(AIDED BY EXTRACTIONS FROM BLESSED CARDINAL NEWMAN, BISHOP FULTON SHEEN AND ST. AUGUSTINE)

Living with God in todays world

In today’s world of overbearing materialism it can be very difficult to live out a spiritual life. So many distractions draw us ever further away from God and his holy church.  A major influence on our spiritual lives is the gospel of T.V.  A constant bombardment on the way we live our lives each day, is in complete contrast to the way GOD and his holy church teaches us.  In these modern times it is possible our Catholic Faith could disappear amid the glitz and glamour of this world.  To worship these things that do not speak to us, recognise us, or love us, is not religion. There are but two things in the whole universe, OUR OWN SOUL AND THE GOD WHO MADE IT.  Perishable life disappears, riches fly away, and popularity is fickle, old friends die, the world changes.  We all seek happiness but few find it due to our quest for earth –bound things such as possession of wealth or power, or indulgence in the pleasures of the senses. It is true that we are weak and our powers are limited but, by means of prayer which unites us to a God of infinite power and love, we can obtain grace, which makes easy what otherwise would be too difficult or impossible.  Many people shy away from the Christian way of life because it involves self–denial but, if people are prepared to submit themselves to great sacrifice for reasons of temporal security, why not for eternal security.

We cannot live a Christian life without prayer. Yet we often pray with difficulty, distraction and complaint                         

I am distracted when I pray

God does not seem to answer my prayer

I don’t feel any satisfaction in prayer.            

We feel our prayers are not heard and do us no good.  The reason for comments such as these is that prayer is often misunderstood. I believe we have the wrong idea of the principle of prayer and its fruits. We tend to judge prayers effectiveness by concrete, sensible, and immediate results, by the results produced for oneself or for others. If religion is to be devotion, and not to be a mere matter of sentiment. We must increase our knowledge of God before we can feel love, fear, hope, or trust towards him. The very idea of Christianity in its profession and history is a definite message from God to man, distinctly convey to us by his chosen instruments, to be positively embraced and acknowledged as true on the grounds of it being divine. If we allow ourselves to float down the current of the world, living as other men, gathering up our notions of religion here and there, as it may be, we have little or no true idea of a particular area.  We conceive that Almighty God works on a large plan, but we cannot realise the wonderful truth that he sees and thinks of us as individuals. We cannot believe he is really present everywhere, that he is everywhere we are, though unseen. We cannot bring ourselves to get hold of the fact that he sees what is going on among ourselves at this moment; that one man may fall and another man may be exalted, at God’s silent appointment the timid need to be reminded that the Christian message is one of good news.  That is what the word GOSPEL means.  It is a message of reconciliation between God and man, and telling us in the clearest possible terms that there is a life beyond the grave _a life far richer than any life here on earth  So as Catholics . We must turn back to god or suffer the consequences of our actions.  Ask yourselves this, either there is no God, and we know there truly is, the human race is out joint with the purpose of its CREATOR.  We are created by a God who loves us.  A God who created the human race TO LOVE, HONOUR, SERVE, OBEY, and to GLORIFY HIM   To believe in God, is to believe the being and presence of one who is all holy, and all powerful, and all gracious; how can a man really believe this of him and make free with him?  It is almost a contradiction in terms.  Even pagan religions considered faith and reverence identical.