Wars and Rumors of Wars

First reading	Romans 10:9-18

Faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ

If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those who believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

  But they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ. Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.

Today is the memorial for St. Andrew the Apostle.  Our reading states clearly that in order for the world to hear about Jesus, they need to have someone to preach to them.  That is where the Church is running into problems at this time. 

The average age of a priest in the Chicago area is about 62 years. So our priests are getting older and there are fewer of them every year as retirement and death claim them. The Church as we know it is in crisis mode here in the United States.  The devil has managed to employ fifth columnists over the years who have manipulated the wolves in sheep's clothing so as to disseminate them theatre wide so that the maximum number of casualties are created.  His followers have gravitated to positions of power in the Curia where any means were being used to protect members of the clique.  The homosexual agenda was slowly and cunningly brought out in the guise of "inclusiveness" and marriage and the family came under attack from the people who should have been the first to shout loud and long to protect it.  Add to this mix a Pope who, while a humble man, is not much of a leader and you have the Catholic Church today, a Church operating in a crisis mode where the words and works of the good are overshadowed by the deeds of evil that were perpetrated over the years by wolves.  What are we to do?  Do we abandon the Church and join one of the thirty-thousand denominations, each with only a part of the truth and none with the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ which is the Eucharist?  Do we give up completely and try to live a spiritual life without the aid of a Christian community, sinking into the "it's just you and me Lord." type of a spirituality? 

Things are looking grim.  Because of the hierarchy's inability to look honestly at what has happened to the Church, the state is going in and taking the very documents that some in the management tiers of the Church tried so very hard to keep secret.  What are we to do? 

DO NOT LOSE HOPE!  What is happening is happening under the control of Jesus, the founder, and owner of the Church.  He will stop at nothing to cleanse the flock of the wolves wearing sheep's clothing. He can use weakness to create strength.  What are we in the pews going to have to do?  We must become more vocal sheep.  We must demand that our bishops turn over all documentation that would help clarify the situation no matter who it points to.  The Church will be purified and the Church will come out of this mess both poorer in money but richer in spirituality.  

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!  Pray for Holy Father and the Curia that they do what is good for the Church and for the People of God, that is us, the pew dwellers who want nothing more than to have Godly men with no hidden agendas to be in charge of the Church. 

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.  Very often people interpret this bit of scripture as referring to nations.  Nation will rise against nation, that is true.  But the wars and rumors of wars we must be aware of is the struggle between the Bride of Christ and the devil, it is a battle for souls.  While the victory of Christ is certain, we must remember our beliefs, we must live them out in spirit and truth and we must help one another and face the front lines where Jesus, our Lord and Savior, stands as a bulwark against the forces that seek our end.  Move forward brothers and sisters and close ranks behind the King of Glory.  All praise and honor to Jesus!  Amen.