Unearned Luck

     Neither Sparta nor Athens were destroyed by external enemies. Through seemingly divergent means, both poleis protected and advanced the same end: the liberty of the individual citizen. Eventually, however, private individuals, greedy for their own license and with contempt for the rights of the citizenry, since citizens were simultaneously means to their accumulation of wealth and power and obstructions to their drive, turned the governments of Athens and Sparta away from working for the good of their respective citizenry towards the oppressing of the majority for their individual gain. Once firmly under the sway of these greedy few neither state could muster enough resources to arrest, then reverse, the festering corruption within their politics, schools, militaries, cultures, and religions. The greedy few were always present to block reforms. In Sparta, for example, "by the mid-5th century, land had become concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite, and the notion t...

Photo by Gavin Spear on Unsplash And the L ORD 's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander  in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation  that had done evil in the sight of the L ORD was consumed. -Numbers 32:13 Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. Who were they that heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses? And with whom was he provoked forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they should never enter his rest, but those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. -Hebrews 3:12, 16-19 The generation, "that had done evil in the sight of the L ORD ," had been the oldest generation and the one who had spent the most time in Egypt. Throughout Exodus and Numbers, the ...

Photo by Zhipeng Ya on Unsplash Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the Lord and keep at your toil; for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to enrich a poor man quickly and suddenly. Sirach 11:21 While I have worked very hard to achieve success at various times in my life, I have never worked for success in my spiritual life. It's been my idea, that if I pray for it, then God should grant it. This has seemed only natural. If I want to be healthy and stay in shape, then I have to eat right and exercise. Obviously, God is not going to just make that happen for me. Since I can't see the spiritual side of my life, though I haven't done much more than pray to God to make good things happen. This strategy has proved very frustrating. God has not miraculously removed my habitual sins nor has he miraculously caused me to trust entirely in His Divine Providence. He has been surprisingly obtuse. Or so it has seemed. Rather, God has been teaching me,...

Photo by Juan Encalada on Unsplash Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so  the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you. -Amos 5:14 It's Ash Wednesday. Lent 2019 is upon us. We now have 40 days in which to reflect upon how closely our thoughts, actions, motivations and priorities are aligned with the faith Jesus Christ handed on to us. We have this time, too, to do penance for the discipline of our souls and to make reparations for our past sins. As we undertake these endeavors,  Ostrov ( The Island ), a 2006 Russian film, may help. It's look at sin, forgiveness, repentance, reparation and atonement provide sufficient fodder for the entire season. Despite the limits of the medium, Ostrov  beautifully portrays how widely and deeply both our sins affect the people against whom we sin and our virtues affect those we help. To this end, the film asks two questions: "Why did Cain kill Abel?" and "What is the appropriate Christian resp...

Photo by John Torcasio on Unsplash Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 12:1-2 Overcoming sin and conforming our wills with God's Will is very, very difficult. We all know this. This is not news. What can we do? To be successful in overcoming our sins and conforming our wills, knowing our triggers is important. In other words, how are our lives usually going, when we most easily fall into sin? It's usually part of a pattern. We get sick of sinning like a fool. We resolve to change our lives and begin taking part in the sacramental life of the Church. We turn more often to prayer, es...

Photo by Jean-Philippe Delberghe on Unsplash Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. -1 Peter 5:8-10 The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nought?...touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." -Job 1:7-11 St. Pe...

  "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."    -St. Matthew 10:28 One night, as young teenagers, a friend and I watched a horror movie involving something to do with the devil possessing one of the protagonists of the film. That movie terrified me, but the dreams I had later that night terrified me more. Upon awaking the next morning, I knew that I didn't want to ever be possessed. What the movie had presented coupled with my profound ignorance of parts of my own faith and an irrational fear led me to an incredibly stupid and dangerous conclusion. I figured that to get into heaven, while avoiding any from the devil, I would be just a little bad. I had taken the devil's bait and I was never just a little bad. Have you ever done something similar? Christ teaches us that we are not to be afraid of Him nor of His Gospel. The fear that God and His angels inspire in the Sacred...

Kurt Wallander, an inspector with the Ystad Police Department, is the protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Swedish novelist, Henning Mankell. Nine of the novels were dramatized and presented on the BBC in 2008, 2010, and 2012. Starring Kenneth Branaugh as Wallander, the BBC production, according to critics, did a very good job of presenting the novels and Branaugh did an equally good job of portraying the police inspector. Wallander, tortured by the evils and horrors that confront him in his job, has become detached, depressed, and cynical. In the first story in the BBC series, his wife has already left him and found another man. His daughter seems to have little respect for him and is not at all sympathetic with the sorrow he feels in losing his wife. Having no faith of any kind, trusting no one, and unable to form any friendships, Wallander's only solution to the pain, confusion, and frustration in his life is to spend every night drinking until he passes out, the...

I can't remember now how long after my separation this conversation occurred, but it was within the first year.  A dear friend and I were talking one evening about all that was happening with me, when he stated he had no idea how I was doing it.  I asked him what he meant and he said, "I would have been an alcoholic or a drug addict or I would have committed suicide by now.  I don't know how you're going through all of this the way you are."  At the time, I didn't know either and I did not have a good answer for him then. This past Saturday, another dear friend of mine and I were talking about what has been going on in our lives since the last time we spoke.  We are both facing what seem to be insurmountable obstacles and a quantity and type of suffering that only seems to worsen.  We have issues with our children, employment, betrayals, lies, isolation, struggles with the enormous weight of our own weaknesses and sins.  When each of us had given onl...

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin."                                                                                                             - St. John 8:34 Recently, some man, a self-proclaimed activist named Daniel Savage, recently attacked the Bible as "bullshit" in front of an audience of high school students.  Then, Daniel savaged those students who left in a courageous exercise of the same constitutional rights for which he claims to be an activist.  The sweet irony in the story is that Daniel Savage, this administration's choice to lead the campaign against bullying, bullied Christian students in an address designed to highlight the e...

There are six things which the L ORD hates, seven which are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers . - Proverbs 6:16-19 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.  For he that is not against us is for us." - St. Mark 9:38-40 It is already so easy for the average Catholic in the pew to feel isolated.  Most parishioners relate through the parish school and the extra-curricular activities surrounding the school.  Catholics without children in the parish school are out of luck.  Most Catholics are so harried and exhausted that they pass...

Demon, demon on my shoulder Whispers in my ear. “Tell me. Tell me now Everything you hear.” “All I tell you is the truth. You’ll feel it in your heart. I hear tell of your failures, your weaknesses, your many false starts. No one really likes you. They’re all using you just the same. For everything that does and has gone wrong, you’re the only one to blame. I hear tell that even God laughs, when you kneel at the rail. Your thoughts aren’t real. Your dreams are fake. All you do will fail. Everything is nonsense. All your life is crap. You’re much too scared for life now. Your fear has become my trap.” “But what of my girlfriend? Surely, she must be for real. She loves me so, is always true and always will be there.” “Are you kidding?” the demon replied. “She’s a nympho, never true especially to you. She’ll never leave? She’s gonna stay? But what can you offer her? You’re critical, condemning ...