Last night as I was in Adoration, in front of our Lord in the tabernacle, I was praying the Divine Office. As I got to the antiphon: “When the Son of Man comes to earth, do you think he will find faith in men’s hearts?” and answered with a knee jerk response of no, and felt a feeling of darkness come over me for the state of the world and myself. It was as if our Lord was telling me “wrong answer.” And when I thought of it deeper and pondered it, The answer no to this question came with “pride” and is not through humility. As I started to continue, I heard in my heart “The gates of hell shall not prevail” and I stopped in my tracks and said “Wait one minute!”.
Yes! I exclaimed. YES! When the Son of Man comes to earth, he will find faith in men’s hearts! Because He said so! His entire “Mission” was to instill that faith in men’s hearts. To not lose hope, to not lose the true love for others and to be charitable and with His grace, “All things are possible with God”. He surely did not die and raise from the dead for this beautiful faith to die as He did. NO! Thus the reason He died for her, the Church, so she could live on to teach with Him, with the Holy Spirit all that He had done in love and continues to do.
How miserable of a world would it be, not to find faith in the hearts of one single soul. How unbearable life would be to not find one ounce of compassion or true charity and love. As I look around today at the state of the world, and since my conversion, as bad as it had gotten in regards to what I have seen in myself and others, our Lord was there and still is, the entire time with His consolation to pull me through. To see love as it is. To see compassion. To see faith and to hold on to hope, knowing His word is true: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”. For as long as there is our Lord, there is the Church He gave to us.
This is the job for the laity He has for us. To continue, strong in the faith. To teach our children to be strong in the faith so their children and their children for generation after generation can continue to have Him in their hearts. We must be strong against the temptations in this world. We can only place our faith and trust in our Lord to see to all our needs. When we do, everything, all “things” that can never bring true happiness are replaced with joy. We must fight the evil in this world with love and true faith in Him. Without fear of what may happen to us. It’s not a battle in the physical sense, but the spiritual truth in which all must adhere to our Lord and not the things the world is tempting us with.
If we learn that nothing is ours but the faith, and we live by this truth, we learn to let go of all we grab on to in this world, allowing God to hold on to us as He seeks to do.
I thank my Grandparents generation for living the faith. The family motto was always “Scattered but never lost”. It held the “family” together through the most horrific times. They never relied on anything or anyone but our Lord. They celebrated the Saints days. They attended daily Mass. All the Sacraments were considered major celebrations. Their love for one another was through the love they had for our Lord. All through World War I, the great depression and then World War II. They faced the most uncertain times with the certainty of our Lord. My Great Uncle becoming a priest, ordained in 1930 Slovakia. Surviving the Nazis and then the Communist Occupation, NEVER placing his faith in the governments that came and went, but solidly in our Lord. Never seeing “freedom” again in his nation of Slovakia but knowing TRUE “Freedom” through our Lord. This faith, is still here today. This faith, is here in my heart. I am not alone. As we live through this Great Depression of Faith in society, we must come to understand that no matter what may come, the Faith our Lord has given to us shall always be. Never give up hope. NEVER lose your faith! It is truly, all you have. Nurture it and teach it to your children that it is all they have.
“When faced with this abyss of evil, I can only respond with an abyss of love.” Blessed John Paul II in Nazi Occupied Poland, announcing to his friend he has chosen the life of Priesthood