Failing Our Children – Sermon by Fr. Joseph Levine
Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church, Burns, Oregon, and Missions; September 26, 2021
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time
“O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy.”
I think most Catholics who pray the rosary regularly are familiar with this prayer that by custom is recited at the end of each decade. Our Lady of Fatima taught this prayer to the shepherd children.
Today, in the readings, our good and gentle Lord, Jesus Christ, out of love for us, speaks to us about the fires of hell or ‘Gehenna’ and in the background is the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus, to forgive our sins, deliver us from hell, and lead us to heaven.
First, though, let me say a word about millstones and the ways we have failed the children.
It would be better for a man to have a great millstone tied around his neck and be cast into the sea than to be cast into hell. That is the basic comparison. There is, however, a particular kind of sin that is referenced here, namely leading others into sin, whether by word or example. Jesus, said: Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin…
Today we think of the terrible crimes of some priests and bishops, perpetrated against children, and the crimes of other bishops in covering up the crimes of priests.
When the representative of Jesus Christ violates the innocence of a child, the child in his simplicity has a hard time distinguishing the representative and the One he represents. Hence, all too easily he loses faith not just in the priesthood, not just in the Church, but in Jesus Christ himself. When the representative of Jesus Christ violates the innocence of a child he turns his own person into a mocking and blasphemous image of Christ. There are contemporary artists who have done vile and blasphemous things with the crucifix. The priest abuser does the same with his own sacred person.
Even so, our gaze has been directed rather narrowly by the hypocritical media of the secular world. In a way I don’t know what makes me angrier, the priests and bishops, who betray their sacred office by abusing or approving the abuse of children, or the secular journalists, entertainers, politicians, teachers, and activists who point the finger at the Catholic Church, while committing or approving or promoting the very same crimes.
Actually, it looks like we are living in a time when evil shepherds are in cahoots with bad actors in the secular realm; it is a bit like the relationship between the beast and the false prophet in chapter 13 of Revelation.
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin.
We live in a society that for decades has with increasing intensity has publicly waged war on the innocence of children.
At best it is simple lack of public institutional guidance in what it means to be a man or a woman. That itself is a complete failure in the most fundamental task of education because education means nothing if it does not involve guiding boys to become men and girls to become women. The end result is not just toxic masculinity, but toxic femininity. That is ‘at best’.
From there it goes on to the contemporary standard of sexual morality, which is a message effectively taught in public schools for decades: “Anything goes between consenting adults; just avoid pregnancy and disease.” Well, at least it is restricted to consenting adults, right? Except, the very same attitude presumes that teenagers are going to do it anyway, so it is necessary to teach them to avoid disease and to pump the girls with heavy duty drugs to avoid the pregnancy part.
All that, however, just scratches the surface, as it does not enter into the vile, disgusting, and unprintable – but alas printed and filmed – perversions that are proclaimed by celebrity entertainers, “Teen Vogue”, and even talked about and taught in schools, and promoted beneath the name of ‘equality’ for LGBT. Then there is pornography, which has gained practically unlimited access to the market (and effectively to children at ever younger ages) in the name of ‘free speech’. All of this feeds the market for child trafficking. Finally, there is the ultimate child abuse, abortion.
All this means so many people on the road to hell and leading others on the road to hell. It is noteworthy that Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 warned of the introduction of immodest fashions that would be offensive to God and that more souls are damned to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other sin.
Even so, our focus is still too narrow.
Our Lord said, Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin. The biggest scandal is actually the attack on the faith of children, either depriving children of the knowledge of Jesus Christ – teaching them everything under the sun, providing them with all the opportunities in the world, fashioning for them all sorts of fun ‘memories’ and experiences, but leaving out the truth of Jesus Christ – or attacking and undermining the faith of those children who actually do believe.
In my experience children are very open to the faith; it is their parents and teachers who are not. Yet even parents who want very much to live the faith and pass it on to their children face an immense challenge.
In my experience Catholic children start to undergo a sustained attack on their faith beginning in middle school (at latest), continuing through high school, and if the faith of any children survive that onslaught, then the final assault will come in college. As a matter of fact, I would not recommend anyone go to college these days unless they go to one of a small handful of truly Catholic colleges. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.
Unfortunately, the faith of children has been abused not only in public schools but also in many Catholic schools and parishes and even in the celebration of the Mass. Unfortunately, many Catholics do not even know how their faith has been abused by bad catechesis and bad liturgy over the course of recent decades. Unfortunately, many Catholics do not know what they don’t know because they were never taught – or taught the contrary.
Really, we have a whole intertwined mess of sexual abuse, ‘faith abuse’, and liturgical abuse, and only the more evident aspects of the first is recognized.
The judgment of God weighs heavy upon us.
“O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy.”
What is hell?
Our Lady gave the children of Fatima a very powerful vision of hell. We do not have that vision but we have the vision that Jesus paints us with his words: Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
The image is taken from a place outside the ancient city of Jerusalem that had once been a place of idolatry and had been turned into the garbage dump for the city; there were always foul fires burning there and worms eating the garbage. Generation would come and go in Jerusalem, but the foul garbage dump remained outside the city. Jesus turned that scene into an image for the soul that departs from this world in a state of mortal sin, deprived of God’s grace and friendship.
