Tag Archives: Christianity

Charlie Kirk and the State of Evil

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“The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom; the law of his God is in his heart, his steps do not falter. (Ps. 37: 30-31)

Within the space of a week or so Americans have witnessed three despicable acts of public violence: one taking the lives of two innocent children in Minneapolis, then a young Ukrainian woman fatally stabbed on a Charlotte bus (both acts indiscriminate and random), and culminating in the deliberate and heinous murder of popular pod-caster Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah. Kirk was outspoken about his Christianity and fearlessly proclaimed the Kingship of Jesus Christ. Fewer than two months before his death he was urging fellow Evangelical Christians to engage in a deeper understanding of and reverence for Mary, the Mother of God. He is reported to have been attending Mass with his Catholic wife and children at least twice a month. He had become both mentor and role model to millions of millennials and generation Z kids deeply searching for something more than what this superficial hedonistic culture was offering.

Kirk was known for cheerfully engaging his left leaning opponents in honest debate on campuses around the country while convincing many that social conservatism, not the prevailing DEI and transgender madness, represented the real hope for the future of his generation. Just shy of 32 years old, Charlie was ruthlessly slain simply for defending truth as he understood it. What those who continue to despise Charlie Kirk, even after his death, seem unable to grasp is that Kirk genuinely loved the sinner even as he hated the sin. He was the proverbial good shepherd seeking to bring back any lost sheep. In this Kirk was the antithesis of Satan, the ‘accuser,’ who loves the sin yet hates the sinner. Even if one did not agree with everything Charlie expressed, you had to admire the man for his vitality, integrity, and raw courage. Another good shepherd, Bishop Joseph Strickland, has rightly pointed out we must not forget to pray for the repose of Charlie’s soul because he was human just like the rest of us. Likewise we need to pray for a repentant heart and timely conversion of Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, a young man grossly deceived by the demoniacal culture which incessantly radicalizes and alienates the young from truth and common sense.

Of course the predictable and tedious commentary about why a good God did not prevent such a tragedy will be spewing forth from social media ad nauseam. Why does God regularly allow evil to afflict good people? That question continues to mystify modern man, I believe, because our culture has adopted such a shallow understanding of the very meanings of good and evil; truth and falsehood. What is good anyway, and who are the “good people?” In the Gospel our Lord makes a seemingly odd reply to this question, “Why do you call me good? There is only One who is good.” (Mt. 19:17) Did Christ mean that only his Father is good and therefore everything else must be evil? Of course not! It was his way of teaching that goodness emanates not from ourselves but from God alone. So in order to make any sense of evil, one must first understand “the good” in its proper context.

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The Pruning of Vines, and CREDO

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As an avid gardener I am constantly amazed how God uses the natural world as a living parable of the supernatural order. My garden includes 15 grape vines which in summer literally explode with new shoots and foliage. Every vine dresser knows that in order to produce large and abundant grapes vigilant pruning is required, so I spend many hours cutting back excess foliage. While thus engaged I am constantly mindful of Christ’s teaching, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does He prunes so that it bears more fruit.” (Jn 15:1,2)

What I never fully understood until I began raising vines was just how few branches on a vine actually produce fruit. I have seen new shoots, or suckers, which can run for 8 or 10 feet without ever sprouting a single runty grape cluster. In fact, I have noticed with certain varieties that 90% of shoots which branch off from the main vine will never produce a single grape. These must all be cut away in order to redirect the vine’s energy into the branches that are actually forming fruit. And pruning is not a one time thing but a continual process throughout the entire growing season. In other words, the vast majority of any vine’s growth is ultimately removed and cast into the mulch pile. It is no accident that Our Lord used the analogy of dressing vines because his listeners in that intensive grape growing culture around the Mediterranean would have clearly understood his meaning, namely that “Many are called but few are chosen.”

It is not enough to simply know about Christ or even to believe in Him in a casual or haphazard way. To wear the label of a nominal Catholic or a Christian who has “accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior” is to be like that long branch with lots of beautiful leaves but no fruit. For those whose faith is all about interior feelings yet have nothing concrete to show for it, they are like those barren branches cut away from the source of life which is the vine. “What good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith but does not have works?… So also faith of itself, without works, is dead.” Jas 2:14;17)

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Prayers We No Longer Pray at Mass

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Introibo ad altare Dei – “I will go up to the altar of God.” For centuries this was the way every Mass began, invoking the beautiful Psalm 42, the Judica me, a Psalm of deliverance and praise. “Judge me O God and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; deliver me from the unjust and sinful man, For you are my God and my strength… Send forth your light and your truth; they have led me and brought me to your holy mountain, and to your tabernacle.”

Before approaching the sacred space in those dark, pre-Vatican II days, priest and servers would humbly pray at the foot of the altar, confessing their sins in the Confiteor and begging God’s mercy, pardon, and absolution. Only then would the priest ascend the steps to the altar even as he entreated God, “Take away from us our iniquities, we implore thee, Lord, that with pure minds we may worthily enter into the holy of holies: through Christ Our Lord, Amen.” Foremost in the former Mass ritual was the sense of man’s unworthiness and abject humility before God, for what priest and people were about to enter into was the most profound worship of the infinite, all powerful Godhead. This supreme act of adoration entailed man’s most solemn duty toward his Creator and Savior, and so one had to carefully prepare oneself carefully before performing it.

In the wake of Vatican II those prayers at the foot of the altar as well as many other Mass prayers were suppressed, ostensibly to make this, the highest prayer of the Church, “more understandable” to the faithful. With the introduction of the so called Novus Ordo or New Mass in 1970 even more prayers from the Sacred Liturgy disappeared. Today, with no utterance of preparatory prayer, the priest boldly processes without pause up to the altar itself, then begins the Mass not by addressing God, but rather the people. “The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” He may even add a little chit chat or introduce various guests. In any event the priest’s initial dialogue is clearly directed not towards God but to the assembly. The emphasis has shifted from the once humble reverence and piety prerequisite to approaching the Divine (“Moses, take off your sandals, for the ground on which you are standing is holy ground”) to a self-congratulatory, gee, it’s great we all showed up to engage in our little tea party with God.

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Importance of History

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Every single one of us has a history inherited from a family, grandparents, our nationality, etc. But it seems that too many people today take the short view of history. It ends where their personal memories end. Educators sometimes unwittingly protract this problem by too often stressing the future while shortchanging the importance of the past. Granted, education should prepare one for the future, but it is equally important to remind students that there is no such thing as a future without the past that leads up to it. In short, it is impossible to know where we are going if we don’t know where we’ve already been. Continue reading →