I FELT a strong word for the Church this morning in prayer regarding television:
Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked; nor lingers in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of scorners, but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law day and night. (Psalm 1)
Christ’s Body-—baptized believers, bought with the price of His blood-—are wasting their spiritual lives in front of the television: following "the counsel of the wicked" through self-help shows and self-appointed gurus; lingering "in the way of sinners" on sitcoms; and sitting "in the company" of late night talk shows which mock and scorn purity and goodness, if not religion itself.
I hear Jesus shouting the words of the Apocalypse once again: "Come out of her! Come out of Babylon!" It is time for the Body of Christ to make choices. It is not enough to say I believe in Jesus… and then indulge our minds and senses like pagans in corrupted, if not anti-Gospel programming. God has so much more to give us through prayer: to the one who ponders his Word day and night.
So gird the loins of your understanding; live soberly; set all your hope on the gift to be conferred on you when Jesus Christ appears. As obedient sons and daughters, do not yield to the desires that once shaped you in your ignorance. Rather, become holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, after the likeness of the holy One who called you (1 Peter)
Lord Jesus, our affluence is making us less human, our entertainment has become a drug, a source of alienation, and our society’s incessant, tedious message is an invitation to die of selfishness. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Fourth Station of the Cross, Good Friday 2006
