Are we a Kingdom divided against itself?\u00a0 Has faithfulness diminished amongst us?\u00a0 Is the Word of God banished from our speech?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think it is fair to say that there are signs that these things are happening to Christians as a whole and to the Catholic Church in specific in today\u2019s world.\u00a0 Today, there are strong voices of dissent amongst Catholics.\u00a0 These voices of dissent pay lip service to the Creed each Sunday because they don\u2019t really believe in everything the Church teaches.\u00a0 Rather, they pick and choose with the attitude that they can discern for themselves.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake about it.\u00a0 The Jeremiah prophecy applies as much today as it did to the countless generations of Israelis who didn\u2019t listen to their prophets and didn\u2019t walk in the ways of the Lord.<\/p>\n
Let me point out a few, for example:\u00a0 A divorce rate over 50 %; Sunday Church attendance at about 30%; rampant immorality on TV and in our movies and on the internet that reflects itself in our music and dress as well; 4 Million abortions a year in this country and a society that tolerates it; and a society that is slowly legalizing marijuana and gay marriage.\u00a0 Even though this congregation may be a bright spot in the midst of our society, the point is that, it is not enough.\u00a0 It\u2019s just not enough.\u00a0 More is required of us, the God fearing folk.<\/p>\n
You see, that\u2019s what the parable is all about.\u00a0 Just like the palace in the parable, the Christian element of our society is under attack.\u00a0 We are depending on a strong man, fully armed to guard our palace.\u00a0 But just who is this strong man?\u00a0 It represents the Church.\u00a0 And the Church consists of not just the building, but all of us believers as well.<\/p>\n
Today, our strong man doesn\u2019t appear to be strong enough because secular society is getting too strong in its demands\u00a0 They have taken away our religious freedom and are poised to disband our institutions- schools and hospitals and other agencies.\u00a0 We stand the danger of being overrun by the enemy.<\/p>\n
Now our strength comes from our unity; and from the obedience that breeds unity.\u00a0 That is the armor that our strong man depends on- all of us.\u00a0 Unity and compliance is what Jeremiah is calling for.\u00a0 But the Old Testament people had hardened their hearts.\u00a0 They turned their backs to the Lord.\u00a0 And it applies to us as well, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Because 70% of our Catholic brethren have turned their back on the Church, and have hardened their hearts.<\/p>\n
So, what\u2019s the answer, what\u2019s the way out?\u00a0 In a word, evangelization- \u00a0\u00a0We have got to evangelize, starting with our own people –\u00a0 Our brothers and sisters, children, parents, friends, co-workers, playmates, you name it.<\/p>\n
How do we evangelize?\u00a0 We do it, first of all, by our example,. So \u201cLet us bow down in worship; let us sing joyfully to the Lord; and let us acclaim the rock that saves us\u201d.\u00a0 And then, we do it by being pro-active.\u00a0 Know about your faith so you can intelligently answer their questions; show them that you are involved; practice what the Church preaches, all of it; and lastly, but most importantly, tell them how great it is to belong, to be a member of the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 And then, welcome them home.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes indeed, \u201cIf today you hear his voice, \u2018Harden not your hearts\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thursday of the Third Week in Lent Jer 7: 23-28; Lk 11: 14-23 Dc. Larry Brockman Are we a Kingdom divided against itself?\u00a0 Has faithfulness diminished amongst us?\u00a0 Is the Word of God banished from our speech?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think it is fair to say that there are signs that these things are happening to Christians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[202,203],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}