Monday, May 27, 2013

Trinity Sunday and the Rise of Atheism


In the past week, leading up to Trinity Sunday, the first readings have been from the Book of Sirach, describing the attributes of Wisdom. 
”Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her.
He who loves her loves life; those who seek her will be embraced by the Lord.
He who holds her fast inherits glory; wherever he dwells, the LORD bestows blessings.
Those who serve her serve the Holy One; those who love her the LORD loves.
He who obeys her judges nations;”                                                 Sirach 4:11-13
And on Saturday:
“God from the earth created man, and in his own image he made him.
He makes man return to earth again, and endows him with a strength of his own.
He created for them counsel, and a tongue and eyes and ears,
and an inventive heart, and filled them with the discipline of understanding.
He created in them knowledge of the spirit; With wisdom he fills their heart;
good and evil he shows them.”                                                        Sirach 17:1-4
In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come to us:
“Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”           John 16:12
To receive the Holy Spirit is to be guided in the Truth God has revealed to us.  This is the Truth about the very nature of our existence, the meaning of our lives, and our destiny as children of God.  How sad it is, that so many have turned away from this patrimony of truth and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We live in a world where 20% of the people in our country now claim to have no religious beliefs.  Just 50 years ago, only 2% called themselves atheists.  Among those who never attend church, 70% identify themselves as liberal Democrats.  At the Democratic convention last year, delegates passed a resolution to remove all references to God from their platform, only to have it restored by partly leaders during a ridiculous oral vote that was hotly contested by the delegates.  The Democratic Party has become hostile to religion, and consider Christians as troublesome reactionaries, opposed to science, progress, gay rights and sexual freedom.  The Obama administration has defunded faith-based initiatives, canceled federal contracts with Catholic social service agencies, litigated against religious freedom all the way to the Supreme Court (the Hosanna Tabor case which they lost 9-0), and is currently attempting to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. 
Atheists now control most of the elite universities, where they advocate for the secular culture, the marginalization of Christianity, and the separation of religious beliefs from political discourse.  All this is done without the benefit of God’s Wisdom, which they reject as foolishness.  The battle over religious freedom is just beginning.  It will be fought in the courts, in the classroom, in Hollywood, and in the media.  Christianity will be handicapped by the fact that there as so few outlets for informing the public what is happening, e.g., the recent lack of news about the IRS scandal and other overt violations of the law and the constitution.  Has anybody heard that two federal courts (including an Appeals Court) have recently found that the President violated the constitution when he declared Congress in recess so he could appoint the head of the NLRB without congressional hearings?  
Christianity, and especially Catholicism, is under attack in the classroom, in the courts, in Congress, and in the Departments of Health, Education Welfare, and the Justice Department, by reigning Democrats, by liberal judges, educators, TV and movie producers, and the media.  Gay marriage, when it becomes the law of the land will become the basis for declaring Catholics to be not only intolerant, but in violation of law.  It is already the reason so many Catholic adoption agencies have been shut down.
Christianity is being persecuted on a worldwide basis, and very little is reported about the atrocities against Christians. Although it is bound to get worse, Christianity still has an overwhelming advantage: The Trinity.

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