God's Plan for America

So, you think the nation is in a bad state?
You call yourself a Christian?
By all means, vote your conscience in November - BUT, politics is not the answer.

It is up to every one of us who call ourselves Christian to turn this nation around - and God tells us how.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then

will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Seek God, seek personal holiness - not a holier-than-thou attitude, but seek to be truly godly; and it can only happen if you actually seek God and ask for the grace to become holy.

• Humble yourself
• Pray
• Seek His face
• Turn from your wicked ways

If every one of us who calls himself or herself Christian would do that - regardless of your denomination or church - if we would each seek Him within the particular tradition in which He's placed us -

THIS
NATION
WOULD
TURN
AROUND
O V E R N I G H T.

Politics is not the answer.
Yes, we should do our civic duty - we must render unto Caesar.
BUT, unless we are involve with government, we owe politics nothing more.
The change will come from outside the government, outside politics.
Change

society.
We must work to make this a Culture of Love - of Christ's love - Agape, philia.
Greed, avarice, corruption, hatred, discrimination - name any factor that you wish to characterize the brokenness of the nation - these are all creatures of darkness.
BUT, we are the light of the world. Christ, the light who shines through us, will expose and eliminate the darkness.
The more of us who live that light, the more of us who actually show ourselves to be Christians by our lives (not just our words), the more that darkness will be eliminated.

St. Rose of Lima on Grace from Tribulation

Today our Dominican family celebrates the memorial of St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617). She was the first canonized saint of the Western hemisphere, a contemporary of St. Martin DePorres and Saint John Macias, and “patron saint of Lima, Peru, all the Americas, the Phillippines, India, florists, gardeners, and people ridiculed for their piety”.

 

The Office of Readings today offers this excerpt from her writings for our fruitful meditation and response:

 
Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.”

When I heard these words, a strong force came upon me and seemed to place me in the middle of a street, so that I might say in a loud voice to people of every age, sex and status: “Hear, O people; hear, O nations. I am warning you about the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: We cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon trouble to attain a deep participation in the divine nature, the glory of the sons of God and perfect happiness of soul.”

That same force strongly urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace. It pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant. I felt as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body, but that it had burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through the whole world saying:

“If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! Without doubt they would devote all their care and concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions. All men throughout the world would seek trouble, infirmities and torments, instead of good fortune, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace. This is the reward and the final gain of patience. No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.”

                      (Source of image: St. Rose of Lima Parish, Safford, AZ)