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Contemporary commentators often report that there is not much difference between the manner in which the majority of Catholics act with respect to such issues, for example, as the active homosexual life style, abortion, cohabitation, contraception, euthanasia, and fetal stem cell research, and how the rest of the non-Catholic population acts.
How tragic!
Has it been the poor example of Catholics that have led others astray? Or have Catholics simply abandoned their faith in order to fit in? An affirmative answer to either of these questions is a damning admission.
Alas, we have forgotten who we are, whom we are called to be, how we are to live our lives, and where we are going.
May these words of Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. stir us to be “every inch a Catholic”. The salvation of our souls and the souls of all those with whom we interact hinges in our doing so:
“In the Gospel it is said of Jesus that ‘they watched Him.’ Now, I am a follower of Christ; and I may be sure that the more Christ-like I am, the more nearly I imitate the Savior, the more closely am I watched by those around me.
My superiors and those of my household watch me. When I go out into the world all those with whom I come in contact watch me. Catholics watch me. Non-Catholics watch me still more when they know that I am a Catholic, in order to see how a Catholic behaves, whether he really lives up to the holy teachings of his Church, whether he practices what he preaches, so to speak.
My guardian angel watches me right along; he never for a moment takes from me his eyes, so full of concern for my welfare. Neither does the devil let me out of sight for a minute. But, above all, God's all-seeing eye watches me.
I must play my part well; I am being watched. I am a Catholic and I must be every inch a Catholic, loyal to my God, to my Church."
(From The Way to God)
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