“We want God! We want God!”
Communism is a terrible terrible thing.
In Poland, for over three decades, the Communist regime worked actively to abolish religion and the practice of religious faith and belief in God.
Pope Saint John Paul II visited his homeland as Pontiff about thirty-four years after Communism had been established in Poland. Prior to his visit, the people were warned not to welcome him and not to participate in his visit in an active or collected manner. Newspapers were censored and warned not to report on the visit of the Saint and the general consensus of the government was to prohibit active participation in the event.
The year was 1979… And when Pope Saint John Paul II took to the stage to address the crowd of MILLIONS, who had gathered to hear him speak, he was unable to begin… Because those millions of people n the crowd had begun to chant, “We want God! We want God!” Their chant continued for over fifteen minutes while the Pontiff waited to speak…
And I have been reflecting on that extraordinary experience of modern history as I have been reflecting on Christ’s words in the Gospel when He said, “‘As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’ And they asked Him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?’ And He said, ‘Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.” (Luke 21:5-11).
For Christ was warning us of the Godless society that was to come. And just as the society in a communist state is a terrible thing to behold, the Godless society in my own beautiful country is almost just as heartbreaking…
You see, I live in a world where we are allowed to talk about everything and anything freely – no matter how deeply personal, immoral or wrong it may be. There is just one topic that is off-limits in our world – and that topic is God Himself. The corruption of the Evil One means that it is someone not improper to speak of all manner of filth without offending another person, but to even mention morals and decency and God Himself, is a grave and unforgivable offence.
And I have been thinking about that today, as I watch my words and mind my “P’s and Q’s” as the old saying goes. For it suddenly occurs to me that in the scheme of everything – when I consider all of my life before me (and I mean my eternal life, not just my physical one) – that I must surely try a little harder than this in the world in which I live.
For it occurs to me today to follow the example of those millions who stood before that Saint and chanted, “We want God! We want God!”… For it is God and God alone who can save me – whether other people are comfortable hearing about that or not!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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