Just to start things off

JMJ

What drives the youth of today? I myself at 25 years of age have reached the point where considering myself part of that sector of society becomes daring if not wishful. But nonetheless there has been in the past generations of the young of the world an increasing trend away from God and a move towards things more sensual or sensible. It’s not a fact that is widely disputed yet unfortunately there is little concern for the morale of the youth.

The young have found themselves in the midst of humanities greatest and most important battle. As cliché as it all may sound, it is neither the war on terror nor on those parties who wish to topple or overtake our governments. Yes such struggles are important and weigh heavily on what will happen within our lifetimes, this battle weighs what will happen to us for the rest of eternity. It is a “do or die” battle, literally, and if we do not take arms we will be swept away with the deceits of the enemy who “prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”

One word to describe their situation:

TRAPPED

But why do I describe the youth as trapped? How and by who? Unlike previous times vices have never been so widely promoted and accepted by society. Even in the Philippines, where I currently reside, whose majority of the population, over 80%, are Catholic, the Culture of Death slowly wraps its claws around the very thicket of its Catholic roots. But regardless of where you go in the world, there is a similar story, a tragedy to be shared. The music videos, TV shows, fashion, dancing, advertising and everything that builds this present culture gives a false image of happiness, and we have sunk our teeth so deep into the bait that we can’t, or don’t want to, let go. It’s all too attractive and enticing to renounce for most people and so we are led to justify ourselves and defend our “stance” on why these things are ok. All around us we have examples of people trapped by their own desires, passions, and wants. Not allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit of God, but instead by the flesh and the spirit of the world. But what we have in this world is only temporary; our very lives are transitory, meaning we are pilgrims moving toward eternity. God desires that we rise above the sensual and hold firmly on him through the spiritual.

Trapped by whom? Of course we know who, it is he who we as children of God and of the Blessed Mother have been placed “in enmity,” or at odds, with. Lucifer, satan, the devil, say it how you want it, he leads the rebellion against God and His people. But he does not act alone; he has with him the other third of the angels who fell with him after their rebellion against God. Who else? There are also those, men and women like you and me, who have knowingly, or even unknowingly, allied themselves with these powers of darkness. Who promote and themselves flirt with the dangers of the Culture of Death.

Yes now we know, if we didn’t already, that we have an enemy. It is the devil, who is more real than most people would like to believe, and his cohorts. On the hierarchy of creation the devil and those other fallen angels are preternatural beings, and we are merely natural beings. How do we fair against such odds?

Actually our odds are pretty good, in fact there overwhelmingly great. We may lose on the hierarchy of creation, but we have God who is SUPERnatural. “What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31) If we are trapped then let us have recourse to God to set us free. For he is the same God who showed his might, power and glory in Egypt to free them from their bondage, how much more can he do for us if we only allow Him to work those miracles through us and in us. He has given us all the means to overcome ourselves and all that could stand in the way with our journey to holiness. Holy Mass, Holy Hours of Adoration, the Holy Rosary, 2000 years worth of saints whose examples we can follow, legions of heavenly hosts and much more. We have no excuses and need only the DESIRE for holiness, the DESIRE to love God.