Discouraging Reports

Numbers 12:16-13:33 "...But the men who had gone up with him said, "We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us." So they spread discouraging reports among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, "The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge men, veritable giants [the Anakim were a race of giants]; we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them."

Many leaders in the Church view us laity this way, regarding our ability to enter into living the life Jesus called us to. We are too weak. We are not capable. Even with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, all the angels fighting with us, the saints praying for us, and the Sacraments. The world of sin is just too much for us.

From Pope Leo the Great, "...The Christian people are invited to share the riches of paradise. All who have been reborn have the way open before them to return to their native land, from which they had been exiled. Unless indeed they close off for themselves the path that could be opened before the faith of a thief..."

We often close off the path for ourselves. Our leaders are responsible for keeping that path open through their encouragement and reminding us of the truth of the power of Christ and His  Church in our lives through the Sacraments. But they now close the path for us. You can't help being gay. You can't help lusting after other women. You can't help stuffing doughnuts down your neck. You can't help tearing down statues and assault police officers. Our encourages are discourages and must be countered.

Psalm 143 "...The enemy pursues my soul;

He has crushed my life to the ground;

He has made me dwell in darkness

like the dead, long forgotten.

Therefore, my spirit fails;

My heart is numb within me..."

Some of our leaders now, inadvertently, work for the enemy. They crush our spiritual lives to the ground. They leave us in our darkness rather than encouraging and challenging us to step into the Light. They have forgotten the power of Christ in their own lives and the lives of the laity. Therefore, our spirits fail. Our hearts grow numb with hopelessness. Who will lift us from this? It must be us laity by the power of Christ, for many of our leaders no longer see or live in the Light.

In the 4th Luminous Mystery, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, Jesus revealed to His people what they were capable of becoming through Him. He encouraged them. Our leaders now often tell us to stay where we are. You are fine being in a second marriage. It's okay that you wear women's clothes, although you are a man. You can't do any better. This is a lie of the enemy. We must counter it through our lives.

One of my parish priests asked today during his homily what the stumbling block is for us. For many of us, the stumbling block is the clergy. The ones who should remove the block instead reinforce it. In most cases, not by their words and actions but by their silence and inaction.

Ex 32:7-14 "...The Lord said to Moses, 'Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved..."

God didn't send Moses down to the people to encourage them in their idolatry. He didn't break out in revelry and dance so that they would be more comfortable with him. When he saw what they were doing, his anger flared, and he smashed the tablets the Lord had given them. He then melted down their idol, threw the ash from it into water, and made them drink it. Our leaders want to bless our depravity. They want to leave us in it rather than allow their righteous anger to flare if they are even capable of righteous anger anymore. We, the laity, who see the depravity, must remove it first from our own lives, using whatever means necessary. By doing so, we are setting an example for others and our doubtful leaders.

Human-Written, AI Spell-Checked 3/17/21 AD

Image from Unknown Artist