True, True, True #7

Steve Kellmeyer has a good read up on his site about a talk he recently gave on the culture of death: specifically on his prediction of the coming onslaught of euthanasia. He ends with the line, "America, you aborted your children. Now your children will abort you."

Wow.

Yeah, you know, it's true.

He opines that Almighty Mammon will be what drives the demographic nightmare he predicts. But I would differ with that slightly; sure, money will be a factor, but the love of money comes from greed, and greed comes from selfishness. Selfishness is what caused original sin, when you really think about it. In speaking of Original Sin, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "...man preferred himself to God...."

Selfishness is nothing new, but something has caused the people of this era to put themselves first to an extreme that I don't believe history has ever documented before. Our materialistic worldview is dependent on indulgence, and sacrifice doesn't make you feel good. That's why the world will never understand Lent.

Modern Christians, too, have really lost touch with what it means to give something up. With the world constantly yammering at us to do what we want to do, it's very difficult to put others first. I'd bet that's what causes so many families - including Christian ones - to fall apart today.

I recall one of our local bishops speaking at a youth event and talking about a couple whose marriage he presided over. He said from his knowledge of the two, he knew that each of them was used always to getting his/her own way. That would change, he also knew, when the first child came along. An infant is perfect in its selfishness; the mother and father must literally attend to its every need. That work requires immense sacrifice on the part of the parents, and the sacramental marriage vows are intended to strengthen the bond between husband and wife so they can remain committed to each other during those stressful times.

But in a society where marriage vows are only valid if you still want them to be, marriages crumble and children's needs go unmet. There is so much pain and hurt coming down the pipe from the seeds our permissive culture has sown!

Perhaps the solution we come up with for those individuals, instead of counseling and healing, will be euthanasia.

Oh, Lord, where are we headed? Heal this land!