The Necessary Armor Of God In The 21st Century
By REY FLORES
Twenty-first century media, whether it’s so-called entertainment, fake news, or corporate sports, basically, all modern-day popular culture media in all its forms is a big steaming pile of elephant dung.
At least, according to AfricaGeographic.com, elephant dung has many useful purposes. It can be utilized for everything from headache relief to brewing coffee and beer, and building material. That’s a lot more than can be said about the useless twenty-first century pop culture.
If it weren’t for the Internet, we’d all be stuck with being brainwashed by whatever the major television networks and cable companies are broadcasting, and whatever lies that the print fake news media publish.
Unfortunately, the Internet is also a propaganda tool which has most of us asking ourselves and each other: What is real and what is fake when it comes to any “news”?
It has been garbage for a long time now, but now it seems to be a race to the bottom where there is no bottom. Ultimately the bottom it will eventually reach is Hell itself.
The normalization of deviant behaviors, be it greed, disordered sex, or violence, they have all become the modern day “virtues” which are shaping our society into one gigantic mess.
We are the guinea pigs which many global entities are experimenting on. Be it the multi-billion-dollar financial institutions, communications and tech industry, entertainment media, pharmaceutical and medical industries, the alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug complex and the fake news outlets which promote all of it, we are all seemingly doomed.
But wait! No so fast. The one thing which remains timeless is . . . Bueller? Bueller? Yes, class. It’s the Holy Trinity! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, timeless and forever.
No matter what Fukushima-like evil toxic sludge is out here in the secular world, we don’t have to fear it if we are focused on who and what is truly important. Too many of us Catholics tend to be attracted to the proverbial “shiny objects” of this world, but why? There is nothing brighter anywhere than the saving light of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Many solid priests and Catholic friends throughout my life have recommended increased prayer, staying close to the sacraments, and never neglecting to have a daily prayer life. Daily prayer is like a super-strength which we all need to build up within ourselves if we are going to survive this mortal coil.
We cannot afford to be spiritually lazy. It is detrimental not only to our own souls, but to the eternal souls of our entire families, and sometimes even friends and other acquaintances close to us. Remember that people will remember what we do much more than what we say.
It isn’t enough to just go to Mass once a week on Sundays. It isn’t enough to go to Confession at least once a year. Going to Confession once a year is like taking a shower or bath once a year. Our souls will get filthy, reek of sin, and leaves us vulnerable to continue our wrongdoing.
It is said that when in the confessional, St. Padre Pio could smell the stench of a sinner and if these sinners were not truly repentant of their sins, nor committed to amending their lives and to “go and sin no more,” he knew it, and was known to throw people out of the confessional if that was the case.
Today’s worldly evil is only increasing and it is leading up to that dreaded reckoning day. Whether it’s a full-scale end of the world scenario of biblical proportions or our own personal “end of the world,” it is coming and we had all better be prepared.
I understand that there are families to take care of, daily life situations and errands, bills to pay and emergencies that occur during our human existence, but if you have the time to spare, give it all to our Lord.
Whether it’s committing to a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament for one hour a week, visiting a sick or elderly family member or neighbor, volunteering at the local community soup kitchen or making a meal for a sick friend or expectant mother: Do it.
What else is more important? Watching some stupid television program? Wasting countless hours scrolling your Facebook newsfeed? Playing with your smartphone incessantly like some immature preteen? No. We must go out and live the Gospel. We must act like Mother Teresa and St. Francis. Go out into the world, preach the Good News and be the Christ-like person we claim to be. Were cannot just simply hang a rosary off the rearview mirror or put a pro-life magnet or bumper sticker on our cars and claim self-appointed sainthood.
This world needs saints. This world needs saints-in-the-making!
With all of this, we must also increase our prayer life. It doesn’t require us to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes or Fatima, though if you can put those destinations on your bucket list, then that would be a good thing.
Some suggestions are novenas, consecrating your life to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or praying a daily Divine Mercy Chaplet in reparation for all our sins and those of the whole world.
We know the drill. If you’re reading The Wanderer you probably already know all of this. It’s not rocket science. We don’t need to be moral theologians or apologists, at least not immediately, but you get what I’m saying.
Whenever I have neglected to increase my prayer life, I slip and I start falling back to my old, sinful, slothful habitual ways which only make me, and everyone and everything around me, worse. It’s go-time, people! Go big or go home!
Now is not a time for weakness. Today’s secular culture is a raging fire — but evil doesn’t just happen. It happens because we sin when we don’t pray. It happens when we do the bare minimum to be able to still call ourselves Catholics and undeservingly pat our spiritually lazy selves on our own backs.
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
