Jesus gently asks of you this day: to love your enemies and to be a fool for Him.
Will you say yes?
First published May 4th, 2007…
IT must have stretched Noah’s faith to build an ark with no body of water nearby. It must have been humiliating to gather all those species of animals into the ark. And he might even have questioned his own sanity as he and his family entered the ark seven days before the flood. Yes, they were sitting in the ark—in the middle of the desert—waiting.
An “ark of fools.”
I hear Christ whispering in my ear… or perhaps it is St. Paul: “Prepare yourselves to be considered utter fools.” Indeed, Paul was one:
We are fools for Christ’s sake… (1 Cor 4:10)
The reason is this: as the Truth is more and more obscured, that which is good will seem evil, and that which is evil will appear good. Those who uphold the teachings of the Church will be considered fools… if not outright obstructions of peace.
THE “ARK OF HOPE”?
Take for example the “Ark of Hope.” No, this is not the same as the Ark of the New Covenant which I just wrote about. The “Ark of Hope” is a wooden chest built by globalists and environmentalists, no doubt in an intended parallel to the great Ark of the Covenant which was the beginning of the true new age of man’s relationship with God, the giving of the Ten Commandments. So, too, this new “ark” would attempt to displace the holy ark of our times, the “refuge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”…
…as a place of refuge for the Earth Charter document, an international peoples treaty for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. —from the website: www.arkofhope.org
As Mary carried the ineffable Word of God, the “Ark of Hope” carries a new list of “commandments” and even a “book” of prayers, images, and words for “Global Healing, Peace, and Gratitude.”
It all sounds appealing, doesn’t it, and much of it indeed is good and just. But we “foolish Catholics” will have problems with the Charter for at least a couple reasons. One is that it includes language forbidding discrimination against “sexual orientation.” As we now see around the world, this is equated to “Thou shalt not criticize ‘gay marriage’ or homosexual practice.” The Catholic Church (and Christ who established it) detests hatred of any kind. But to speak the truth about sin is merciful, even if it isn’t popular.
The second problem area in the Charter is the demand for “universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.” It has long been demonstrated and proven that these are code words for “Thou shalt grant universal access to abortion, easy access to birth control, and population reduction controls.” Again, these tenets fly directly in the face of all that the Church stands for, that is: the right to life of all, and the dignity of the human person.
To the rest of the world, resistance to such a Charter may seem unbelievable, and that anyone who opposes it is themselves a threat to peace and security—pure fools.
Yes, fools for Christ.
SEVEN DAYS BEFORE THE FLOOD
In Understanding the “Urgency” of Our Times, I wrote about how the Church may be entering a period in which it will be increasingly isolated through, I believe, a universal persecution: “the seven days before the flood.” It will be a time when, like Noah, the Church will be in the desert of isolation in the Ark of the New Covenant, while the voices of mockery, intolerance, and hatred reach a feverish pitch.
The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days… The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. (Rev 12:6, 15)
And like Noah, our obedience to the Gospel will be viewed as insane, foolish, and yes, even hateful.
If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first… If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you… (John 15:18, 20)
…and see the Church as an obstruction to a new, “more unifying” world religion:
Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. (John 16:2)
…the way is hard that leads to life. (Matt 7:14)
Yes, the road leads to life! Eternal life!
THE NARROW WAY
As we persevere on this narrow way, embracing the suffering which comes with being a follower of Christ, so too will joy expand within our hearts. As the Apostles danced for joy when they were persecuted for Christ’s sake, so too will we experience the joy of suffering for so noble and loving a King.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. (Matt 5:11-12)
What Christian in his right mind would rejoice over persecution? Only the one who has fallen in love with Jesus. One who…
…consider[s] everyth
ing as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Phil 3:8)
It is this denudation, this emptying of the soul of the temporal that allows it to be filled with the eternal. Then the joy of Jesus, the life of Jesus will flow through you and convert even your enemies as they mock you—and see your response. Remember the centurion beneath the Cross…
But you must put on the mind of Christ! As St. Paul says,
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Col 3:2)
To gain Christ, and lose this world… it is like exchanging a golden coin for a kingdom. But this takes faith. For we can feel the world’s coin in our hands now, it’s round and smooth edges, its golden and shiny surface… but the Kingdom? It can only be found with spiritual eyes. It is acquired by faith, a child-like trust, and a denial of self. It is tangible too—but given only to the one who asks with a sincere heart, a repentant heart willing to receive It. How foolish it seems to cling to a coin when we have been offered a Kingdom—an eternal Kingdom!
One who trusts in Christ’s word and the Church which He Himself established; one who is willing to lose everything so as to gain All; one who is willing to enter the Ark of the New Covenant amidst the voices of persecution: such a person is rightly called a “fool for Christ.”
And Heaven is full of such “fools.”
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Rom 8:18)
But you, LORD, are a shield around me…I do not fear, then, thousands of people arrayed against me on every side. (Psalm 3:4-7)
Click here to Unsubscribe or Subscribe to this Journal.
