If we fix the man - We fix society

Today the Universal Church commemorates the life of St Augustine of Canterbury from the sixth century…..Augustine was a priest in Rome sent to England…After his first trip failed, the Pope sent him back….His second trip was successful - He converted the King of England and thousands of his people followed….Why is this significant?…..The Church must influence the influential….This was a Jesuit strategy used in the Far East by St Francis Xavier….And this is a strategy that needs to be utilized today…..Far too many “intellectuals” and leaders of industry “think” the Catholic faith is for simpletons…..Or only for the poor and uneducated…Or for people who have nothing else in life to hold on too…..Nothing could be further from the Truth…..Only Jesus Christ and our Catholic faith gives meaning to suffering and death - Something that will impact every single human being on the face of the earth…..When we do not have a relationship with God…We will NEVER fully understand ourself…Nor will our world view be formed in a way which allows us to “see” clearly and avoid the pitfalls that so many in our world today are destroyed by……St Paul also understood the importance of influencing the influential…..Today in the first reading from Mass, Paul tells a man the following…. "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your HOUSEHOLD will be saved”….Why is that significant?…Because sociological statistics show that to this very day, if the man is the spiritual leader of his HOUSEHOLD, his wife and his children will follow…..Therefore, if Catholics look to influence society…They need to influence men!…..If we fix the man - We fix society!……Do we value above everything else our Catholic faith in our home?…..How do we as men lead our family when it comes to our Catholic faith?……Believe it or not - Nothing is more important than teaching our children what it means to be a practicing Catholic…It will guide all their decisions…Who they marry…How they will treat their wife and children…..What they do with their time…What they do with their money…How they treat people…..That begins and ends with the man of each HOUSEHOLD!……If we fix the man - We fix society!

“I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will guide you to all truth”

Sadly family life has broken down in the west…People are no longer getting married and having children and if they do, more than half of marriages end in divorce…Why do you think that is the case?…..Our "modern" world has abandoned God - A HUGE mistake!….Marriage is a Sacrament - To go about it any other way in my humble opinion is not advisable - Why?…..Statistics show that 55% of all marriages end in divorce…If a couple goes to Church on Sunday, only 20% of those marriages end in divorce….And if a married couple does not use contraception and utilized Natural Family Planning (NFP) to space out their children - Only 3% of those marriages end in divorce…This is not my opinion - These are sociological statistics!…..What does this tell you?….It says to me that marriages that are grounded in God and the Natural Law last…The family that prays together stays together…And this “type of family” must begin and end with the man!…Men must “step up” their role as “priest” of their home…Again - NOTHING is more important than imparting a strong faith to our children - Why?…Because their faith will guide them long after we are gone!…Money gets spent and if children are not “formed” properly, they will waste every cent you give them due to bad decisions made throughout their life - Count on that!…We all want to give what is “best” to our children….Nothing is more important than leading our families as men of God - NOTHING!

“Your right hand saves me. The LORD will complete what he has done for me; your kindness, O LORD, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands”

Today we see both in the example of St Paul in the first reading from Mass and also in the life of St Augustine of Canterbury that in order to “pass on” the Catholic faith, we must influence the influential…That is not only the case in the public square but also in the family…..Words will not do that alone…Our actions MUST speak…How do we prioritize our time?…What do we spend our money on?….How do we utilize our God given gifts?…These are the things that define us…These are the things that “speak to the world”….These are the things that teach our children…..This all begins with men…..If we fix the man - We fix society