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I acknowledge I was a somewhat-unusual child growing up. There were things that bothered me; things most children probably didn’t even notice. One example was the cast iron stack in my family’s house. Nowadays, these pipes, which carry all of the wastewater out of the home, are made from PVC plastic. But years ago, they were made out of heavy cast iron. The stack in my childhood home started to rust all over and it drove me crazy. With my parents’ permission, I took a wire brush and scraped all the rust spots off the pipe and then applied a slick coat of black spray paint. It looked as good as new. For about a month. Then the rust spots reappeared, right through the new paint, again and again, no matter how many coats of paint I put on. I was frustrated until my dad explained that the pipe was rusting from the inside out and could never be fixed from the outside. The water had slowly compromised the inside of the pipe over several decades and that damage was finally starting to show on the outside. Only replacing the pipe would fix the problem.
I think of this experience as I reflect on the state of our society and even sometimes, our Church. It is sadly too common to hear discouraging stories of corruption, hypocrisy, and selfishness from civil and religious leaders. But the damage isn’t just limited to leaders. Do we ever go a week without some headline of crimes against the innocent? Places that have traditionally been off-limits as safe havens for learning, leisure, and worship frequently become ground-zero for the next human tragedy. Now, more than ever, there is an outcry to fix the problem by passing more laws, increasing punishments, widening background checks, or focusing on mental health. All understandable measures and perhaps some will help but none get to the source of the rot, which is coming from the inside.
The answers we seek, the safety we crave, the peace and respect we long for will not be a quick fix and won’t come about simply through the actions of congress, meeting with a doctor, or pure human effort. That is like me scraping and painting the old pipe in our house. That is trying to fix a problem from outside. It might make us feel better for a while but the rottenness is much deeper.
The deeper problem is the moral health of our nation, most especially in the fundamental building block of human society: the family. Our families are under constant attack from many forms of anger, violence, indifference, selfishness, and efforts to re-define it in ways that are contrary to God’s plan; many children breathe this poisonous air, day after day. Over the course of years and generations, this begins to affect the whole fabric of society and becomes a sort of incubator for violent acting-out and disorder.
You and I live in a nation that has, in the last half-century, sanctioned the murder of tens of millions of unborn children through abortion in what is supposed to be the safest of all places, their mother’s womb. Even now, in Missouri, there is effort to gather signatures so that our state constitution can be amended to include abortion as a so-called human right. As Christians, we believe that rights come from God; would God defend and promote the slaughter of innocents. Scripture gives a very clear answer! If a society allows its most defenseless members to be dispatched under the pretense of law and freedom, is it so shocking that troubled individuals feel entitled to snatch that so-called right for themselves as they callously injure or end the lives of others without regret?
The connection between the breakdown of the family and the serious social issues that plague us is well-researched and well-established. But many people don’t want to talk about it it because it means confronting something that is very personal to each of us: how we choose to live our lives and what our priorities are.
As our society increasingly glorifies sin and seizes powers that belong to God alone, it is up to Christians and people of good will to stand up and recapture the culture. We have a responsibility to prayerfully and purposefully push back against those who are promoting the culture of death; not simply bury our heads in the sand or shake our fists in outrage. We are fortunate to still live in a nation where we get to choose our leaders and practice our faith openly but we can lose those gifts by indifference or laziness. We must demand more from those who lead us but we also must demand more from ourselves. This lenten season is an opportunity to do just that, to recommit ourselves to a deeper friendship with God, by giving him more of our lives. We do this practically by more faithfully observing the commandments we heard in the first reading and allowing Jesus to cleanse us from the inside out as we heard in the gospel. This purification can be painful and uncomfortable at times, and it is always easier to see evil in others instead of acknowledging it in ourselves. But if we declare parts of our lives and hearts off limits, if we never look inward, we are just painting over the rust.
As always, our faith gives us hope and strength to do what must be done. Following Christ each day gives us the courage to challenge and cleanse the parts of our culture that have become selfish, dangerous, and hostile to life, family, and human dignity. The example of Jesus in the temple reminds us that we cannot just sit by and throw up our hands in despair. Zeal for God’s plan of salvation, zeal for the dignity of every human person, zeal for the flourishing of our families must consume us and move us to action.
No one and no thing is beyond redemption. Our culture can still be redeemed and returned to the glory God intends. This will only happen when we show mutual respect for each other and value the life and rights of our neighbors as much as our own. This lesson begins in the home and is strengthened by faith. Strong families —— and individuals with virtue and integrity are the foundation of a strong and prosperous society. Take this week to prayerfully reflect on the state of your soul and the spiritual health of your family. Make sure both are a place of virtue, generosity, service, and respect. Make it clear that each person in your home is appreciated and loved. Be accountable to others and take responsibility for your actions. Allow God to purify you from the inside out. This is the way of peace. This is the way that leads to eternal life.
