Pastor's View - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 19:37 - 0 Comments

Advent Quest: Consistent Ethic of Life

How do we make the moral choices and decisions that impact best on our life? What a marvelous question! And it’s a question that has been asked for so long a time: for EONS!

What do we do with the question? It’s a question that this past election has had a lot to do with. It’s a question that has polarized our church. It’s a question that allowed the U.S. Catholic Bishops as well Vatican Council II, the Latin American bishops of CELAM, the bishops of the South Pacific, of our border region, of Africa and France make some statements that carried a prophetic voice calling all of us to look again at the choices we make, the decisions we pursue and the manner in which they are made.

Advent preparation is a seeking for the light. And the only light is Jesus in our life. But which Jesus are we to look for? And the Advent search we about, reflecting daily on the writings of prophets, might help us use our faith to continue the process of understanding the Presidential Campaign and how vitally important it is for each of us to remain engaged in the political process: assess the need of the corner of society where we live, perceive what it has to do with the national picture and make our voices made know.

To do all of that, we need to be consistent and consequent in our action.
Consistent: knowing where our decisions lead and weigh decisions on where we want to go. 1st Which way shall we go? 2nd How to?
Consequent: Decisions are consequent! Be they small or big decisions, they have consequence. A prophet is willing to seek the change that is needed and remains firm.

The pattern of the prophets needs to be our pattern of life as well.
 Call: a vision, a dream, a challenge from the world outside, or a need for one’s family: this is the heart of Vocation!
Dialogue: with God, with a friend or a spouse, with an angel, or one’s own heart: this is the heart of Prayer!
Commitment: to go, to do, to work, to be: this is the Christian Life, Christian Action!

Unfortunately, consistency isn’t a strong suite of many people. How about you?

fr. Charles

Continue…