In reading the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter Dies Domini I began to reflect
on Sundays for Sunday, and as is my habit, is the day I love. I like to spend time in prayer (after
starting the day with Mass and having a breakfast that my whole family sits
down to eat).
During the time of my prayers, as I am wont to do on occasion, I fell
asleep, assured that the angels finished the prayers I was saying from my
poor heart.
Upon awakening, I realized that the Symphony of Suffering, which I have
been writing on for some time now, is a Symphony whose notes will never
end. Oh yes, the suffering will end when we are in eternity and part of
the Heavenly Chorus, but the joyous notes will go on for all eternity.
I would like to share with you what God has placed upon my heart in this
last week. I have come to the understanding in both mind and heart that
the world has so changed its face (that is, the society in which we live),
that it is not only unrecognizable to me, but one that is sad, for it lacks
a heart.
Yes, the heart has died out of society, because satan started many decades
ago to take the heart out of "family", and from there one moral after
another fell by the wayside, only to be followed by virtues and all lack of
goodness as Jesus taught in the Gospel.
Where, today, do you find "family" values that are even remotely close to
those lived by the Holy Family? Where, today, do you find respect? I am
talking about respect in the family, from wife to husband, and vice versa,
and very importantly, from children to their parents. I am talking about
respect for life, respect for authority in general.
Do you, as I find, discover that even going shopping is a real trial in
humility and long-suffering? Do you feel, as I do, that when you need
assistance from a clerk in a store, that the person you finally find, after
searching through the store, comes to your assistance as if you were a
nuisance? Do you not find, then that the person, who's supposed to "help"
you, has no knowledge of what it is you need to purchase, and would just as
soon you left, rather than make a sale? Personally, I detest having to
shop for anything. There are too many choices and every item, from food,
to clothing, to hardware, to anything else is over-priced, ridiculous, and
unnecessary to the soul's nurturing.
I am pondering now on school, for in a few short weeks that "educational"
system will rear its ugly head again and the wheels of the School Boards
will start turning, and my two sons, both in high school now, will be faced
with yet another year of God only knows what learning they'll be given, not
to mention the (dare I use the word) role models the teachers give to them,
plus the on-going peer pressure of other students who are the epitome of
what is base and uncultured and who profess, eagerly, that they are going
nowhere fast, have no goals in life, and prefer not to have any...except
pipe dreams of multi-million contracts that have become the face of society
who worships movie stars, sports figures, and that ilk.
What a world! What a sad symphony! What are we supposed to do?
Well, after my prayers on Sunday morning, I realized that, first and always, we
must remain steadfast to God, to our Faith, and go as frequently as we can
to Holy Mass and to the Sacraments. We need to read Scripture, and the
good Spiritual books that are out there, and we need to pray - from our
hearts. We need to do each and every one of these things, for that is the
way we remain constant in being a part of the Symphony of Suffering. Sure,
there are tears. The sorrows are many. But, when we unite them with the
Passion of Jesus Christ, then those tears, those sorrows, the anguish and
anxiety we feel all become blended into a Symphony whose notes reach the
throne of Almighty God, and cause Our Heavenly Father to act.
Isn't that what Our Lady has been saying for all these years at Medjugorje
and throughout the world to many visionaries and locutionists? Isn't that
what Our Blessed Mother said at Fatima, Lourdes, LaSalette, and back before
those times?
Have we listened? Have we persevered? Are we persevering?
Take a good look at the world in which you live and see what it is that
your children or grand children are learning, what it is they see and hear
every day? Is God in this world, or is He some minor player Whose Holy
Name is only spoken on Sunday, and then for forty-five minutes to one hour
as Mass is heard and everyone rushes out - because life is just so busy.
God is not busy. God is not a busy-body. God Is, and because He Is, we
are, and we belong to Him. In belonging to Him, we make beautiful music
unto the throne of God, even in the midst of suffering. We are supposed to
cry out to Him and to tell Him that things aren't going well here on earth.
Sure, God already knows that, but He does like to hear it from us.
Telling Him helps us to weather the storms, to keep our perspective, and to
fight back against satan's encroaching foothold in the world through our
prayers, our faith, our trust and hope and love.
So, for the coming week, let us together make a united effort to say one
extra prayer, be it an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, the Chaplet of
Divine Mercy, the Rosary, or whatever favorite prayer you might have. Let
us offer that one extra prayer so that God will know that we are well aware
how the world is playing a very sad, discordant tune, and each day that
tune becomes more discordant. Let Him know that we turn to Him in full
faith, hope, and trust, and that with expectant faith we look to Him for
the solution. We look to Him and ask, with trust and hope, that His
Mother's Immaculate Heart will triumph very soon. When Our Lady's Heart
Triumphs, as God has promised, then the Symphony of Suffering will take on
a new melody, and that melody will be so much closer to the pure heavenly
notes of the Chorus of Angels and Saints in Heaven, and won't that be much
better than what we presently have?
Oh, that it may be tomorrow! Let us pray. Let our hearts be raised to
God, and let the Symphony of Suffering cause God to bring Mercy upon His
people, for surely we are in great need!