By Tom Thomas –
“What happened to the Bishop?” My 12-year old son asked me last night. I was reading a media report on my mobile and he happened to see that in passing. I struggled to answer. “He was accused of doing something bad.” I mumbled. “What was that?” he persisted. Somehow, I wriggled out of the matter by diverting his attention elsewhere. It was a really, really difficult moment for me.
His question continued to haunt me throughout the night. My morning run route the next day took me past the magnificent St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral. St Francis is the Patron Saint of Bangalore Archdiocese and through the efforts of great saints like him and St Thomas, our beautiful Catholic faith has remained strong in our country India – till now.
Our children look up to their parents as the first formators of their faith. And we as parents get the faith first from our own parents in turn, and we are nurtured in our faith by family prayers, seeing our parents attend mass regularly and observe our parents every action.
That is why it is a struggle every time that we read a media report on the falling of a religious bishop, priest or nun, especially in the context of our Catholic faith. We have to constantly pray for our religious at all times. There are many forces working to weaken our faith these days, especially in the mind of impressionable youngsters, where the pull of the world is very strong through the constant always on digital technology. We cannot avoid the effects of media on our minds.
When I reflect on the scenario, it seems so clearly laid out in the Bible:
We are each called to a vocation in life – whether as religious, single state or married. And once we have taken up that specific vocation there is no looking back (Luke 9:62).
It is for life. I have to be faithful to that vocation at all times. If — as a married man — I think I can entertain even a thought of intimacy with anyone other than my wife, that is absolutely wrong. (Mathew 5:28).
We are also taught in the Bible that through our senses which are great gifts given to us by God, we can also be led to sin (Mathew 18: 7-9).
There is also a strong warning laid out in the same Chapter’s earlier verse (Mathew 18:6), that one should not cause a little one to sin. And of one’s actions, knowingly or unknowingly, one leads a little one away from the Catholic faith it is a grave sin.
The wages of sin are so clearly spelt out in Romans 6:23.
We are indeed composed of our twin natures – the human part which craves for the desires of the flesh and the divine part – which seeks the desires of the Spirit. The struggle between our two contrasting natures is so aptly described by St Paul in Romans 7:14-25.
All throughout history, we have seen the great men and women of the Catholic faith – the saints — also struggled with this. St Francis of Assisi rolled in thorns and the snow to overcome his inner emotions which he believed could lead him to lust for example. Most of these great Saints conquered their inner selves through prayer and fasting. This seems to be the right antidote for our times. Let us emulate their example, and feast on good media, such as this online portal ICM, that strengthens our Faith rather than weakens it, let us read the lives of saints and be inspired and let us base our lives always on the Word of God where we are so clearly told how to live our lives and God given vocations to the fullest.
Let us fight the good fight as 2 Tim 4: 7 says and let us finish the race as worthy Catholics true to our vocations always. In ending, it is worthwhile to reflect upon this quote and see how we are living our lives today:
“Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians.” — Francis Xavier