Articles of the Month

What  do  I  tell  my  friends  when  they  want  to  go  out and be  wild  at  clubs  and  parties?  My  friends  don't  seem  to  care what  they  are  doing,  even  if  it goes  against  God--Stand By Your Faith

     Single Catholics are not to be Catholics in name only.  Whatever the case may be, single Catholics need to be strong and resist the temptation to "do what everyone else is doing" especially when it goes against God's Commandments and against their own conscience.  But, you may say, "Some people don't seem to have a conscience, even if they are Catholic."  It's sad but true that there are some unruly Catholics who don't seem to care how they are living their lives.  Unfortunately, sometimes people must learn the hard way instead of the easy way which is in staying united with their Catholic faith and staying united with God and Our Lord Jesus.  Whatever else other people are doing, single Catholics must stay committed and be diligent in saying to wild people, "Look, I'm Catholic and I don't believe in going against God.  I don't mind having clean fun but it stops there."  That should be the end of it, plain and simple.  Don't cave in to peer pressure.  Stand your ground!
     Single Catholics have to take a stand somewhere, sometime in their lives and speak the truth, even if it means losing friends and relationships.  If enough single Catholics would speak up instead of caving in to peer pressure, this society might be a better place to live in.  Single Catholics represent 25% of the Catholic population--that is 25% of a billion Catholics.  Imagine if all 25 million single Catholics stood up for the truth and took a stand against the evils of today's world--that would definitely make quite an impact on the whole world and on society.  
     Single Catholics should also choose their friends, peers and acquaintances well.  They should become friends with others who share their similar Catholic beliefs, Catholic upbringing and commitment to God and Our Lord Jesus to obey the 10 Commandments and the teachings of the Catholic Church.  If someone you are considering to place as a friend does not exhibit these qualifications, you should think twice about pursuing a friendship with that person.  Afterall, that person, whether you want to believe it or not, will have some influence on you at some point in the friendship.  Single Catholics simply cannot afford to give up their eternal salvation for such a person.  Single Catholics can pray for such people who have chosen not to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ or Our Heavenly Father but we should not engage in following their way of life or pursue relationships with people who knowingly and stubbornly choose to defy God.  
     Well, you may be thinking, "Well, Jesus associated with evil people, prostitutes and tax collectors."  Yes, that is true.  But, Jesus did not live the way they did or follow their way of life.  In fact, He told them to follow Him and to give up their evil way of life.  Many did follow Him and we can hope that they were saved.  But, unfortunately, not everyone we know will follow our advice to give up their fruitless and sinful ways.  After we have advised and told our friends to stop doing the wrong things that could lead to their destruction, it is ultimately up to them to want to change.  We have done our part.  Single Catholics need to then just walk away and let their friends lead their lives.  If they come back at a later time and say that they are considering going back to Church, single Catholics can be there to put them in contact with a parish priest who can advise the friend further.
     Single Catholics should realize that each one will ultimately be judged by God individually on what they have done and not done in their lives.  Single Catholics, at the time of death, will not be able to use the excuse, "Well, my friend made me do these bad things."  It is up to us to know right from wrong and we will have to answer to God for our own actions.  So, single Catholics have to remember that the next time their friends or acquaintances ask them to go against what they know in their minds, hearts and consciences is against God and the teachings of the Catholic Church, they should stand up for God and Our Lord Jesus and not choose the wrong road that only leads to destruction. 

Single  Catholics  should  not  be ashamed  to  make  the  Sign  of the  Cross  out  in  public, especially  in  restaurants, and during  other public  events

     On EWTN, there is a commercial where a Catholic family sits in a restaurant and just before they eat, they all say the "Grace before meals" and make the Sign of the Cross.  Then, everyone in the restaurant, feeling ashamed that they didn't say Grace, they also make the Sign of the Cross too.  This commercial is a wonderful reminder to all of us Catholics, especially single Catholics, that we should not be ashamed of showing our Catholic faith when we are out in public, no matter whether we are with relatives, acquaintances, business associates, colleagues, fellow students, friends and strangers.  Showing our faith in public may even give another person the courage to show their Catholic faith also. 
     What is the meaning of the Sign of the Cross?  "1st. Because it recalls to him who makes it, and to those who see it made, that Jesus Christ is the God of Christians and the Lord of their whole lives. Because it reminds us that God has loved us so much as to give Himself up for our sakes to suffer on the Cross, and that we must love Him with our whole hearts. It places incessantly before our eyes Jesus Christ crucified; and Jesus crucified is the Divine and living rule of life to each one of His disciples, and His sacred Cross their moral law. The sign of the Cross recalls to him who makes it with reverence and devotion that he is bound to imitate in his daily conduct the  penance, mortification, humility, meekness, patience, detachment, chastity, and obedience of his Master; His love for His heavenly Father and His Blessed  Mother, and toward all men; His mercy to His enemies, and His love of suffering.
     2nd. The Sign of the Cross is distinctively the sign of the Christian,  because it reminds him of the blessed eternity which awaits him. It was after His passion and death that Jesus rose again. And by His Cross He entered into glory. And so it must be with His disciples. Their glory in heaven must be the full fruition of the crucified life they have led on earth, like unto the life of their Savior. The Gospel also declares to us that when He shall come at the last day to judge the world, the sacred sign of the Cross shall appear in the heavens, to be recognized by the elect with thankfulness and love, and by the reprobate with fear and trembling; for then shall it be the disciples of the  Cross, and none but they, whom He will acknowledge for His Own.
     3rd. It  is the sign of the Christian because it brings before his mind the most important doctrines of the Catholic religion. It recalls the mystery of the holy and undivided Trinity, for in making it we say, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; three persons, but one God. In the name; and  not, In the names. And also the mystery of the Incarnation, that is to say, the coming down of the Son of God from Heaven to earth, to assume a body and soul like ours in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; for, in saying "In the Name of the Son," we move the hand down from the forehead to the breast, a lively image of the Son of God, who reposes in the hearts of the faithful, as formerly in the chaste womb of Mary.
     And, 4th, the mystery of the Redemption, since it was upon the Cross He died to wash away our sins, to merit for us pardon and salvation, and to open the gates of Heaven which sin had closed. And the mystery of the Church of God, that great society of the disciples of Jesus Christ, that perfect union, holy, Catholic, and apostolic, of the children of the Cross; since, being the same for all, it is necessarily the sign of their union in one body under one head: a most distinctive mark of the Catholic Church, for it recalls by its unity that the Church is one, and by its universality that the Church is Catholic. In considering all that is symbolized by this sacred Sign, we may therefore clearly understand why it is employed by the Church in the administration of all holy things, in the Sacraments, in every blessing, at the beginning and end of her prayers. 
      Let us make it often, but especially when tempted and when troubled; also before and after meals; and when we make it, let us be careful to remember what it signifies, and the obligations imposed on all who bear the holy name of Christians." (from THE CATECHIST by Very Rev. Canon Howe, Imprimatur 1898).  Therefore, when we are out in public, let us Catholics, especially single Catholics, show our faith even if others look at us, especially when we are about to eat our meals.  Perhaps, if people see that we are not afraid or ashamed to make the Sign of the Cross before others, they will not be afraid to show their Catholic faith either and also because we are giving honor to the Cross and to Our Lord Jesus Christ.