Thursday, September 16, 2010

Fulfill your Baptismal Call, Evangelize the Culture

This is a quote from Pope Benedict XVI's homily to the Scottish Church in Glasgow earlier today.
The evangelization of culture is all the more important in our times, when a “dictatorship of relativism” threatens to obscure the unchanging truth about man’s nature, his destiny and his ultimate good. There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatize it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty. Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect, leading us to look upon every person as a brother or sister. For this reason I appeal in particular to you, the lay faithful, in accordance with your baptismal calling and mission, not only to be examples of faith in public, but also to put the case for the promotion of faith’s wisdom and vision in the public forum. Society today needs clear voices which propose our right to live, not in a jungle of self-destructive and arbitrary freedoms, but in a society which works for the true welfare of its citizens and offers them guidance and protection in the face of their weakness and fragility. Do not be afraid to take up this service to your brothers and sisters, and to the future of your beloved nation.
The Holy Father is speaking to the Scots, but it is just as pertinent to us in the US.  This evangelization begins  in our hearts.  We must die to the self-destructive and arbitrary freedoms that are projected onto us by media and our secular education system.  Live a life of the sacraments.  Live a life absorbed in shadow of the cross.  It is then that we will fulfill our baptismal call and evangelize this culture which is ruled by a dictatorship of relativism.

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