Memorial Day and The Spirit of Truth

When Jesus foretold His death and Resurrection, He also promised to send the Holy Spirit whom He referred to as “The Advocate” and “The Spirit of Truth.”  Sunday we celebrated the birthday of the Church, Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, infusing them with the gifts they would need to go out into the world and establish the Church.  If the Holy Spirit had not descended upon the first Apostles and their followers down through the ages, it is unlikely the nascent Church could have survived the onslaught of persecution they endured, nor the many flaws of Church leaders down through the centuries.

Christians are once again being persecuted worldwide.  Not only are people being robbed, tortured, raped, beheaded, crucified, and more in the Middle East and Africa.   Christians in America who refuse to change their religious belief in the dignity and human life and the sanctity of marriage, as taught by Jesus Himself, are being sued, fined, and threatened with imprisonment.   Authentic Christians, those who adhere to the Word of God as it appears in scripture and in the teachings of Jesus, are being singled out as “intolerant,”  “homophobic,” and opposed to women’s rights.  Now more than ever, we need the strength, wisdom and courage offered by the Holy Spirit.  When were baptized and confirmed, we received the Holy Spirit in a covenantal agreement in which we promised our lives to God, and He promised never ever to leave us.  Even though we fail God from time to time, He will never fail us or leave us, offering instead His mercy, forgiveness, and grace, regardless of how unworthy we are of Him.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2-3)  Without delving into the theology of these Gifts, suffice it say that when we receive these gifts, they help us in achieving virtue in many aspects of our life.  For millennia, all the great philosophers taught that the attainment of virtue is the path to happiness and fulfillment.  It is also a necessity for the flourishing of civilization.  Historically, we know that when societies declined in virtue, they began to unwind and lose their ability to sustain themselves.   Immorality in leadership and in the populace inevitably resulted in either tyranny or anarchy, until the national or ethnic identity of the society disappeared or was subsumed into a new, more viable form of governance and new identity.

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day to honor those who fought for our country.  The men and women who made tremendous sacrifices to defend our country, did so because they believed in the principles that define our nation.  They fought at great peril, not only to protect their families at home, but for the doctrines on which our society was established: freedom and democracy.  They were and still are proud of the cultural values that have made our nation great, powerful, and prosperous.   In effect, they fought to defend our boarders and our way of life, as they understood it. 

Sadly, our current President has been working hard to “fundamentally transform America.”  In doing so, his administration has been methodically attempting  to redefine our national culture and values.  Freedom to practice our faith and adhere to our religious beliefs is no longer guaranteed.  Just last week, the Justice Department prevailed in district court, insisting that the Catholic Diocese of Washington D.C. and its co-defendant, Priests for Life, (a pro-life organization) pay for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs.  DOJ is still pursuing the Little Sisters of the Poor and dozens of other overtly religious employers, over the same issue which will eventually go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Despite the fact that 28 States have passed laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman, DOJ continues to challenge the democratic process by which these laws were passed, and impose their will on State and local governments. 

This is more than just a war of ideologies.  What’s at stake here is the very Truth about life itself.  The liberal political view is now overtly anti-Christian, in that it attempts to redefine the Word of God with respect to the murder of unborn children, and the nature of marriage and family.  The scary part of this is that so many people buy into these new values, denying that the family is the basic unit of society.  How can a society remain vibrant if it is killing children and tearing down the very definition of family?   Yet Hillary Clinton’s stump speech demands that religious beliefs be amended to conform to her vision, her definition of the common good.  She wants to be “the champion of the people” and lead us all into her vision of the future where the individual and his/her desires take precedence over marriage and family commitments; where a woman’s right to choose trumps the life of a baby; where religious beliefs must conform to her word, not the Word of God.

This is not what my grandfather and father fought for in World Wars I and II.  These are not the national values I was willing to defend when I was commissioned into the Army, during the Viet Nam war.  My father, an ardent, conservative Catholic, would be incensed at these new cultural norms.  He would recognize that they undermine the common good and violate the principles upon which our nation was founded and has flourished for nearly 240 years.  He would be appalled at the untruths being preached to an increasingly secular society, who is lapping it up in hopes of greater autonomy, when in fact they are inviting societal disaster.  The contraceptive, abortion-mentality, combined with attacks on the family have already impacted birth rates significantly, and threaten to collapse our economy over the next generation.  The number of seniors keeps increasing even as the number of new children declines, virtually guaranteeing that our government cannot sustain Medicare and Social Security as-is.  Furthermore, we are creating a welfare state with open borders, so of course people from poverty-stricken countries will flock here to improve their circumstances, putting further burdens on our debt crisis.  

These are just a few of the Truths we must contend with.  We need the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit to overcome the lies and deceit being foisted on our society.  It’s not enough to be outraged at what is happening to our country.  We must act now with Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord, if we are to save our nation.  Above all, pray for a righteous leader to emerge, one who can get us back on the path to Truth, so that we can once again be a virtuous society, not one so self-absorbed as to fall victim to one lie after another; a society that values life and recognizes the paramount importance of traditional families as the crucible of civilization.