The Holy Scriptures abound with references to light amid the darkness: In Isaiah 51:4 we are instructed that "a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations." Again in the same prophet, [60:19]: "Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory." In Psalm 118, verse 105 the Psalmist praises God by saying: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my paths." Again, in Micah 7:8, "Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me because I am fallen; I shall arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light." In the New Testament, Matthew 5:15, we find: "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house." And so on.

From these verses we know that darkness upon the earth is the usual course since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden; in fact the world itself is equated with darkness, for here is where the prince of darkness, the prince of this world, Satan, reigns until the second coming of Christ.

St. Paul writes of the end times that before the second coming of Our Lord, there will be first a world-wide apostasy or falling away from morality and honor to God. Christ Himself instructs us that, while we are not to know the hour and the day of His second coming, that we are indeed to pay attention to the signs of the times and know that the hour is at hand. So we are to be prepared in a general sense-----cultural awareness-----and in a specific sense, which applies to our own soul's state.

Reading about the power "blackouts" in California some years ago, I was reminded how necessary light is to existence, which is symbolized physically by the sun and candles in its natural form, and by electricity in its unnatural form. The more technologically advanced our nation becomes, the more backward it has regressed, socially, culturally, politically, and most importantly, morally and spiritually. This is not to argue against technology itself, but to acknowledge that such inventions of man's natural genius does not assure improvement in his overall well-being; that the material ought to serve the spiritual and not the other way around.

The lights out in California and elsewhere, while caused by extremism in environmental regulation and widespread governmental tyranny, just may be God's way of getting our attention by permitting this chastisement. The same with the increasing wild fires of natural origin, light through destructive heat because we willfully blind ourselves by excluding Almighty God from our lives, public and private as much as possible, lukewarm and stone cold. No, we want God on our terms, when it is convenient. We say, "Go away, until we need You, if we need You." Kind and disposed to answer our prayers, He does just that, leaving us to our own devices and fables. When a tragedy occurs, those affected say it was their "faith that saw them though". The only time it is really permitted a public expression. Of course no mention of what that faith entails---just some faith that is particular to an individual. So who really knows how much the one true, awesome, God is actually relied on. The more technology we accrue the less we think we need Him; instead of going down on our knees and thanking Him for the gifts of invention, which come from Him ultimately, we dismiss God from our institutions and the public square, confident in our own ability to "progress". Just imagine how much good could come from technology if it was produced in full acknowledgment of our utter dependence on God and if our scientists and technicians asked for His grace in these endeavors and proclaimed the goodness of God whether they succeeded or not in any undertaking. Most of them claim to be agnostic or irreligious.

No, like one silly twit commentator we prefer to announce to Heaven that if God wants us to learn the Ten Commandments He has an obligation to put them into an entertaining format. As if to say we would acknowledge His rightful authority and obey Him if was more fun for us. So much wasted education which elicits so much blasphemy from a former Catholic who should have known better! Meanwhile the "religious right" is publicly castigated for being unsophisticated, etc. Every culture in decline needs a bogeyman to blame and the religious right will do until something easier to ridicule comes along. And where are the Catholics in the culture war? AWOL. While the adherents of radical Islam gain ground in the public square, while the ACLU is scarce to be found on this score, while Christ and His teachings are the subject of vitriol and mockery, we, too, are missing in action. We ought to tremble at our own judgment. Lukewarm does not begin to describe our perfidy, our betrayal as soldiers of Christ!

There is indeed a darkness upon the land, it's gloom covering our towns and cities, our countryside, in our halls of "learning," of the body politic, in the centers of commerce and the professions, even in our homes tainted or touched by the darkness dominating our Catholic Church in America.

When the Nicene Creed was altered to omit the Incarnation or the Conception of Our Lord, almost no one noticed or seemed to mind if they did. Now this is an important article of the Faith, not a simple expression of devotion, so it says much that this sacrilege and heretical, deliberate omission passed without outrage from every pew in every parish. Catholics now belong to the culture of the pragmatic. A baby isn't really one until he is born, so we can have abortion and pretend we are a good people under the law.

Yet, we are called to be a light unto the nation, a candle that shineth forth. One way of casting light into the darkness is to examine and or expose what passes for light, but falsely, that is: immorality, error, and heresy. In a phrase, we are being led astray from within our own Church and in our parish churches by the very ones who are to guard us from the peril of the darkness of error and sinful living. The only sins our Churchmen are interested in are the ones that are politically correct, that is, are approved of by the liberals in power.

The diocese of Maine is mortally wounded and in the throes of its last agony, it is the twilight time, when the last flicker of light is about to sink beneath the horizon: Faced with the scandalous publicity of three of its priests who were part of a salacious homosexual web site with pornographic animation, our Bishop at the time temporarily removed them from active ministry under the glare of the media spotlight. Three weeks later one of them was back and right after that the other two, one of whom was assigned as pastor of my now former parish; he has since left the active ministry, thanks be to God; one is on record in the local media as stating that he has not reformed, has no intention of doing so and is not ashamed in so many words, and all uttered with a smile. Such was our Bishop and so goes the sorry See of Maine. How long, O God, how long?

"Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me because I am fallen; I shall arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light."

Contents:

 A Decade of Undermining the Faith of the Faithful in the Diocesan Newspaper Part 1
A Decade of Undermining the Faith of the Faithful in the Diocesan Newspaper Part 2
A Decade of Undermining the Faith of the Faithful in the Diocesan Newspaper Part 3
New Signs of the Cross: A Critique of Channel 13 Part 1
New Signs of the Cross: A Critique of Channel 13 Part 2
The Judas Kiss Part 1
The Judas Kiss Part 2
An Open Letter to a Lost, Wayward Priest
The Shape of Things to Come by Terence Huges
Prayer as Propaganda Part 1
Prayer as Propaganda Part 2

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