[1]In general, people are born into certain groups based on their personal, social, and cultural surroundings. They also voluntarily join groups based on shared occupations, beliefs, or interests. Membership in these groups influences how people think of themselves and how others think of them. (Science for All Americans, pp. 91–93 [2]).
We do not choose our first fraternity – our family, especially our mother. Human children, unlike animals, are born with a clean slate. We have no personality, no moral compass. We are helpless without our mothers.
For the first three years of our lives it is our mother who imprints her then existing personality into our brain. When we hear our mothers voice and feel her touch specific hormones are activated, which develop the connections in our brain.
As we grow we are channeled into other spheres of influence and gradually we choose our own interests, such as which college to attend, or which branch of the armed forces to join, which job to take, etc… Once we are adults there are all kinds of choices and before we realize who we are, we define ourselves through all the associations that we have made.
These attributes have spawned an industry that tailors advertising specifically for each individual, like a new umbilical chord that channels everything that we want for our bodies and our minds. The bond is strengthened every day, without us even realizing what is happening.
There develops a conflict between the needs for our real selves and the wants supplied by our secular puppeteer that produces stress as we get suckered in and become indebted, fiscally and morally, unable to make our own rational decisions. Established secularization is thus achieved when we are totally dependent slaves of society having effectively given up all our freedoms.
Look around and observe the effects: Institutions that promote freedom of thought are ridiculed and boycotted, while those that seek to control our minds are promoted so that we become dependent upon them. The irony is that the best educated of us promote the institutions of control. In believing they have the answers for the benefit of all they become dictators of the willing and the indoctrinated.
If we were to stop and consider this reality for a moment, we probably would not like what we see, or who we have turned into and what master we serve. Indoctrination is not easily overcome. It takes a lot of effort to create a habit and just as much to lose it.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
Surveys indicate that between 87 and 92 percent of Americans believe in God. But judging from societal thoughts and actions he must be a God that respects what each individual believes, allowing us to determine truth to our own likes and dislikes.
This God allows our hypocrisies, excuses and vices. He allows us to put ourselves first, rather than our neighbors and does not mind if we keep him in a box, only to be opened in case of an emergency. He even allows us to pretend to believe that we are in charge.
It is a delusion to believe that this constructed God is the same as our Creator God, Jesus Christ.
For what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke: 16:15)
About thirty percent of Catholics may be termed practicing, that is, they baptize their children, attend Mass at least once per month, receive communion, and occasionally receive the sacrament of reconciliation.
Yet only a small proportion of those Catholics understand that we belong to God through Creation, Redemption and salvation and endeavor to live according to the principles of our faith, to become Children of God, for the Glory of God.
Most behave as though they will eventually receive the cure and reconcile with God.
Matthew 25:1-13
This is the story of the wise and foolish virgins that were to accompany the bridegroom to the wedding. It is the story of us and Jesus the redeemer. The foolish virgins did not bring along sufficient oil for their lamps and were locked out of the wedding.
It is a severe warning for those of us who believe we can leave our conversion to the last minute. There is no last minute, for we do not know the time nor place. Like the Prodigal Son, we must make a conscious decision to return to the Father, to ask repentance, to begin our transformation from the ways of the world and become His friend.
Luke 16:1-8
This is one of the most perplexing stories of the New Testament. The manager is about to lose his job, but quickly signs agreements with his owners debtors to reduce their debts. His intention is to create friends, though at the expense of his boss. It is a drastic step, but the only one that benefits hm in his current circumstance. Instead of being sued by the owner he is commended for his ingenuity.
No matter our past indiscretions, God looks upon us with mercy – if we take steps to change.
How do we break free from secular bondage and become a Child of Christ? The most modern and thorough examination of this process was produced by St. Josemaria Escriva, who defined our daily lives as a path to sanctity. His book The Way [3] may be read on the internet (escrivaworks.org [4]). The Way may be viewed by relevant points or by each chapter.
There is another way. God is less than a heartbeat away, constantly anxious to make new friends, and is best approached through the silence of our hearts. His voice is a whisper found in a quiet and calm environment like the predawn hours of the morning, or in your local Adoration Chapel, where he is present in the Holy Eucharist.
God is love so we have to speak to him in the language of love, which is Truth. He reveals himself through his Holy Spirit and inspired scripture.
Falling in Love with God is not dissimilar to falling in love with anyone, except for one major difference. He knows every one of our thoughts, so there is no need to try and disguise ourselves, no need to pretend. He created each one of us as his masterpiece and is simply waiting for us to listen to his instruction so we may fulfill his role.
God is the most loyal of all loves. We can trust him implicitly, with our whole heart and our whole being. This trust is returned as a gift of Peace, so thorough that there is no need to fear — anything.
God’s directives are clear and do not exceed our capabilities, for our capabilities are his capabilities, meted out in the measure that he desires. God’s directives make sense to you, but not necessarily to the world, but there is no disappointment when others fail to grasp the message.
There is no malice in the heart of a Child of God. There is a wisdom born though his will that is sufficient and trusting. The will of God is to Love your Neighbor, which means that you become selfless and the trappings of the world become meaningless as you exercise your new role.
Just as a child feels secure in it’s mothers arms and trusts the word of it’s father, so too is a child of God. Though the world in which we live is a place of suffering, the heart and mind of a child of God lives in his Father’s care and is safe, able to withstand the world.
The following was written about one hundred years before Christ in the book of wisdom: 2:23-24, 3:1-3, 9
God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made them.
But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.
We belong to God.