“Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Judas betrayed our Lord. Many have speculated why. Perhaps he did not believe. Perhaps he wanted to test our Lord and thought that he would reveal His glory when seized. The only thing we know for sure is that the greatest evil committed by men ensued, followed instantaneously by the greatest good in history. The evil of deicide (man killing God) followed by the unshackling of mankind from the sin and death of original sin……The salvation of Christ crucified. The question we need to ask is why do we betray our Lord?
In the time of Christ, paganism was rampant in the world. People worshiped false gods. The Church was given to the world to shine the light of truth; The Truth of Jesus Christ. The early Church bore witness through evangelization and martyrdom to this truth. They were persecuted, spit upon, and executed for their witness. The world today is better, right? More holy? More devout? Right? Wrong!
We live in a pagan society today that is even more godless and non-Christian than that of the early Church. It is more rampant and insidious than ever before. Woven into the very fabric of society and hidden from those who are blind or just choose not to see it. Abortion, pornography, artificial contraception, greed, power. These are all gods to many in this world and the list only starts with these. We spend so much time and effort striving for these things. We push the One True God out of our lives to replace Him with these false gods and they bring us nothing but suffering and death. How many pieces of silver will we sell Christ for? St. Augustine once said that our souls have a God shaped void in them. We can try to fill the void with worldly things but no matter how much we try to stuff in there we will feel empty until we fill that void with God.
This country was founded on Christian principles and beliefs. We have a society now that scoffs at religious beliefs. People of faith are called ignorant and medieval. A vast majority of Americans claim to be Christians. Look at the country we live in and ask if you truly believe that. Paganism is the religion of the Untied States of America today. Those “enlightened” members of our society call it progress and Satan laughs at the children of God as they “progress” and “enlighten” themselves straight into hell.
I call Catholics to task even more than our denominational brothers and sisters. We have been given the fullness of divine revelation. To those who have been given much, much will be required. The Church is in disarray. The true and real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is often doubted and even mocked in the Church today. People openly disobey the Magisterium and undermine the moral teachings of the Church. Catholic politicians stand in open solidarity with evils like abortion and fetal stem cell research then present themselves to receive the Eucharist. We must pray for our brothers and sisters and ask the Holy Spirit to break through the walls of their hearts.
We are all called to be saints. Called to holiness and sacrifice. Christ promised to preserve the Church from the “Gates of Hell” but He didn’t promise we wouldn’t have to fight. Turn to God and be humble before the Lord. I’m not saying this is easy. It is very difficult. Christianity is no wimpy religion. It requires sacrifice. If we rely on ourselves we will surely fail. If we humbly present ourselves before the Lord in the Eucharist and ask Him to give us strength He will surely answer our prayers. Give of yourself in unity with Christ crucified for the salvation of our wayward brothers and sisters. God’s name is Mercy and His mercy endures forever.
