Hope and Change or Expedited Terror?

by Lawrence Fox

When viewing the 1973 thriller Soylent Green (in which the sick and elderly are killed and turned into food), I asked myself, "What steps would a country have to take in order for a country to slip into mandatory euthanasia for the sick and elderly?"

Answer: Redefinition of the human person (defined as less than a whale), utilitarian definition of quality-of-life versus a God-centered definition, the legalization of abortion and infanticide, increased government control of medicine, legalization of assisted suicide, redefinition of the family, advocacy of population control, indoctrination that human's are the cause of climate change, governments increasing national and global debt, media demonization of people who resist these trends, and a lack of vigilance on the part of the free and the religious. There are others but for certain we have been seeing these incremental "hope and changes" locally and globally for sometime.

EYE HAS NOT SEEN, EAR HAS NOT HEARD . . .

The Work of Divine Mercy 

by Susan Fox

March 3, 2010 --- Today I emptied the dishwasher and loaded it.

I doubt my accomplishment impresses you. But two weeks ago, I was looking down a barrel of a gun, facing open heart surgery or certain death.

Such an experience is certainly frightening, but very beneficial. I had to face the fact that the timing of my potential death was disconcerting because I was not good enough to go -- yet. I guess I thought I had some benchmark to reach and I’d failed to get there. I was conscious of all my sins of omission.

What one has failed to do -- I discovered -- is very important when facing a deadline like death.

It was a very sudden and unexpected deadline as I’ve struggled with illness for 15 years, but I thought it was my mundane stomach that troubled me, and I never realized that it was really a silent killer -- my heart.

Thankfully, I poured out my fears to the Lord and He reassured me. Though my sins were indeed scarlet, He Himself would make up

what I lacked. I could trust Him. So I went into surgery in that frame of mind after receiving the Catholic sacraments of Eucharist, Confession and Sacrament of the Sick. 

And here I am recovering my health, with the sole desire to just live and experience life in whatever form it takes – spending time with my family and friends, doing dishes, daily walks, eating and resting. 

But don’t imagine that grace of trust came out of the blue without years of preparation.

Eight years ago, I joined a group called the Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy. We study the Diary of St. Faustina, the Catholic Catechism and the Scripture. St. Faustina was the first saint canonized in this millennium, and Our Lord called her the Secretary of His Mercy. Our Lord said that His Mercy was His greatest attribute. He said the greater the sinner the more he had the right to God’s Mercy. Now I can attest to that. But until two weeks ago it was just intellectual knowledge.

I remember when I first joined the group, I was not much attracted to the concept of God’s Mercy, St. Faustina, her diary or the picture that was painted based on her visions. It shows the resurrected Christ coming out of the dark with two rays of light coming from his side, one red and one white for the waters of Baptism and the Sacraments of Eucharist and Penance.

The Church is a bride conceived on the cross from the blood and water that poured from the side of Christ. “But one of the soldiers pierced

His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” (John 19.34) And such a bride has to resemble her husband in suffering. That’s why children are baptized to be priest, prophet and king. Priest means victim. Christ is the Suffering Servant and so is His Bride, the Church. The triumph of each Christian life is the cross.

Now while I am part of that Church, and that does make me a bride of Christ, that part about suffering and dying, I just wanted to leave that job entirely to Jesus Christ. I wanted to be comfortable. But two weeks ago, that state definitely eluded me. The cross has a way of sneaking up on you.

And so it was with Divine Mercy. Eight years ago I was not attracted to it. But I joined the Eucharistic Apostles anyway because when I looked at my daily experiences and asked God, “What are you teaching me?” the word mercy came up repeatedly.

In fact, it seemed like His plan of Mercy would play a big role in my life – whether I liked it or not.

So for eight years I went to a weekly meeting to discuss God’s mercy. I read St. Faustina’s Diary multiple times, all the Scripture passages about God’s Mercy and the Pope’s encyclical on Divine Mercy. Like Jacob wrestling with God all night, I struggled with His Mercy up until two weeks ago.

Suddenly, facing death I understood His Mercy. Yes, I wasn’t ready. In fact, NOTHING I could ever do could prepare me for death or suffering. But He would take care of everything.

