Some of the chosen people were so spiritually blind that they made an alliance with the Gentiles to introduce to Israel a pagan way of living (1 Mc 1:11). They even volunteered to help brainwash and pervert themselves. This alliance with pagans eventually became more obviously questionable when the pagans "erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of holocausts" (1 Mc 1:54), burnt any scrolls of the law (1 Mc 1:56), and murdered those who remained faithful to the Jewish law (1 Mc 1:60-63).
Christians today are in a similar situation. The secular humanistic "culture of death" seems at first innocuous to many Christians. Christian churches and groups even volunteer to help brainwash their members. Sooner or later, however, the "culture of death" begins to live up to its name. Its supposed tolerance is unmasked, and a violently anti-Christian totalitarian dictatorship emerges.
Some of you reading this see what I mean; others don't. May each one of us pray as the blind man of Jericho did: "Lord, I want to see" (see Lk 18:41). Once we see, let us "fight hard for the faith" (Jude 3) and protect people from lies, sin, death, and destruction.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I see what's going on in our culture. |
| PROMISE: | "At that very moment he was given his sight and began to follow Him, giving God the glory. All the people witnessed it and they too gave praise to God." –Lk 18:43 |
| PRAISE: | Attending a friend's funeral brought Peter back to Church. He then experienced the Lord's merciful love and returned to the Faith. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College