Loneliness and Thanksgiving: Thoughts from a Catholic man

God is the Answer because without Him there is no Hope

By Larry Peterson

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted
is the most terrible poverty.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta

This will be the third Thanksgiving since my wife passed away, and when you become widowed, there is an inescapable loneliness factor that enters your life. But I have learned that loneliness has no boundaries. It reaches out for everyone and captures many of the unsuspecting, including those who are seemingly happy, contented, and successful, dragging them into a world of hidden misery and often depression.

However, many who have experienced loss manage to bounce back and find contentment, peace, and even love again. Others cannot—why is that? The common denominator seems to be that those people who have God in their lives were never alone at all. Those who do not—remain alone. The first consequence of rejecting God is the loss of Hope.  They have allowed Hope to be erased from their spirit.

The results of losing Hope are devastating. In fact, the loneliness factor in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Here are a few statistics that show how losing  Hope has affected our nation. Loss of Hope leads to despair, and the ones affected most by this loss are the Generation Z people, those who are in the 18 to 22-year-old range. I have grandchildren older than that. The entire concept of these young people, fresh out from adolescence and beginning adulthood, having lost Hope is so sad.  How can this be?

Cigna referenced a “Loneliness Index,” and it shows that loneliness has become rampant in the United States. This worldwide health service company used the UCLA Loneliness Scale  (yes, they have a loneliness scale), which is a 20 item questionnaire that was designed to determine a person’s social isolation and their subjective feelings. This evaluator is used frequently to track and measure loneliness. Some of the results were astonishing. This is from their report of May 1, 2018:

·                   47 percent of Americans sometimes or always feel alone

·                   27 percent of Americans feel no one understands them

·                   40 percent feel that their relationships have no meaning and feel isolated

·                   20 percent feel they feel close to no one and have no one to talk to

·                   AMAZINGLY---the Generation Z people (18 to 22) are the loneliest generation. How        heartbreaking is that?

·                   

           Social Media users have a 43.5 percent loneliness factor, which was comparable to the 41.7      percent for those who do not use social media. Isn’t it interesting that nowhere is the name of God mentioned in these findings? And nowhere is the importance of the traditional family considered. The numbers are mind-boggling. We are a nation of almost 330 million people. If 47% say they feel “alone” that is nearly half the country. We only have to go back 25 years to the early “90s to see the rapid decline in the absence of Hope.

Since then, there has been a 58% decline in club meetings, a 43% drop in family dinners, and children have their playtime regulated, depriving them of natural social development. People use their phones to message each other, apply for jobs, get interviewed, quit jobs, break up with their boyfriends or girlfriends, file divorce papers, and do all sorts of interactions without having to go face to face with a person, never saying one word.

Getting back to God and family would be akin to putting the lynchpin back into the hub of life. Then, people, kids included, might be taught that they can turn to Jesus and never be alone. They might be taught to think of His words from Matthew 28:20   And behold, I am with you always, until the end of this age.  

We must count our blessings on Thanksgiving, especially knowing that more than half of all Americans still believe in and honor God in their lives and that we have the freedom to do it. This Thanksgiving, millions upon millions of us will pray together thanking God for all we have. We should also pray for all those who do not have Hope in their lives. We know it can always be reignited and prayer can be the kindling used to fire up the Hope lying dormant in so many. God is just waiting to be asked to light the match.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Copyright©LarryPeterson 2019

Another Secularist "Triumph": Say Good-Bye to Laura---She says, "Life is Not for ME"

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

Her  name is Laura and she is 24 years old. She is a healthy woman who lives in Belgium. She wants to die. Why does she want to die? Because, as she says, "Life, that's not for me."

My initial reaction was, "Oh my God, this young woman is severely depressed or on drugs. Whatever  happened to her that would lead her to a feeling of wanting DEATH? She is 24 years old and healthy. She has a whole life ahead of her. This story is all over the print and broadcast media. Why isn't someone helping her?"

Isn't there anyone who has offered to give her the necessary counseling, spiritual guidance, or anti-depressants to help her see that her own "life" is not her enemy? Is there no-one who might convince her that  her  life is a  one of a kind precious gift?  Is there no one to prevail upon her that her life  is rarer than the rarest diamond and  more valuable than all the world's riches combined?  Cannot someone show her that she is the only one in the history of the world who is SHE or will ever be SHE?  Well my friends, Laura lives in Belgium and apparently in that country not too many people give a damn about the value or sanctity of life.

In February of 2014, Belgium approved legalized euthanasia for children . I believe this supposedly sophisticated, civilized, and pompous nation has earned the title The Great Nation of  Self-Annihilators. In Belgium you are witnessing Nihilism in all of its twisted "splendor". This is encapsulated in the total rejection of the value of life as witnessed in the upcoming assisted suicide of Laura.

 How sad, how disgraceful, how blatantly sinful. Doctors have given Laura the go-ahead to kill herself. They will help her to be "successful". Why would doctors do this? In Belgium many of them feel that life and death are really not such a big deal in the first place. Laura says that she has been considering  suicide since the age of six. Are you kidding me!  She says that she was ONLY six when she started thinking that she "didn't want to live at all". It is hard to even fathom such thoughts bouncing around inside the head of a six year old who has not even reached the age of reason.

Laura has had psychological problems her entire life. In high school she was a "cutter" self-mutilating her arms. Her father had been an abusive drunk and her mother had left when she was a toddler. She grew up with her grandparents who loved her dearly but maybe the trauma of her parents' behavior was too much for her and drove her into depression. It does not matter. What matters is that this child had problems and no-one gave a damn. She was left to grow with a festering and debilitating sense of "nothingness". Now they want to help her kill herself. This is Nihilism run amok.

