Surely the response that springs instantly to mind in the present moment is: THEY WOULD NEVER GET ELECTED TO ANYTHING AT ALL!!!
But I truly do not think Americans are inherently driven solely by the unbridled self-serving greed that today holds our culture in its sway – and Obama is making inroads, albeit indirectly, as his opponents are exposed for the – uh, fools they are, as I will charitably designate them for our purposes here. I was born in 1931, and I grew to maturity in a vastly more decent and civilized America than what my progeny has had to deal with.
The definitive descent into the self-destructive abyss of unbridled egotism actually occurred during the years our family spent in the community in which Herbert Schwartz was our Spiritual Father – the 60’s and 70’s, Herbert fell asleep in the Lord Nov 1, All Saints in the Catholic Church, 1980.
An experience with two of my grandsons exemplifies what is at issue. When the older of the two boys reached age 7, and made his First Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, I took some pains to find a very nice Bible for him – at least the nicest I could find at the time. However, that boy had absolutely no use for any Bible whatsoever – it was all his parents could do to keep him from using it as a weapon of destruction on me. Given the circumstances in his family, I really did not blame my grandson in the least, it was I who had indulged in short-sighted optimism.
However, when his younger brother turned 7 and made his First Communion – I decided to play it safe by settling for an inexpensive holy card as his gift. It’s a popular holy card, which shows that there is still a strain of sanity and sanctity out there if only those identified with the “Magisterium” would give it a chance.
The card shows Christ on the cross, with the words, “I asked Jesus how much He loved me, and he spread His arms …” When I gave it to my grandson, I stressed that if he were the only person in the whole world, Jesus still would have embraced him from the Cross in just that way. When I looked up to see his response – his eyes had tears in them.
W\e are so concerned with how the “market” in all its multifarious forms governs everything anybody is interested in these days --- well, how about the market value of our own selves being the shed blood of the incarnate Son of God Himself? St. Paul says as much: “He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” Rm 8:32
I have no idea under heaven or on earth why priests, especially Catholic priests, Orthodox priests at least have the constraint of having to preach about the readings for the day, especially the Gospel, so they are less prone to lengthy tirades on the subject of – a particularly hot topic these days – the amount of time spent watching TV or texting or tweeting or whatever, how much is acceptable and how much is SINFUL.
I mean, what drives people to such electronic substitutes for genuine relationships with warm pulsating flesh and blood human persons and various interactions with them instead of The Tube? These are just so many fake substitutes for the deeply felt personal love we will experience – be it painfully experienced love …….. well, actually, there is always going to be some element of pain since our attachment to God always entails a concomitant detachment from self, but it is the most joyful pain known to man! It always struck me, how St. Paul exclaims, in this context, “miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me?” and in the very same breath, is giving thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!
“I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rm 7:23-25
Try it on for size, folks! With any luck you’ll discover a whole new life – and if you live it with a soul-mate: DYNAMITE!!! I know whereby I speak.
What I think is really interesting is that when people in our community began turning against Herbert Schwartz, they actually became increasingly fake and phoney religious, becoming very active in the Catholic Church, most recently, fervid admirers of Mel Gibson, political devotees of Bush (both pere and fils) and these days one or another faction of the Tea Party cabal.
But I am securely confident that Pope Ben will come to our aid. He’s like the older of my two grandsons I told you about above – he just never was exposed to the real thing. But I believe John Paul II, who called him to Rome and groomed him for the papacy – foresaw this day coming and planned for it.