The Catholic Defender: Keep Your Eyes Open
"Be watchful (keep your eyes open), stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love". 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Proverbs 20:13: "Love not sleep, lest you be reduced to poverty; eyes wide open mean abundant food". Matthew 25:13 states, "Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." There is the constant theme that we are to keep our eyes open, to keep watch and to stand firm in our faith. In today's world, it seems that compromise is everywhere. People are totally all over the board not caring much for the Word of the Lord. Who is listening? Who is awake? This is one of the important missions of the Shepherds of the Church, to stay awake and protect the flock from predictors. Young David told King Saul, "Your servant used to tend his father's sheep, and whenever a lion or bear came to carry off a sheep from the flock, I would go after it and attack it and rescue the prey from it's mouth. If it attacked me, I would seize it by the jaw, strike it, and kill it. Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear, and the uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God" (1 Samuel 17:34-37). Similarly, Job states, "Whoever heard of me blessed me: those who saw me commended me. For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted; the blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful. I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I; I was a father to the needy; the rights of the stranger I studied, and I broke the jaws of the wicked man; from his teeth I forced the prey"(Job 29:11-17). Job went out and sought the Lord's work. He was not apathetic to the needs around him and he was a champion to those oppressed. Like David and Job, St. Peter and his successors are called to protect the sheep even those within the clutches of the lion and bear. We are to stand up for the Lord's justice aganst injustice, even when the evil is coming from those of authority. Jesus states, "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:16). Consider Zechariah 4:6, "Then the Lord says, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." If we had the faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains, we must stay alert and keep our eyes open. To keep watch and not to let go of the wheel. Our generation has fallen asleep, the Church is seen like a "sleeping giant". There are something like 70 million Catholics in the United States, could you imagine what would happen should the Church ever wake up? We could end abortion, strengthen true marriage, bring back the family unit. Bring back a culture of life and respect and honor of God. Fathers, it is time that we stand up for our Faith, to love our wives and Children. Children are more likely to hold on their Faith when Catholic Fathers are faithful. Over 90% of the children compared to about 35% when the Mother is trying to do it all. We cannot continue to be a sleeping giant if we are going to have a chance of returning America back to God.
The Military is a great place to see what is happening in society because we receive what is reflected in society. As a Senor NCO, it is a daily task when your dealing with problem Soldiers and work with them to make them productive for the mission.
It's like that at the family level as well, we need the eyes of faith!