The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1955-02-25
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Ineonsidersts

Here we 90, with hardly perceptibe shift of
gears into the great road of penanee and sefdenial
Lent for the lover Of Christ is not vastly different
from other days and seasons. II Is a ume-as
eUeru day is a time-for taking up the Cross and
following Our Lord. Lent merely intenslties our
effort and schools us in the real business OF life;
il does not vary the effort or change the business.
Yet because of the intensity of its training
schedule Lent is time to notice the sharp oppo-
sition that exists between the tenets OF this world
we live in and the teachings of Christ and HIS
Church. To begin with, we have the declaration
of Our Lord that wordness is satanic He REJECTS
II utterly: The prince of this world SATAN cometh,
and in Me he hath not anything" To the inquiring
plate Christ declared that His kingdom IS not OF
this world.
The world is full of many things that may serve
mans use convenience and even pleasure lheSe
things are goods of the second and third order Of
Importance it is only when they are raised out OF
their true place and put into the position ot FIRST
Things that they embody the religion Of worldll-
ness which comes straight out of hell
Consider what shylock calls harmless neces-
sary cat Even in old Egypt the cat was once
household pet; first a pleasing and playful kitten,
and then an aloof starb0arder. But when the cat
was taken out of its proper place among the MINOR
items or symbols of normal domestic lie; Wnen
II was lifted from the heaFulstohe =" NV o'Ns
then il began to symbolic The disorder OF soul
which is called wordlincss-that is, false religion
And notice that there is change IN the cal,
petted as household favorte, or cursed as mousse
hold pest or worshipped household god, the
cat is still the same harmless little animal sun
CAPABLE of occupying its normal place in the normal
cat.loving home, and of being blocked sternly
out of the others The horrible change that occurred
in old Egypt was not a change in cats, but IN
Egyptians.
Now. il seems unlikely that, in our day, there
will arise any form of animal worship to degrade
the body polite Yet. il would not be too much to
saw that what was true OF the cat may win
us become true of the car. We are in no DANGER
at this moment of falling down 10 worship wis
kered pet or rather of using the pet TO symboiHe
an invisible thing which we do worship. Yet we
are in danper-and some of us have long sueeumbed
10 the danger,-of actually worshipping what is
symbolized by the car or by any OF the ultra-iux-
urious things that we mortgage our very lives 10
acquire.
And that is the core and essence of worldliness,
The religion of this world of which Satan is the
ruling prince The main tenet OF this religion
for wordlness is very real and very demanding
reliqion-is that mans fulfillment consists IN
ease abundance of funds, pleasure style socal po-
stion, and the admiration of his associates These
things
age with stress, on this and now on the other
item in the list Notice that each of the items is, IN
itself harmless enough, even good, These items
are good cats, they are very bad gods
If Won wish TO know what really interests the
American of today what holds his heart in reig-
ious thrall either listen to him talk, or listen TO
the talk that he is willing to hear Turn on radio
or TV. pick up current magazine and leaf through
the ads. There you have preached 10 you ana
printed for you the very gospel OF modern world
iiaess There YOU have the strong, constant appeal
sometimes fantastic in its energy OF expression to
buy what you cannot afford; TO go at once into
debt To indulge in pleasure or ostentation 'Tnat
will keep you grinding and grubbing months or
years to pay for Even wordness preaching ease,
imposes harsh penance-only il is an Improbable
penanee.
seek We first the Kingdom" says Christ The
world uses the very words But The Kingdom
OF Christ's preaching is heaven. The kingdom pro
claimed by the world is this earth. Christ IS able
to promise that il we live as we ought-using the
means He has provided for It's TO rise from sin, Ia
keep from sim and to advance in virtue-we shall
not lack needful goods of this world, But the world
is able 10 promise nothing,-not even success in
attaining the ideals it sets before us
Christ appeals to our strength the world ap
peals to our weakness Cast in the image of God
the human creature by original SIM has been weak
ened The world would pamper that weakness, IN
creasing il unto final destruction Christ. supplying
grace by His redeeming work and His Church
would have us regain pristine vigor and bring II
to fulflment in eternal ioy The world breaches
the fesh--"Live according to the flesh and die
Christ breaches the spirit IF by the spirit you NOR
tify the deeds of the flesh, you shall livef'
And threfore We fast and abstain, and attent
Lenten devotions, and hear daily Mass, and renew
our fervor for the sacraments not because certain
foods or amounts of foods have become suddenly
bad, or because secular recreation has become sin
full No. we follow the regimen of Lent to keeI
our vision clear and our scale Of values eorrectl!
balanced We strive to block the intrusion of sec
ondary things upon the domain Of What Come
First, II we find that the intrusion has alread,
begun we check it; we repe it, even at the cost o
painful spiritual operation.
Thus the essential effort of Lent is positiv
effort not merely negative one. We do no
merely keep away from things; we keep away fror
lesser things that greater ones may be positivel
possessed. Lent teaches to give up that we ma
attain, the hand that would be filled with gol
must first drop the dross that now fills it. Len
shows us Our Lord and God, by supreme and pc