I stood at the foot of the cross as the soldier pieced his side and blood and water came out. And I caught the grace of that blessed moment. “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

The Lamb for the Sacrifice

By Susan Fox

What Child is this who, laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping? (William Chatterton Dix, 1865)

Dec. 24, 2009, Gold Canyon, Arizona -- At Christmas time, I recall fondly Abraham’s prophesy. “God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.” (Gen. 22:8)

In obedience to God, dear Father Abraham with much grief took his son, Isaac, to a height in Moriah to sacrifice him. Isaac, who was conceived in Abraham’s old age, was his only son by his wife Sarah – also well past her child bearing years. God had promised them that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars.

But God tested Abraham, telling him to take his only son Isaac, whom he loved, and offer him up as a holocaust. (Gen. 22:2) This seemed to be the end of all Abraham’s hopes and dreams.But he obeyed. He put the wood for the fire on his son’s back and proceeded to Moriah.

On the way, Isaac suddenly realized they had wood and fire, but no animal for the holocaust, so he asked his father, “Where is the sacrifice?”

“God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice,” Abraham responded.

God did stop Abraham from offering Isaac. And He substituted His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ -- Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

We celebrate the birth of the Father’s Beloved Son in Bethlehem on Dec. 25.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son.”(John 3:16)

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)

“My daddy gave me a name, then he walked away.” (“Father of Mine” by Everclear)

The sad lyrics of “Father of Mine” show us how our current generation views fathers. Many broken families and a high divorce rate have made people afraid of the commitment of marriage. Thus children are born out of wedlock. And more unhappy people are raised in single parent homes.

There are those who believe that God created the world and then abandoned it -- sort of like a Powerful Watchmaker, who wound up the clock and then left it alone on the mantle.

But the Incarnation speaks of a very different kind of Father. He is not an impersonal, “leave-Me-alone” Father, but a Father very passionately involved in the lives of His children -- so involved He sent His Son to become man, live with us, and then die for us on the cross that we may be freed from the slavery sin, that we might be happy. Jesus gave us the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount to show us how to live happily (Matthew, chapter 5). Blessed means happy. Blessed/happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for goodness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, and yes, the persecuted.

Who was present at the Birth of the God-man Jesus is also very telling.

God was so excited about what He’d done, He sent a host of angels to announce the birth of His Son to a group of lowly shepherds. The angels brought “good news.” “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. . . . Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:10-14)

The shepherds got excited also, and decided to go see this wondrous thing that took place in Bethlehem, and when they saw Mary, Joseph and the child, they became the first evangelists. They revealed the message they had received about the child. All who heard were awed.

From this story, some may conclude God only cares about the poor.

But the rich also came and worshiped the little God man child.

Three kings from out of the East came to worship Jesus. How did they know that a great ruler had been born among them? They were awake. They were looking for the signs. And they saw His star at its rising. “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?” they asked.

So we may also ask the same question this Christmas, and find ourselves standing at the feet of Mary and Joseph, marveling with the shepherds and asking, “What Child is This?”

But just as today, millions of unborn children and many elderly are crushed beneath the “pro-choice” philosophy of convenience and I-have-the-power-so-I-can-kill-who-I-want, so also the Birth of the Savior of the world unleashed a terrible persecution. King Herod knew he was not the rightful heir to the throne of David, and he feared that the child born in Bethlehem was this king. So when the Magi failed to return and tell him where to find Jesus, he ordered the death of all boys in Bethlehem age two and under. Jesus escaped into Egypt when his faithful father Joseph received a warning in a dream. But all the other baby boys in Bethlehem – the Holy Innocents -- were slaughtered: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children and she would not be consoled since they were no more.” (Matt. 2:18)

So many women, who have been deceived by the mores of our culture and made to have an abortion, bitterly weep for their children once they realize what they have done.

So we stand on the eve of Christmas about to make a terrible mistake in passing a health care reform bill that will again unleash a murderous attack on our children and our elderly. The Democrats who stood against this bill and proclaimed their firm resolve to stand for human life are apparently abandoning our children and elderly for the price of some trifling benefits for their states.

But we know that such people -- like King Herod -- have lived side by side with the faithful many times before throughout history. And yet in the midst of persecution and terror, the shepherds and the kings managed to find their happiness in the tiny arms of the Infant Jesus Christ.

And perhaps there, some of us may be called to help supply the lamb for the sacrifice.