Guest Comment: America's Got a Restless Heart

Many citizens in our country are in serious need of God's love. How could it be any clearer after the elections this year?

LOS ANGELES, Ca. (Catholic Online) - Many citizens in our country are in serious need of God's love. How could it be any clearer after the elections this year?

There is an anxiety in our country. People are so worried about their economic situation or that of others that they are willing to ignore the plight of the unborn, murdered at the tune of 1.2 million innocent human individuals a year in America. They were also willing to ignore the 41.6 million abortions that are committed every year world wide that we will now help to pay for and the millions of babies that will be created and destroyed with our tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research here in America.
In fact, the cold and harsh rallying cry of those citizens who are willing to compromise on this issue for economic programs is: You only care about saving the unborn, what about the born!

No one is arguing that the born can be killed if they make our life inconvenient. In contrast, our laws and future government programs actually contribute to the murder of the unborn. There is no comparison between the trials and tribulations of those lucky enough to have been born after 1973 or before and those who are butchered in the womb.
The moral confusion exhibited by our fellow Americans and especially our fellow Catholic Americans, is the product of anxious and restless hearts. They are so concerned about the material welfare of themselves and their born neighbors that they are willing to ignore the murder of innocent children.

What is the solution to this problem? How do we get our fellow citizens to see the beauty of God's creations and blessings all around them no matter how desperate their situation? How do we help people feel less desperate and to view every child, not just their own or the ones they want as a blessing from God, a blessing for America? In other words, how to we satisfy our fellow citizens desperate cry for hope? The answer is simple, evangelization.We know that God is the solution to a restless and anxious heart. As St. Augustine shared with us in his Confessions: "Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."

In fact, our Lord himself gives us assurance regarding our anxiety:"No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." (Matthew 6:24-34.)

In other words, we cannot trade the ways of God, like protecting the lives He creates, in the hope of material well being. Indeed, our material well being will increase when we conform our society to the laws of nature and of nature's God. Our firm conviction as Catholics must be that true happiness is found in God.

We must share this conviction with our fellow citizens. Let us share with them the confidence and sureness that we have in God's love. Let us share with them Jesus Christ our Lord so that despite whatever cross they bare they know that God will give them the grace to endure. They need to know that they do not have to reject life in the hopes of having material comfort, but that they can accept the abundance of life which God showers on us every moment of every day, including the lives of the unborn.

Moreover, we should not rely on government programs as our only solution, especially when they ask us to make the Faustian bargain of accepting social programs at the cost of allowing abortion. We as Catholics know that we must not make any compromises when it comes to doing God's will. We have our own schools, our own hospitals and our own charities. We can initiate our own God centered social programs that are built on the rock of Christ.

To move hearts we can follow the example of the early Church in Alexandria, which was not part of the government but actually being persecuted by it, when a plague was destroying the population of that city as recited by Eusebius: "The most of our brethren were unsparing in their exceeding love and brotherly kindness. They held fast to each other and visited the sick fearlessly, and ministered to them continually, serving them in Christ. And they died with them most joyfully, taking the affliction of others, and drawing the sickness from their neighbors to themselves and willingly receiving their pains. And many who cared for the sick and gave strength to others died themselves having transferred to themselves their death. And the popular saying which always seems a mere expression of courtesy, they then made real in action, taking their departure as the others' 'offscouring.'"

With Christ nothing is impossible! Eventually, Christianity conquered the Roman Empire through this type of action, by refusing to engage in the smallest compromise like burning incense at pagan temples and most importantly through prayer. May we also not be afraid to set an example, may we always be able to give a reason for the hope within us, we must not become depressed or negative but always share the joy of being Christian. Many Americans are hurting and confused right now, rich and poor, let us share with them the light of the Logos and the love of the Lamb of God.

Let's start evangelizing!

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