The Times We Are Living Through

First, I would like to say hello to the readers of this blog who are from countries outside of the United States! Truly, the subjects written of in this blog affect us all, wherever live.

Now, I don’t know if all pro-life directors have this same experience that I do, but when one looks, for several years, at the global picture—the moral, bio-ethical, legal global picture—one thing pops out in sharp relief: There is a massive war between good and evil taking place, the likes of which have not been seen before. Much of it is subtle and insidious, and can be very hard to perceive. It has to do not just with outrageous attacks on human life—abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, the murder of human beings in the embryonic stage of life for their stem cells, homosexual lifestyle—but also with the deliberate changing of the way people perceive what is good and what is evil. In a nutshell, in these days we are seeing good called evil, and evil called good—and this on a global level. It has gotten to such a point that there is even concern that the Holy See could be brought before the “World Court” to answer to various accusations, if I remember right, because the Holy Catholic Church tells the truth about condoms (that not only do they not prevent HIV, but they are immoral in any case) and some say that this is the cause of so many AIDs cases in Africa, which is of course total nonsense; and no doubt that the Church tells the truth about homosexual activity—it is completely immoral—could also make whoever it is that runs the “World Court” upset as well. What kind of times are we living in?

Here is a bit of an answer:

In Lent of this year, 2006, at the Third Station, Pope Benedict XVI described large segments of our society as a "cult of Satan.":

"Lord, we have lost our sense of sin! Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality, and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication. Lord Jesus, open our eyes: let us see the filth around us and recognize it for what it is, so that a single tear of sorrow can restore us to purity of heart and the breadth of true freedom. Open our eyes, Lord, Jesus!"

At that Station Pope Benedict XVI also referred to attacks on traditional family life as "a kind of anti-Genesis, a counter-plan, a diabolical pride" which seeks to "modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God."

In one of the Pope John Paul II’s very last letters (a message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Missions), he said that, "in our day human society appears to be shrouded in dark shadows."

In 1977, on a visit to New York City as a Cardinal, the soon-to-be Pope John Paul II described the current time as the "apocalyptic" confrontation between good and evil.

This remark was astoundingly under-reported, as the concentration was on Pope John Paul II’s remark that in the future there would be a, "spring time" for the Church -- something he had also foreseen.

But it is clear, according to both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, that before such a spring time there would be a winter, a time of darkness.

Most of you have no doubt read and/or seen the Lord of the Rings. It is amazing how closely that story parallels our own times. The struggle we are engaged in is seen in that story. But I would like to end this current blog with the following text, from the soundtrack to the first movie, “The Fellowship of the Ring,” because I’ll bet a lot of us feel like this in these times—darkness all about, the light of truth seeming to be dimmed, evil seeming to have the upper hand, wondering if we can remain true to Christ and His Church in such times of evil. Remember that this world is a trial, a short time, to choose to love and trust and listen to Jesus, or not—God is always looking to our eternal good above all, and we get there by the Cross, like Jesus. Like St Thomas More told his children, “We do not get to Heaven on feather beds.” We are not meant to live here for all eternity. After this, if we fight well, even though we die, we know we will be spending eternity with God, the Saints, our friends and family in Heaven. Anyway, I hope these words bring you some comfort, as they do me. They describe having to live though dark times and suffering, but also of hope and that, in the end, goodness will triumph, however bad things look now…


“May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home…

“May it be shadows call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun”