Today is the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Those of you of a certain age will recognize the title of this week’s post as coming from the old TV show Lost in Space. There was a robot whose job it was to protect young Will. When danger was about the robot would exclaim Danger Will Robinson! We too have something, and someone, to alert us to danger, especially spiritual danger. To the extent that we have a well formed Catholic conscience we hear that little voice in our head, or perhaps get that uneasy feeling in our gut, when we are doing something, or even thinking of doing something, that puts us in spiritual danger.
I also think sometimes our Guardian Angel is trying to herd us away from dangers to our soul. Likely we’re more like herding cats than we would care to admit but he/she is trying to save us from ourselves.
I mention all of this because of today’s second reading, from the famous letter to the Philippians from St. Paul. In it Paul, wrapping up the letter, writes:
“Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.”
It is a positive way of telling us to focus on the right things, the things that will feed our soul and , by inference, to avoid those things that are dangerous to us. There are lots of things available to us that may be classified as art or literature that aren’t good for us. Some TV, movies, music, etc. can lead us down the path toward destruction. I realize I sound puritanical when I write these words but as the modern saying goes, I said what I said. I think we need to be intentional about what we take in. That includes Social Media as well, in fact, maybe especially it includes Social Media. The idea is we feed ourselves junk and then we’re surprised when we’re not healthy. I generally agree with the idea that we should practice all things in moderation. I’m just translating Paul’s exhortation into more modern terms and suggesting we should be on guard.
I also want to be clear that there are some things, like pornography, that are always bad for us. I’m really not even talking about that class of danger. I would think that it goes without saying that’s dangerous to us. I’m more focused at the moment on the things that may seem like a harmless diversion for entertainment’s sake.
So my message today is to encourage you to pay attention and act with purpose. Spiritual danger is real. Think of the words of the St. Michael prayer you, and we, pray at the end of Mass. Words like “defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil…” We need to take Paul’s call seriously to focus on things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise. Do good, avoid evil. That’s a good mantra I think.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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