\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The devil made me do it”- a line from Flip Wilson’s old Reverend Leroy character.\u00c2\u00a0 We used to laugh, because of the hypocrisy- excusing one’s personal actions by placing the blame on the devil.\u00c2\u00a0 At least there was recognition of the devil and evil.\u00c2\u00a0 What is worse, is acting like there is no devil by excusing evil, and ignoring it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In our society today, collective consciences have been dulled, dulled by the acceptance of everybody as they are, and the idea that everyone has the freedom to choose, and that you can’t, and shouldn’t, legislate morality.\u00c2\u00a0 The argument against legislating morality is this:\u00c2\u00a0 “Let them do their thing;\u00c2\u00a0 They will have to suffer the consequences of their own actions; I shouldn’t judge others; and I don’t need to get involved.”\u00c2\u00a0 So, we collectively seem to look the other way when a line needs to be drawn, a line that defines when something becomes evil and adverse to society as a whole.\u00c2\u00a0 And even when our consciences tell us there is evil, we are all so busy with the activities and people in our own lives, we find it hard to marshal our resources and fight evil collectively and effectively.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last weekend was a notable exception.\u00c2\u00a0 The parish collected nearly 3000 postcard sets to send our Congress in a collective fight against the Freedom of Choice Act.\u00c2\u00a0 We can all be proud of that- Congratulations.\u00c2\u00a0 But the war against evil doesn’t end with one battle.\u00c2\u00a0 It goes on and on.\u00c2\u00a0 God knows that; and so, he sends us Prophets.\u00c2\u00a0 As we recall Moses words today, recognize that they are meant just as much for you and I as they were meant for the Israeli people.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Old Testament is the recorded history of a repeated cycle of events.\u00c2\u00a0 The people came to the Lord in times of Crisis and a perceived evil, and God provided for thewm, and so, the Israelis prevailed.\u00c2\u00a0 Then they experienced prosperity.\u00c2\u00a0 That was followed by the people abandoning God’s will for them, because they were self absorbed by their prosperity and didn’t think they needed God or his will.\u00c2\u00a0 So along came the words of warning by a new set of prophets.\u00c2\u00a0 The Israeli people then lost prosperity as evil crept back.\u00c2\u00a0 They finally listened to the prophets, but only after experiencing ruin.\u00c2\u00a0 And then the cycle repeated itself.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are no different.\u00c2\u00a0 After decades of prosperity since the great Depression, we are being told that a hard time is coming.\u00c2\u00a0 And so, we need to listen to the modern day prophets.\u00c2\u00a0 Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking about the prophets of financial gloom and doom, although there is certainly some truth in what they say.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, I’m talking about the prophets of the Lord.\u00c2\u00a0 The Church has many such prophets- our Pope and Bishops.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, the root of our problem comes in moral decay, and we need to listen to the prophets that address it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The evidence of moral decay is overwhelming- rampant lust driven by Pornography; gay marriage driven by a lack of understanding of God’s natural law; and we all know that our financial crisis was fueled by greed.\u00c2\u00a0 And that greed fed all kinds of selfish behavior- lying, embezzlement, opulent living, etc..\u00c2\u00a0 Where did all of this selfish behavior come from?\u00c2\u00a0 The prophets of the Lord are speaking loud and clear, but are we listening.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consider this:\u00c2\u00a0 If we are a God fearing nation, then the Right to Life argument makes sense.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t believe in God, why would you care if a person in the womb was another human being?\u00c2\u00a0 The thing that matters is your convenience- that is the ultimate good, not God’s will.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why it’s called pro-Choice, because choice for the individual is what matters, not God’s will.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now you might think that this kind of thinking on abortion doesn’t have far reaching implications. But it does. \u00c2\u00a0It leads to assisted suicide, because that’s what some think is best for them; and it leads to Euthanasia, because that’s what some think is best for their suffering or for very old person’s family or finances. \u00c2\u00a0Historians tell us that the same process occurred in Germany as Hitler rose to power.\u00c2\u00a0 First came the abortions, then Euthanasia, and then this kind of thinking led to the horrific holocaust, because the people in power decided that they, not God, knew how the ultimate strong society could be evolved.\u00c2\u00a0 It also led to separation of children from their parents, because the state knew better how and what children needed to be taught.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can it happen here?\u00c2\u00a0 Oregon and Washington already have laws that foster “choice” for assisted Suicide, and California has adopted a first step toward Euthanasia.\u00c2\u00a0 Our country cannot say prayers in the schools; our president and the majority of Congress favor Pro-Choice, and the public school system suppresses anything that doesn’t recognize secular teaching on evolution.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, it can happen here.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, the voices of those who are pro-choice, evolutionists, and atheists sound very much like the possessed person in today’s Gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 They sound like this:\u00c2\u00a0 “What have you to do with us, you Christians, you are trying to destroy us”?\u00c2\u00a0 And then comes the follow up argument:\u00c2\u00a0 “Leave us alone”.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, the time has come for all of you to be concerned.\u00c2\u00a0 You need to help cast these demons out of those who deny God, His law, and His will.\u00c2\u00a0 And your efforts must be as relentless as theirs.\u00c2\u00a0 Make no mistake about it.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a devil, and there is evil, absolute evil, not “it depends” and “it’s relative”.\u00c2\u00a0 The evil needs to be met with authoritative teaching like what our Church is telling us.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the great things about this country is that we still have the power to make things happen with our collective voice.\u00c2\u00a0 The country wanted economic change.\u00c2\u00a0 We are going to get it, for better or worse.\u00c2\u00a0 But I sincerely believe the country did not vote for a pro-choice change, euthanasia, and a movement away from “One nation under God” to accommodate a minority.\u00c2\u00a0 You all have the power to make a moral change.\u00c2\u00a0 But that power comes by relentless action to live the will of God and profess it with your votes.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let it never happen, that some day you ever say\u00c2\u00a0 “The devil made me do it.”\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0 February 1, 2009 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 18: 15-20: 1 Cor 7: 32-35 ;Mk 7:21-28 Dc. Larry Brockman “The devil made me do it”- a line from Flip Wilson’s old Reverend Leroy character.\u00c2\u00a0 We used to laugh, because of the hypocrisy- excusing one’s personal actions by placing the blame on the devil.\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47"}],"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=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}