I have made my choice….”As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the book of Joshua that the people of Israel must make a choice…Foreign tribes and nations are influencing the people…..”If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling”…..At this point in salvation history, Moses is dead and Joshua is the leader of the people of God…..After he boldly tells his people they must make a choice - Joshua tells them his choice…..”As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD”…This line caught my eye as I read the readings from the Mass today because I have a picture hanging in my house that says the same thing……Like the Jewish people, who fled Egypt in search of a homeland….We too are a people on a journey…..And in order to “get back to where we came from”….We must make a choice….We either allow the influences of a pagan culture to “get into our homes”…Influence our children….Dictate our lifestyle….Or we do what Joshua did - “Draw a line in the sand” and proclaim…..”As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD”……….As the head of my household - That same decision was made - And there will be no turning back!

“You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever”

As a co-host of a radio show, I talk with many different people across the culture. One of the guests on our show said something I will never forget…..The pagan culture creeps into our homes in very subtle ways, almost like “a mist coming into our home under our door”……What do we do to keep bad influences out of our home?…..What is communicated to your children on the television, in the advertisements and commercials, on their phone, etc?….What are we doing to keep those bad influences out!?!…Do we just throw up our hands and say - “That is just the way it is”?…....Or……Do we strive to set the bar high?…..Clearly as Catholics we all live in the world and as a result we will be exposed to certain bad influences - This sadly is apart of life…But then the question becomes - How do we navigate those influences?…That is the question!!!!…And when it comes to children and young adults….I will be very blunt as I always am in these reflections - They are “sitting ducks” - Like shooting “fish in a barrel” when it comes to cultural influences….More reason why we as parents must be ever vigilant……But how do we “see” the pit falls of our culture?……St Paul in scripture tells us…………”Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens”……..What is the armor of God? - The answer - Grace! - To live in the state of grace….When we pray the Rosary everyday…When we go to Confession with a Priest once a month…When we receive the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday….We live in the state of grace……”Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root” (CCC - 1865)….What does that mean?….When we are not in the state of grace - We do not “see” clearly - And our will is weakened…..Grace allows us to navigate the world through the eyes of God…Without this vision, we are at a great disadvantage…..We are “sitting ducks”…….And this is how our home is infiltrated by a pagan culture…Just as it was in the time of Joshua in the Old Testament

“I bless the LORD who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Today we hear in the first reading from Mass, Joshua tells his people that they must fight against pagan influences….To stand firm in the Lord….The same is true today, maybe even more true due to our easy access to information by means of social media and the internet…..The bottom line is this - Life comes down to choices….However, if we want to make the right choices - We need clear vision - To navigate the “landscape” and avoid the many “potholes” of life that are disguised by the culture as “good choices”….....Grace is the key to this vision…..Grace gives us “sight”……Grace strengthens our will and resolve…..Without it - We are at a great disadvantage….So as St Paul tells us….”Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm”……I have made my choice….”As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”