This Lent: Love the World

The world is not an evil place, there is evil in it. Take a look at a statue of the Immaculate Conception. That snake is wrapped all the way around the globe, his head poised in apparent calm as though he has nothing to fear. His tail twists across the continents, and his belly crushes the oceans. But, he is the enemy of the world, not its king, not its creator, not is essence. He is not winning, and he will not win.

Atop his massive head is a heel of which we are a part. The Immaculate is in the process of dismantling his reign and tenacious grip. The world is owned by the Lord, created by the Lord, loved by the Lord. The world is good, God said so, and He sent His Son to redeem ALL of creation. He sent His Son, the sum of all Revelation and Gooness, to walk on this earth in order to ultimately restore order to His dominion and to give us mortal men a hope of happy immortality.

The world is the place of our redemption, and it is the duty and joy of the Church to take part in that redemption through evangelization. As members of a secular institute, and followers of St. Maximilian Kolbe, we (the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries) have VOWED ourselves to this mission in the world and for the world. This mission, however, is common to all LAITY. Furthermore, MI MEMBERS have given themselves to the Immaculata for this mission. Take it seriously... If we are not with Him, we are against Him, and we already know who is winning.

The world is not in need of doomsday messages and damnation warnings (few people listen to this anyway). The world is in terrible need of souls vibrant with the love of God. It cries for souls who trust and accept day to day in His presence and Love. It needs people who find God everywhere, and bring Him everywhere, and love Him everywhere. The world needs people who take the mission of evangelization seriously, not out of fear and obligation, but out of charity and zealous gratitude.

So, I offer the challenge: This Lent - LOVE THE WORLD and YOUR MISSION IN IT.

Secularism: A Deceitful Process

Today we often experience that words have lost their original meaning.  We hear, read, and see words like love, freedom, choice, being used and abused to express realities which have nothing or very little to do with what love, freedom, and choice should really mean.  We can say that this is one of the many results of that deceitful process called “secularism.”

Secularism can be defined as "a closed system that affirms that human existence and destiny are fully explainable in terms of this world without reference to God and eternity."  It follows that a secularistic view of life determines a practical mentality of indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations in every respect and aspect of life.  This is, perhaps, the greatest threat of our times.  However, there is no time for us to become discouraged!

In fact, the Second Vatican Council states that laity, being called to live in the midst of the world and of secular affairs, are precisely committed “to have the Gospel spirit permeate and improve temporal order” (Apostolic Actuositatem, 2); that is, to be leaven in the world through the vigor of their Christian spirit....

...As we consecrate ourselves totally to the Immaculata, we join ourselves to her and come to participate in her being consecrated to God in truth and sent into the world as Christ’s bearers.  Through our consecration to her, as St. Maximilian experienced and teaches, we are enabled to imbue every aspect and dimension of life with her spirit; that is, God’s spirit.  With her, we find the most effective way to successfully fulfill our call to be leaven in the world and to collaborate in expanding the Family of God, also in the present history of mankind!

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