Pleasures are Not Joys – When We Seek Them Out They Can Become Idols
The Tidings News Archdiocese of Los Angeles
(Catholic Online) Speaking in Washington, DC at the ‘National Catholic Prayer Breakfast’ on Tuesday, Cardinal Robert Sarah of West Africa Guinea, enjoined Christians to resist “ideological colonization” and the removal of God from society, in order to help the Church resist threats to the family and religious freedom around the world.
Cardinal Sarah emphasized that individualism and a desire to create a ‘utopian paradise’ without God has had profound impact on societies. “Rapid social and economic development in the past half century has not been accompanied by an equally fervent spiritual progress, as we witness what Pope Francis calls ‘globalized indifference’ ” he critiqued.
This indifference to persons can be seen in “our closing our eyes and hearts to the poor and vulnerable and in a very despicable way, in how we discard the unborn and the elderly,” said Cardinal Sarah.
The greatest challenges however Cardinal Sarah said are the challenges facing the family. Quoting Pope Francis, he reminded those in attendance that proposing less than what the Church teaches on marriage proposes less than what Christ offers the human person.
“This is why the Holy Father openly and vigorously defends Church teaching on contraception, abortion — reproductive technologies, the education of children and much more.” These and other injuries to the family, Cardinal Sarah elaborated, can turn the family from a place of flourishing and love into “a place where human beings can be humanly and spiritually wounded.”
Protecting the family is also linked to the preservation of religious freedom, Cardinal Sarah said as he urged Americans to protect their history of religious freedom. While many Christians across the world are suffering from violence due to persecution from governments or Jihadist groups such as the Islamic State, “violence against Christians is not just physical, it is also political, ideological and cultural,” Cardinal Sarah added.
“This form of religious persecution is equally damaging, yet more hidden. It does not destroy physically but spiritually.” The violence of cultural and ideological pressure seeks to separate the Christian from his/her conscience and blend them into society. — The Church’s teachings on marriage, sexuality and the family are under extreme pressure, Cardinal Sarah said.
In the face of such threats to the free exercise of religion and conscience, Cardinal Sarah called on Catholics to be prophetic, faithful and prayerful. – A prophetic approach requires careful discernment of how “in your lives” you homes, your workplaces – how in your nation, God is being eroded, eclipsed and liquidated, Cardinal Sarah added. Faithfulness requires Christians to be courageous in speaking the truth and prayer he said, is essential to discerning God’s will and to avoid discouragement.
Full Text here of Cardinal Robert Sarah Address at National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
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