The news is saturated with the buildup to the presidential election of November 2016 and to the primaries which begin in February 2016. The current presidential term is not three quarters over and we are focusing on the next one more than a year away. Who will be the prudent leader with the brilliant program, the organizational skills and the legislation that solves the social problems we face?
The solution to every social problem seems to be a program and its implementation. A notorious crime is committed with a slightly unusual characteristic from the norm for that crime. The solution is to pass a law that explicitly addresses that unusual characteristic. Problem solved.
Yet, what is the root of social ills? It is, of course, original sin and personal sin. That recognition does not reduce the need for leadership and programs, but it does identify the source of social ills as personal.
In the July 15, 2015 edition of EWTN Nightly News, Dan Patrick and guest commenter, Gloria Purvis, discussed President Obama’s address to the NAACP. To counteract the influences, which lead to the imprisonment of a large fraction of black youth, the president had recommended increased aid to kindergarten programs as well as increased aid to programs to encourage youth employment.
Dan and Gloria noted that these government programs were substitutes for parental guidance. Rather than fostering a strengthening of the family, the President’s solution was the assuming of the role of family discipline by the government. The deleterious effect of the recent same-sex marriage decision by the Supreme Court on the concepts of family, mother and father was also mentioned.
Dan asked the guest, who is Chair of Black Catholics United for Life, how Catholics should help to repair society. Gloria’s answer was a sunburst. It was the most surprising, yet prudent, suggestion I have ever heard on television or in recent homilies. She answered, “Prayer, fasting and almsgiving”. She noted that almsgiving includes the education of children by their parents, e. g. even the reading of a story to their children.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving is personal. It doesn’t require a charismatic leader with a brilliant program and organizational skills. It is that which you and I can do. It strikes at the heart of the every social problem, which is original and personal sin.
It sounds so new and revolutionary, but it is ancient. The story of the reluctant and vindictive prophet, Jonah, is thought to be from the fifth century BC. It is only three pages, but it is one of my favorite Old Testament books.
God charges Jonah with announcing to the people of Nineveh its destruction in forty days. Jonah despised the people of Nineveh. They deserved their fate without being warned. Jonah booked passage on a ship to get away from Nineveh and his commission. God thwarted Jonah’s attempted escape and sent him back to his assigned task. Unexpectedly, the people repented and turned to fasting. The king followed the example of the people. To Jonah’s chagrin, when God saw their repentance from bottom to top, he did not carry out the destruction of Nineveh.
So may it be with us, if we turn to prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
In reaction to recent Planned Parenthood videos, the Colorado bishops through the Colorado Catholic Conference named August 28th a day of penance and prayer . The Colorado Catholic Conference stated on July 31st, “We call on all people of good will in Colorado and beyond to pray that those involved in research and medicine will fix their sights on recognizing the sacredness of life and refrain from putting human life at the service of science.”
In her blog at the National Catholic Register, Rebecca Hamilton suggested we pray and abstain on Fridays for pro-abortion political office holders. Annie Deddens, in an August post on ‘How to Serve and Protect Life’, recommends prayer and fasting.
A recent ‘Catholics Come Home’ advertisement notes that at the center of marriage is death, death to oneself.
Recently on ‘Living Right with Dr. Ray’ an eastern rite priest stated that in eastern marriage preparation, the couple is told that marriage is a form of monasticism in its self-denial.
Thanks to Gloria Purvis for opening my eyes and ears to the new, but ancient, message of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
In a recent Catholic radio broadcast a teenage girl phoned to ask what she could do about social problems. She had no money, no influence, no vote. The answer given was prayer and penance. The only question that really matters in the face of current social ills due to original and personal sin is the one addressed to me, “Will I pray, fast and give alms?”
