"To a large extent, we are to blame for our own slavery when we accept evil or even adopt it because of fear or for inconvenience. If because of fear or for convenience we accept the mechanisms of evil to operate in our lives, we will have no right to condemn it because we ourselves created evil and helped to legalize it."
- Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko
Bill and I watched a phenomenal and inspirational movie tonight about a courageous young Polish priest - Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko - who died a martyr for his country and for the Lord because he continued to speak out against the oppressing Communist government and authorities. This courageous priest would not be silenced in speaking against the oppression and loudly voicing the truth about God-given human dignity and freedoms. Finally, in 1984, after years of being tracked by the government's Secret Police, multiple death threats, attempts on his life, and imprisonments, he was kidnapped by those working for the authorities, brutally beaten, and then drowned in a river.
As much as he spoke out against the suffering inflicted by the Communist authorities in Poland, he reminded the people that we must be free within ourselves first - in our conscience and in our relationship with the Lord.
In a homily given on October 31, 1981, he said, "Our slavery extends from our surrender to the rule of lie, our failure to unmask lie and to protest against it in everyday life. Instead of correcting the lies, we remain silent or pretend to believe it's true. This means living in falsehood. Telling the truth with courage is the way leading directly to freedom...If in the present political situation the majority of Poles followed the one and only truth, we would become spiritually free! The external or political freedom would follow sooner or later as a consequence of the spiritual freedom and faithfulness to the Truth."
Where America is At
When we choose sin, we choose a lie. Sin is a violation of love and truth; it is a violation of the high dignity and love with which the Lord made us.
We here in America are putting ourselves in a very dangerous situation by vastly turning away from the Lord's ways. There is no doubt that our persecution and suffering is up the road ahead. We have had it very good, easy, and comfortable here in America for the most part, especially in comparison to the rest of the world. However rather than express deep gratitude and faithfulness to God, we have abandoned Him.
We choose a path of destructin and suffering for ourselves. By choosing sin, we choose our own destruction. We choose the destruction of our soul. And when a person persists in sin, the soul loses its peace; other greater evils begin to spread...first within ourselves, then within the family, then within communities, then within the society and nation. Sin does nothing but perpetuate more sin.
Here is a snapshot of where we are at:
Here in America, we are merciliessly murdering innocent children in the womb through abortion. Millions. Innocent blood is being shed for our convenience, our selfishness, our desire to not "mess up our future." We try to justify the slaughter of our very children in the womb. Here in America, we have an entire multi-billion dollar industry that profits solely from this sin (Planned Parenthood being the largest) ...an entire structure dedicated entirely to sinning. A complete "structure of sin."
Here in America, we accept pornography. We accept the lust between men and women as a "curious" thing to watch; then it grows to an addiction. The pornography industry is a MULTI-BILLION dollar industry. "Legal" and "legitimate" companies within our very nation manufacture pornographic films, profitting billions of dollars per year, and they also ship this evil out to the rest of the world. We encourage and promote this serious sin...here in America. Here in America, we have this entire multi-billion dollar industry that profits solely from this sin...another entire structure dedicated entirely to sinning. A complete "structure of sin."
Here in America, we are contracepting ourselves out of existence. Contraception, no matter what the reason, is an intrinsic evil and great offense against God and His design. Yet despite whatever reason we may try to convince ourselves of, justifying our reasons for using it, fooling ourselves into thinking that "God understands," we won't accept truth or even open our hearts up to God sincerely. We make excuses, "It's MY body..." Christians, your bodies belong to God. It is a temple of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul in Scripture tells us. The Lord made your body with a high dignity and wondrous design - do you not want to honor that? Here in America, we have this entire multi-billion dollar "birth control" industry that profits solely from this sin...another entire structure dedicated entirely to sinning. A complete "structure of sin."