Laura has told doctors that  she needs to kill herself because, as she says, "life, that's not for me". They readily agreed and Laura has now set a date for her death injection to be administered in her apartment. The actual date is unknown. She is planning her funeral and writing final words to be read. Doctors and mental health professionals are happily helping her along on her death journey.  I cannot get it out of my head that she is only 24 years old and healthy and doctors are gladly helping her to kill herself simply because she asked them to help her do it. Whatever has  happened to the moral fiber of people around the world?

Secularism has infested the entire world with its self-fulfilling message of false happiness. Belgium, a country that is 75% Catholic, voted 2 to 1 to pass the child-euthanasia law. The bishops in the country begged them not to vote for it. It did not matter. The attitude of many people is: What do God's representatives know about real life? For that matter, what does God know about real life?  If poor Laura wants to kill herself to be happy, why not. And then they go to church. WHATEVER!

Well now, if you do not have God in your life  and believe that death leads to nothing then you probably find comfort in believing that "nothing" cannot hurt you. It follows that being dead will make you happy. How sad and perverse is this?  But it proves one thing. While the secular world fights to eliminate God from our lives it is God who is desperately needed back in their lives. For with God comes Hope and Love and when a person has that Faith in their lives they are not asking compliant strangers with fancy diplomas to help them die. Especially when they are only 24 and filled with life.
                                           
                                           ©Larry Peterson 2015 All Rights Reserved

Hating the Truth of the Real Presence of Christ, Satanists Perform a 'black mass'

IT  MAKES SENSE TO ME

by Larry Peterson

Praise the Lord (TRULY).  The 'black mass' abomination in Oklahoma City (with its huge congregation of 42 people) is finally over. The Satanic lovers of the "darkness" have had their day.  I hope they are fulfilled with whatever redeeming spiritual blackness their boss can deliver into their misguided, hate filled, anti-God hearts.

I wrote about this shameful event back on August 8. The mock "mass" that these Satan lovers were going to enact was reprehensible enough. But what nagged at me like an unscratchable itch was the fact that these Catholic haters seemed to understand the Holy Eucharist and what it actually was better than many "cafeteria" Catholics (those who pick & choose doctrine they accept). Statistics say that 48% of "Catholics" do not accept the Real Presence  ( a blog for another day). Yet here are Satanists obviously accepting this profound Dogma of Catholicism.  They must realize the  truth of this Dogma or why would they  revel in hating and defiling it? There would be no point.

So, why do Satanists want to desecrate a host consecrated at a Catholic Mass? They are definitely not interested in a host from another Christian service. Is their callous faithlessness filled with an abiding TRUTH that they cannot stand because of their pride and ego?  Is the magnificent reality of the Eucharistic Sacrifice offered at the Mass what drives them to gather together to defile, mock and denigrate this mystery? Is this why Adam Daniels, the Satanist in charge of this debasement, tells us they will denounce Jesus Christ, stomp and spit on the host they are using and even urinate on it. How can they hate something so much? I think I know why.

I have come to the realization that they have the truth in their hearts and down deep inside they know what that truth is. Unfortunately for them, the greatest of the Seven Deadly Sins,  PRIDE, has embraced them all in a bear-hug of self-centeredness, a hold that they choose not to break free from.  Therefore, it follows, down deep inside they also hate themselves. This is very sad.

They hate so much because Satan himself is hate and they are filled with his venom. They do not understand that Satan hates them too. He hates them because they can still obtain redemption. God is love and that love is pure Goodness. Any of these human followers of Satan still have an opportunity to ask God for His forgiveness. If they do, God will embrace them and welcome them home. They can perform these heinous acts against Christ and still have a chance for redemption. They can change their minds and have this opportunity up until death takes them.

Satan, as the greatest of all angels, had his chance and blew it. He turned against God and was cast from heaven with his pride-filled followers. His Pride cost him to lose total Hope. Filled with hate he and those that followed him prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls, a task at which they have been extremely successful. Ironically, Satan hates his human followers more than they can imagine. That is because he has no fear or respect for any of them. More than anything, he knows they can still find redemption if they so decide. That drives him crazy because a) he knows he is so much better than them; and b) redemption can NEVER be his. Bring on the eternal envy.

Each and every one of us has a life long, personal war we must wage within ourselves. That war's two main enemies are Pride and HUMILITY.  These two entities are part of us and they pit us against ourselves throughout our entire lives. Pride has torn apart families, destroyed friendships, fomented resentment and  bitterness, incited fury and outrage, and even led to war and murder and something called a 'black mass'.

The antidote to Pride is Humility. For many that is too hard a pill to swallow. How many of us have heard words or even used words like:
"I'm NOT apologizing to him."  or  
"She was RUDE to me. I'm never talking to her again."  or
"I'm not going to confession and telling my sins to another person."  or
"She's SO stuck up. I can't stand her."
Death, destruction, and mayhem are the result of pride. It certainly can be a terrible thing. Jesus, dying on the cross, forgave His executioners and all of us too. Therein is the greatest lesson in Humility ever given.

 The war within each of us will continue until our deaths. Many times it is a hard fought struggle but many of us win these ongoing battles. Having the Love of God in your life combined with prayer are  the greatest weapons against this deadly sin of pride. Sadly, many surrender to the Great Impostor, Satan, and his lies and false promises of worldly pleasure.  For all of those folks let the rest of us keep praying for them. And that includes the Oklahoma City Satanists.