Catholic in Today's World

Hi, I was just sitting and having a coffee, please join me :))

I was just thinking about "Halloween" and how the "spirit" of it today feels from when I was a little girl. (No, that was not a long long time ago in a land far far away *shut up!* :P)

'Is it just me', I have been wondering, 'or does anyone else feel it?'

There just seems to be a totally different dark, negative, Satanic feel to Halloween. Now, yes, of course, as Catholics we can have our children bring light to Halloween by celebrating it with "cute" pumpkins, dress them as saints, have fresh apple cider and fun...we can avoid outfitting our homes with really scary looking creatures from hell.

It just seems lately in our times that there is this darkness that is just about a few footsteps behind the Christian and breathing down his/her neck. You can almost feel Satan. I think abortion is a "human sacrifice" that keeps him going. And, being Greed itself, he wants more, too...he's not happy with just that...he wants to destroy all marriages and families (after all, the "Holy Family" was a model God wants and God chose to be born in a family...and Satan hates anything God loves)...he wants sex to be perverted to just animalistic pleasures, sex with nothing else behind it.....he hates chastity and purity and celibacy (as these are things Jesus himself lived and the Holy Family)....it is just like Satan knows he is in the "end times" and knows it and knows that beautiful, pure, holy, delicate heel is just inches over his head and coming down soon....you know?!

Do you feel it? America just does not have the same "air" about it as it used to...does it to you?

So, these are some thoughts I was thinking over as I sat and had my coffee (before you pulled up a chair)....and I just happened to see this article that sort of said everything I was thinking. (Isn't that weird when that happens?!)

Maybe it's just not me.....

Here's the article ----> CLICK HERE.

Oddly, (as they mention blessed salt in this article), a few months ago I just happened to have made up little packs of salt to have blessed by a local priest and then I was going to lay it out in a box in the Church hall with a sign explaining it was Blessed Salt with a flier of what blessed salt is, and a "take one" sign....I just had the idea to do it...perhaps the Holy Spirit is "in the air" working and inspiring Christians (& Catholic Christians who have access to Adoration, Sacraments, Sacramentals) to come and wake up and join the army and fight the good fight because the fight is on. I never had them blessed yet, but I will.

Anyhow, we as Catholics and Christians need to keep our chins up and rejoice! No, not an ignorant sort of head-in-the-sand rejoicing...but the good thing to remember is that God is good and God is all powerful and God is in charge and God is the creator of all and that God has the last word and that God is love and mercy (and justice!)...and that God loves his people dearly and tenderly...God surrounds us with intercessors....the Holy Angels....God is on the side of good and God cannot lose...it is an impossibility...so we know the end score. So....we have to just try to not be bowed down in the "darkness" of our world, but be happy and rejoice! THIS is the day the LORD has made! St Paul always tells us "REJOICE!" Jesus always said, "Don't fear it is I!" "Do you not have any faith?!" Satan wants us bowed down and all gloomy and scary and feeling outnumbered and hopeless. We cannot be that way. There is no reason for it. We read the Bible and see the world always was this way even when God chose to come to it! It was chock-full of sin and idolatry. Christians had a very rough time of it! We need to focus on union with God, communion with the Saints, staying in the state of grace, interceding for God's world (yes, GOD's world :) ), being happy because WE ARE GRACED TO BE HIS TEMPLES!..and focusing on THE PRESENT MOMENT as we don't know if we'll have another. Focus on the good things as the great saint admonished us (set your hearts on things above). We need to "fight the good fight" with the weapons God gave to us. ("We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God commanded us." So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. Deut. 1:41) We are to be love in this world lacking it. We are to be God's peace to a world that only has a false worldly peace. We are to rescue sinners by doing good and praying for them. We are to evangelize. We have so much positive things to focus on in the negative world...in a world centered on serving Satan and death. We are to be the shining stars in the night sky: beautiful! Our beauty will draw gazes up. Once gazing up, they contemplate the heavens...and the seed is sown.

So, long story long :P, I guess what I am saying is that Satan is active more than ever and many many good people with misplaced compassion are falling into his traps. When they fall, they get discouraged and sin even more. We need to be light, employ joy...joy that comes from know who we are! Joy of knowing our faith. Joy of knowing the battle is already won. We KNOW who wins! If we Christians do not keep being faithful and fighting the good fight, not being shy to actually proclaim our believes in public life in a world where you are made to feel "weird" or "foolish"....then we will serve to only be a stepping stone to others.

"They will know we are Christians by our love..." We can love the world by defending our faith, announcing our faith, not being the quiet shy one but speaking up for Our Lord who spoke in blood for us...praying and interceding and serving with charity and joy. We can find joy in each present moment because each moment holds so much possibility for us! We can actually better the world and save souls in the present moment! :))))

AMEN :))) "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

1 Chronicles 16:33

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing,
they will sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.