This evil is propogated within our school systems into the pure minds of children. They are indoctrinated with sins of contraception, abortion, homosexuality... Here in America, we have an entire sector (note that I said sector, not the entire system) of the education system that insists upon teaching this to our children, as though it is a good thing. Here again: A systemized "structure of sin."
Here in America, we live by lust. Remaining in purity until marriage is "impossible." Not cohabitating before you're married is simply "old-fashioned." Sexual impurity is rampant in our culture; children are influenced at a younger and younger age. These entertainment industries make billions and billions of dollars from songs about sexual content, movies about sexual content, TV & radio shows about sexual content. Yet again, another systemized "structure of sin."
Here in America, we promote (or at the least, indifferently accept) the living out of homosexuality. We glorify men kissing men and praise women kissing women. "Equal rights!" "Equal rights!" we shout. Our minds are filled with overly sentimental yet powerful emotional agendas by the media and advocates so that our minds get clouded from reasonable and logical thinking.
Here in America, we perform transgendered surgeries so that men can become women and women can become men. We also consider it a "right" & obligation for health care to cover it. Here again, an entire sector of the medical and science industry that serves to perpetuate sin. Yet another systemized "structure of sin."
Here in America, we hold sports and sports teams up as a false idols. We consider it to be more important than loving and worshipping God on Sundays. Churches are empty; we neglect and ignore our Mass commitment. We brush God off to the side. "He understands," we fool ourselves into thinking. We will gladly spend hundreds of dollars on good sporting event seats, yet feebly contribute $10 in the church collection when we do go. We have lost our priorities, we have abandoned God.
Here in America, we like the idea of not speaking about God around others because it's easier...it's "for convenience" as Blessed Jerzy Popieluzski said. So we push God out of the public forum; we avoid mentioning anything faith-related. What we really say is that we are ashamed of our Lord by these actions. Here in America, we are all for keeping Jesus "private and to ourselves."
Think About This
Think about this: For the first time in the history of mankind, because we have improperly used and abused the gift of science and technology, we now have complete and entire structures and globalized industries dedicated to perpetuating and promoting grave and serious sin and evil. Yes, sins of these types have basically always been around. But never in the history of humanity have we had entire, systematic, structures of sin that cooperate with one another across international borders throughout the world, in perpetuating sin. Mortal sins. Here in our nation, we are top-ranked in initiating and participating in this epidemic of evil and sin, not just within our nation, but throughout the entire world. ENTIRE "STRUCTURES OF SIN" DEDICATED TO SPREADING SIN AND CONTINUALLY OFFENDING GOD BY PERPETUATING THESE THINGS.
We are choosing a dark path for ourselves because we are straying from the safety of God's design of love. We are stepping up to God and telling Him we don't need Him anymore; we think - in the name of a type of FALSE progress - that we know better than Him.
We don't want to learn from the past fate of other countries; we don't want to learn from the chaos and discord we see around us. We want to continue in our sin. We want to "live in falsehood." There can be no peace in the world until we start with our very own souls. Turning away from our sin, begging God's forgiveness, and living faithful, virtuous lives will be our only hope.
As Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko said, "To a large extent, we are to blame for our own slavery when we accept evil or even adopt it because of fear or for inconvenience. If because of fear or for convenience we accept the mechanisms of evil to operate in our lives, we will have no right to condemn it because we ourselves created evil and helped to legalize it."
We must pray, fast, and offer penance for our priests, who are our shepherds, that they don't neglect their duties before God; support and encourage them, for their responsibilities are very very great. St. Athanasius, a Doctor of the Church, at the Council of Nicea in 325 said, "The ground of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." St. John Chrysostom in a homily said, “I do not think there are many among Bishops that will be saved, but many more that perish" (Homily III on Acts 1:12). Their responsibility to defend and spread the truth is very grave and serious. We must be prayer warriors. Pray they may have such courage as Blessed Jerzy Popieluszki.
Here is a link if you would like to read more about Blessed Jerzy Popieluszki, a modern-day martyr.