Fighting Mediocrity: Keeping the Soul Awake

In my personal reflections you may begin to piece together a theme. I will go ahead and reveal the theme; anxiety. I leave it up to you to confirm this theme. I am anxious to enter seminary and begin formation. I am anxious to go out into the diocese and shepherd souls (under the diocese's Shepherd the Bishop of course). I am anxious to get my life moving, yet I find myself stuck in this waiting period.

You may have read the introductory paragraph and thought, "He is quite awake." And if you have interacted with me in person, you may have thought, "He is filled with energy." Those two observances are correct; I am very energetic and excitable. However, I am talking about what is deep within every person; the soul. How we are in front of others may be completely different than what our soul is actually feeling. 2015 turned out to be very difficult for me after the Bishop said I am to wait until my military obligation is complete. Initially I said I was at peace with it, but this peace was manufactured by me so it wouldn't last long. It didn't. I entered a place close to depression. I simply sulked spiritually and my soul almost fell asleep.

As I was reading "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week" by Pope Benedict XVI, I came across a condition of the soul that absolutely struck me. He discusses how the drowsiness of the disciples opens up possibilities for Satan (p. 153). What he says next is, what I believe to be, a nice affirmation of what I believe to be true about sin and righteousness. Of course Pope Benedict articulates it much more beautifully than I, "Such drowsiness deadens the soul, so that it remains undisturbed by the power of the Evil One at work in the world and by all the injustices and suffering ravaging the earth." (ibid). Sin and righteousness are opposing forces, always. The Church has discussed this in a more detailed format using vices and virtues, which are essentially a break down of the battle between the two.

Pope Benedict goes on to say, "In its state of numbness [when sin is beating righteousness], the soul prefers not to see all this [truly see evil for what it is]; it is easily persuaded that things cannot be so bad, so as to continue in the self-satisfaction of its own comfortable existence." (ibid, injects added). This is a profound reflection on the state of a drowsy soul! When we are spiritually tired, we become complacent. We turn inward and then seek to satisfy what we believe we need, which at this point is disordered (disordered, because God calls us to turn outward toward creation). When we turn inward, we go down a very slippery slope. It is as if we walk on ice. We have control at first, but we can begin to become too comfortable with our ability to walk on ice that we eventually slip and fall. Down we go!

I think it can be said of the rise of the secular society that it has slipped and is now sliding down the slope. At first society wrestled with the New Age thoughts and ideas, but it eventually became tired of seeing the evil in the world, and began turning inward. When turning inward, it embraced self satisfaction at all costs. We can now look at society and firmly say its motto is "It's all about me". We see this in business, marriage, relationships with peers, education, politics, etc. What is ironic is that society tells itself that all of this is for the greater good of society. I think we need not continue discussing the state of society in this article, but I do believe it is good to note when performing a self reflection of our soul.

After almost a year of struggle, I find myself beginning to accept where God wants me. God's peace is beginning to fill me versus me attempting to build peace. He has filled my life with people seeking closeness with the Lord. One of my faithful Catholic friends has challenged me to make 2016 not a year of mediocrity. So far 2016 has been an amazing year and I look forward to making the rest of it. The high point of the year will certainly be my trip to Europe where I will visit family in Nuremberg, Germany, go on a short pilgrimage to Rome, and see a friend in London. I am considering adding a trip to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp to get face to face with the evil that plagues the world. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to make this journey.

Do not let mediocrity grip your soul! You risk putting your soul to sleep. As Pope Benedict showed us, a drowsy soul is one that permits evil to take hold more and more. I believe the first step in fighting mediocrity sounds overly simple, but it is effective; prayer. Prayer is the foundation of a healthy spiritual life. I will discuss the beauty of prayer and my struggles to build a solid foundation of prayer in a future article. Pax.

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Sources:
1. Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth: Part Two: Holy Week From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.

Morality In the Workplace And In The World

In today's secular society Catholic morality and modern societies are coming coming into conflict more and more. This increasing conflict has moved into the workplace of many people across America and in the world. In this article I will provide some catechetical back ground on our duties as citizens and followers of Christ, as well as tips to live life at work in accord with Church teaching. I pray that you'll be able to use this article to help you at work and in the world.


So, what does the catechism say? 
1900: in the CCC: "The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and good-will."

1903: "Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in conscience."

2242: "The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 'We must obey God rather than men'"

This applies to the workplace as well. God comes first. Morality belongs to God, and therefore when an earthly institution acts counter to morality we are no longer obliged to follow the earthly institution's directive.


What to do at work
I work in retail, which is challenging enough as it is, when sales are a priority over the employees (that's another article). On top of that working at a place where Church teaching is often confronted can have its challenges. To give you an idea of what I am trying to convey I will be using my place of employment as an example, while not disclosing which company I work for. I work at a modern day drug store that is a part of a national chain of drug stores. At this drug store I find myself entering into moral conflict quite often. Conflicts include theft, extreme couponing,  contraceptives, etc. When I first started working for this company I looked into its policies. What are its coupon policies, Plan B policy, theft policies, etc. I was pleased to learn that the company decided to protect my religious freedoms. 

Tip #1: Look at the policies. Every company has a number of work policies that govern it like our government has laws that govern the nation. Getting to know the policies is the best way to prepare for moral decision making. For example, my company allows me to not sell Plan B or other contraceptives due to my firmly held religious beliefs. According to the policy, I am to walk the customer to someone who will sell it.

Tip #2: Discuss policies with your colleagues. The best way to avoid awkward situations and customer frustrations is to know who specific policies also apply to. For example, I have shared the Plan B policy with my coworkers and know who also objects to its sale. This allows me and my colleagues to quickly and easily avoid confrontation when someone wishes to purchase Plan B.

Tip #3: Present any points of confusion to a spiritual director or a priest. Sometimes there are instances when our participation is not necessarily sinful. There are certain contraceptive medications that are prescribed for medical reasons. It is certainly not my job to identify the specific reason someone is taking a certain contraceptive medication that has other medicinal purposes. So, when I am helping in the pharmacy I needn't concern myself with that a person is using a certain pill for and can in good conscience fill their medication. One should use common sense to figure out which contraceptive medications or devices have the singular purpose of being a contraceptive (condoms were created to be used as a contraceptive so I do not sell them). Spiritual direction and confession have helped come to this conclusion.

What to do as a citizen
Tip #1: Look at the laws. Get to know laws that have a negative impact on living as a Catholic, such as the HHS mandate. Many Church organizations have not complied with this mandate due to its violation of God's Law.

Tip #2: Discuss the laws with others. Fellowship is huge in Christian living. Discusses certain laws with good Catholic friends can bring you to a greater understanding of the laws and of Church teaching.

Tip #3: Vote. Involvement in society is certainly good. If we want a society that is in line with Church teaching, then we should work to put in place a government that will work toward this. Knowing where candidates stand on important issues (life, marriage, religious freedom, social justice, etc.) is very important. We should enter the voting both after having done some research.


While the world and the Church are growing farther apart (it shouldn't be a huge shock), we can still be assured of God's superiority over what is happening today. We can remain confident that we can still live Catholic lives even if it is painful at times. At this time I feel that it is good to remind myself and the reader that we should pray for the persecuted in other parts of the world that can live a Catholic life, but at the cost of their livelihoods or even their lives all together. Credo Domine. 



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Pope Benedict XVI on emergency contraception