Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in You as their Creator and guide, you may restore what You have created and keep safe what You have restored…
Collect from 18th week in ordinary time
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans chapter 8 verse 22 “that the whole creation has been groaning with labor pains together until now”. Looking around me, I can see the effects of the fall of man probably much more clearly than in the times of Paul in the dire circumstances which have been accumulating their tragic results on all of creation.
We humans, in our hubris and selfish ambition, in rejection of God’s love and provision, have wreaked havoc on this beautiful planet that He fashioned for our delight and existence. The pollutants from our industrialization and focus on material pursuits cause spiritual and physical collateral damages that are unsurpassed.
There are millions of us living and working in unsafe, demeaning conditions for the profit of the few. Materialism’s ruthless march forward has resulted in the neglect, abuse, sale and murder of humans, especially our children, whether before or after birth. Our rejection of the Divine order of God also has caused too many to turn to mind-numbing, soul-crushing entertainment and pursuit of pleasure which keep us distracted from more important things like the condition of our souls, our right relationship with each other and the root causes of the environmental problems we have fomented. So many look to the government to put into place policies and assistance to try to remedy the social and corporate problems, but we are now seeing how wrong that can go with authoritarian saftey-ism ramping up around the world.
I look around and I hear the cries for help to clean up all the by-products of our “advances”; the accumulations of plastics, toxic tech wastes, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and pesticides, etc, etc…I hate to have to say it, but, no matter if all the volunteer clean-up organizations get all the “good” people to work 24 hours a day for a year, the minute they think they’re finished containing the waste, they will turn around and see that it was all replaced with more as soon as they turned their backs.
Until our God “restores what [He] has created”, nothing will get and stay better. We all must repent and turn to Him, changing our ways spiritually and physically but, at this point, just as in the past, He must intervene in a drastic way that will shock us out of our God-less stupor and recognize how far we have strayed from Home. Then and only then will He be able to restore us and His beautiful world with our cooperation.
The cataclysmic physical changes from the natural galaxy-wide, solar and planetary cycles that are to come will probably be the means through which the renewal of the physical environment will come. They will result in the loss of countless lives, many of whom, through God’s mercy will be saved when they cry out to Him. Those who stay behind will be able to focus once again on the just stewardship of creation and the renewal of the spiritual environment through the simplicity of life that will allow for more focus on faith and family and, hopefully, a better collaboration with our Lord to help Him to “keep safe what He has restored”.
In the mean time, as we continue careening towards the precipice of the global elites’ plan for the “Great Reset“, we still have a lot of work to do with evangelization and education about the faith. We all need to deepen our spirituality and relationship with our Lord and each other.
Personally, I have found that the writings that Our Lord Jesus inspired St. Faustina, Elizabeth Kindlemann and, most of all, Luisa Piccarreta to write, are the ones that guide my growth and relationship with Him best. St. Faustina’s emphasis on the Father’s Mercy through Jesus’ passion, Elizabeth’s focus on the Flame of Love prayers for unity with Him through Mary’s heart and the completion of this unity by the fusion of our acts in the Divine Will, explained in the messages Jesus gave to Luisa in The Book of Heaven, all nourish my soul’s path to sanctification.
I pray for everyone the rapid progress which has happened in my life over the last seven years or so. All it takes is a willingness to sacrifice those things which are passing: like an immaculate house, gourmet foods, binge-watching/reading trivialities, buying the latest fashions, playing endless video games, excessively obsessing over your appearance, etc… Give up all these things in exchange for silence, prayer and spiritual reading. If you are willing to make these changes, little by little, He will help you make big strides along the path to complete union with Him so He can restore a little corner of His creation in your heart and keep it safe.
But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:20-25
Glimpses of Grace 