Anthony W. Antolic
Theological Reflection on the Grace of
God's Virtues
11/18/07
In
September of 2007, Pope Benedict the 16th, made yet
another statement warning against the self destruction of the western
world. The Pope was at a conference, organized by the European
community, when the statement was made. During his talk, the
respected religious leader, spoke of the West's “rejection of her
Christian Values as the basis of a just society”(K of C, 23)1.
But what are the Christian Values, which the Pope was referring too?
I
can tell you the Catholic Catechisms definition: however, what a book
says, and how we live our day to day lives, are to different things.
The moral virtues, which the Pope spoke of, are acquired through
human effort, aided by God's grace. So, if you don't do your part to
live the way God wants us to, your moral compass will be thrown off.
We need not read the Bible if we aren't going to let our our day to
day lives be a reflection of Christ's shadow.
At
the turn of the 19th century, a young priest in Chicago
proper, saw that the people of his parish starving. So one day Father
Micheal J. McGiveney, called all of the men in his parish together
for a meeting. He saw to it the each man would watch over his family
as well as his brothers. You see Father McGiveney knew that the
reason that his people could not find jobs was do to discrimination.
The signs hung in ever store front window, who was hiring. The signs
read “Irish needn't apply.”
My
point is, the young priest saw a need, and the Knights of Columbus
was born. Today over 125 years latter, the K of C has raise millions
of dollars for needy families. If you do not live the life of a
Christian and still claim to be walk with God, you are doing nothing
but lip service. I think we as American Christians, both Protestants
and Catholics alike, have forgotten our roots.
We
have become so self involved that we no longer want to help our
brother. Our Christian virtues have been replaced with materialism
and greed. Our morals have been replaced with an idea among our
youth; that there is no Right and Wrong, only what is Right for the
individual. That is what Pope Benedict was saying. As a culture, we
have rejected our Christian values, and we need to get them back.
1K
of C = The Knights of Columbus's Columbia Magazine, November
issue of 2007