Last Sunday I spoke of the intolerable pain of a guilty conscience; in this life we are masters at ‘covering-up’ and rationalizing. The souls of the damned have all possibility of ‘cover-up’ taken away from them. They are left eternally with the inescapable condemnation of their own conscience, together with their hardness of heart, their incapacity to repent. You could think of the addict, who even though he knows his addiction makes him miserable, does not want to change. The worm that does not die, in the first place, is the gnawing of the inescapable awareness that one has blown it, by his own choice, failed to achieve the goal for which he was created, separated himself eternally from God in whom all blessedness is found. The fire that does not go out is the will hardened in sin, which no longer provides the least satisfaction, hating God, and no longer capable of repentance. Physical pain is a mere add-on that comes after the resurrection of the body, when the living body is reunited to the damned soul to share in the punishment.
Do not wish hell for yourself or anyone else. Anyone who says, “I want to go to hell because all my friends are there”, does not know what he is talking about.
In his great epic, the Divine Comedy, the poet Dante, sets these words upon the gate of hell: “Justice caused my high architect to move: Divine omnipotence created me, the highest wisdom, and primal love.” (Dante, Inferno, Canto III, 4-6, trans. Anthony Esolen) Yes, primal love, because the love of God gives us the choice to respond freely to his love and he takes that choice seriously; if we refuse divine love, then hell is what we will find we chose for ourselves in its place. The final words on the inscription over the gate of hell are: “Abandon all hope you who enter here.” (Ibid., 8-9)
“O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy.”
Jesus came to save sinners from the fires of hell. That is where we would have all ended up had Jesus not given his life on the Cross for our salvation.
For us, the way of salvation begins with faith and baptism, through which we receive the forgiveness of sins and the life of grace. The forgiveness of sins and the life of grace is the work in us of the Holy Spirit, given us by Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father. The way of salvation leads to heaven, the vision of the Blessed Trinity and the glorious resurrection of the body. This is a hope that exceeds all that eye has seen, ear has heard, or the human heart can conceive. (Cf. 1 Cor 2:9) To attain that goal, however, we must live in fidelity to the grace we have received.
Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land. (Ps 143[142]:10 Douay Rheims) Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we attain the fulfillment of this hope.
In today’s 1st reading Moses exclaimed, Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!
Moses continually labored with two problems: the people were slow to learn the ways of God and even more resistant to putting them in practice. Imagine a teacher with a dull and rebellious class. That is what Moses was faced with. So he wishes that the whole people might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that they might be quick to learn and quicker to practice. Even Jesus, before his death and resurrection, before his ascension into heaven, before he sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, had the same experience. Perhaps his disciples meant well, but the Gospels are clear that they were not understanding him. Not until the coming of the Holy Spirit. Yet, the gift of the Holy Spirit is the promise of the New Testament, the promise of Jesus Christ.
Through the prophet Joel God had announced, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. (Joel 2:28) And through Ezekiel, I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to observe my ordinances. (Ez 36:27)
This is the gift we each received in baptism and was strengthened and sealed in confirmation.
Then what happened?
About the last thing anyone who looks at the Catholic Church will think is: “This is the people who are led by the Holy Spirit, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple.”
Quite simply, God has given the gift, but he does not force it upon us; we have refused to receive the gift; we have refused to collaborate. We have had other priorities, like the men who refused the invitation to the banquet in the Gospel parable. (cf. Mt 22:2-6; Lk 14:16-20) The arteries of the Church are blocked, blocked by our own will, our own refusal.
How many Catholics, in preparation for receiving the sacrament of confirmation, ardently prayed and begged the Holy Spirit to come into their life, to teach and guide them? How many Catholics, after receiving the sacrament of confirmation, turn frequently to the Holy Spirit, calling upon him precisely in virtue of the sacrament? How many Catholics, rather, after having received the sacrament of confirmation, leave the Church never to return? Thinking that they have fulfilled what is required of them and now they can be done with it?
How sad our Lord must be that he has done everything and more for our salvation, given us every gift, but we will have none of it, or give him only a half-hearted attention.
GK Chesteron once commented: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” (GK Chesterton, What’s Wrong with the World) Jesus himself said, When the Son of man comes will he find faith on earth. (Lk 18:8)
“O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy.”
The door remains open for us, but we must respond to the gift of the Holy Spirit and open the
door for Jesus Christ. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20)
Seek a Deeper Connection with God and Join Lay Cistercians of South Florida
Lay Cistercians of South Florida, is a community of lay people who seeks to have a deeper connection with God by living a life inspired by the monks and nuns through Lay Monasticism. Learn more about what is a Lay Cistercian on our website. Anyone who aspires to do the same as us, and is a confirmed Catholic is welcome to join us! We meet every second Saturday of the month at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida.
This Content Has Been Reviewed For Accuracy
This content has undergone comprehensive fact-checking by our dedicated team of experts. Discover additional information about the rigorous editorial standards we adhere to on our website.
