Today’s gospel starts with Jesus saying, “Do not let your
hearts be troubled.” This proclamation is
especially relevant in the 21st century. We live in a troubled world. Anxiety and depression are rampant in
American society. According to the CDC,
11% of all Americans older than age 12 take antidepressant medication. Among women age 40-59 the rate is 24%, and of
all the people taking antidepressants, 14% have been doing so continuously for
10 or more years.
Considering that we live in the most prosperous, freest
nation in the world, what might account for this? Despite our failure to reduce
poverty in America over the past 50 years, we still enjoy greater wealth than
any nation on earth. Even the poorest
among us have better living conditions than most of the rest of the world. Things we take for granted like clean water,
electricity, sanitation, education, and medical care, are luxuries limited to
only the most wealthy in other nations.
The freedoms we enjoy such as free speech, religious freedom, the right
to work, and to own property, do not exist in half the nations on earth. Our standard of living has never been
higher. Cell phones are ubiquitous, as
are TVs, computers, and tablets, even among our poor. You may think these are expensive luxuries,
but 30 years ago one megabyte of computer memory cost $5000. Now you can buy a terabyte drive for about 60
bucks. Ten years ago a 40 inch flat screen TV cost $3500, now you can pick one
up for less than $600.
Despite all these advantages, we still find plenty of things
to complain about such as internet access on airplanes, the dearth of good TV shows,
or the lack of availability of our favorite foods in supermarkets. What seems to be lacking is gratitude for all
we have. Instead of acknowledging and
appreciating all that we have, we have become a nation of whiners, grumbling
about everything from the weather to politics.
With all we have going for us, why is this the case? The news media may be partly to blame. Almost everything reported on the news is
some sort of disaster of either natural or man-made cause. But the bigger issue, I believe, is our lack
of gratitude. The Roman philosopher Cicero
once said that “Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, it is the
parent of all others.” As a nation, we
seem to have forgotten our spiritual heritage and begun to focus primarily on
ourselves and our personal comforts and freedoms. In doing so, we have lost sight of the many
blessings we enjoy.
Last week one of our grandsons made his First Holy
Communion. Here is the letter I wrote to
him about the importance of what he was experiencing:
Dear Aiden,
Your First Communion is a really
important event in your life. It means
you are old enough to understand some very important things about life, and you
are ready to receive Jesus into your body and soul.
One of the most important things to
know is that when God created you, He made you more than just a body and
mind. He gave you a spirit that will
live forever. This spirit of yours is
very special, and it is the reason why you can love, and laugh, and cry. It is also what makes you the person you
are. Your spirit contains the divine
spark of God’s love. This love of God
can make you brave, and wise as well as loving and forgiving, if you let it.
When you receive the Body and Blood
of Jesus, you are allowing Jesus to enter into your body and your spirit and
give you the strength to become a better person. The Holy Spirit of God strengthens you and
gives you courage. He also helps you
become more understanding, more wise, and most importantly, more loving.
Nana and I will always pray for you
(even long after we’ve passed away from this world). Our prayer is that you will allow Jesus to
help you grow strong, and wise, and loving, just like Jesus Himself.
Our culture is becoming more secular, with a greater focus
on personal fulfillment and comfort, and simultaneously losing sight of our
spiritual nature. Two things happen when
this occurs: First, we focus primarily
on ourselves, and as a result, every inconvenience and disappointment becomes a
cause for frustration and anxiety.
Second, we lose our sense of wonder and awe for the many gifts that
surround us. Without this spiritual
worldview, we are left with only the mundane, which will never fully satisfy
us. Furthermore, as morality corrodes,
we are left with the consequences of sin which include broken relationships,
low self-esteem, lack of trust, and not surprisingly, more angst. The
rise in divorce rates corresponds to higher rates of depression and suicide,
not only among divorcees, but their children as well. The change in sexual mores has been accompanied
by a pandemic of sexually transmitted disease, and of course, 50 million
abortions over the past 40 years. Is it any wonder clinical depression has
increased 400% in the last 10 years, and tenfold in the last 40 years?
In my opinion, the antidote for all this is to cultivate our
spiritual lives. In doing so, we will
focus less on ourselves, and more on the many gifts our God has bestowed in
us. As I wrote to my grandson, we are
spiritual creatures. When we neglect our
spiritual nature, the consequence is anxiety.
Of course even the most devout Christians suffer depression, but
cultivating an attitude of gratitude is bound to help fend off the apprehension
and fears that lead to depression.
Perhaps this is why Jesus so frequently encouraged his disciples to “Be
not afraid.” After all, no matter what
happens in this world, we know we will be with Him in the next. That’s certainly something to be grateful
for, and helps us cope with the disappointments we experience until then.
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