By Judie Brown
“Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.” – St. Charles Borromeo
These words serve as a reminder that when a person truly experiences the divine love of Christ, he then emulates His truth in words and deed, never finding it necessary to poke someone in the chest or yell in their ear. Such a person does not need theatrics because his devotion to the Lord is obvious.
Borromeo’s advice is needed now more than ever, as we are witnessing an uptick in horrific events, be they political, cultural, or personal.
For example, we note the glee expressed by Planned Parenthood as it celebrated the election of pro-abortion zealot Abigail Spanberger as Virginia’s governor. Spanberger’s dedication to so-called “reproductive freedom” is a reflection of a growing desire to deny God’s power and grace.
While we may choose to critique Spanberger’s philosophy, we are better serving her to pray for her hardness of heart to dissipate through the divine love Christ has for her as His daughter.
By the same token, Planned Parenthood represents a masterful rejection of truth as it effects change in elections and corrupts the meaning of the law. Further, in Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood drove its ideological truck through a loophole in the Medicaid funding law. By relinquishing its “Essential Community Provider status,” it can continue to take tax dollars under the guise of providing client assistance that, as we know, is deadly.
Once again, we see that the best treatment for Planned Parenthood deception comes through thoughtful prayer and education of the masses. In His divine love, Christ will take care of the rest.
Thus we are grateful for Pope Leo’s strong words when he learned that ICE agents were denying the body and blood of Christ to immigrants. The Holy Father said, “Just a couple days ago, we heard Matthew’s gospel, Chapter 25. Jesus says very clearly, ‘At the end of the world, we’re going to be asked, how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?’ And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening.”
Not only is Pope Leo defending Christ, but he is also showing great compassion for the oppressed. His words represent the utterance of divine love at a time in our world when the Lord’s call to love thy neighbor has been replaced by rejection, abandonment, and in the case of the preborn, dreadful, silent killing.
Borromeo’s call to live in the way we preach reminds me of the Verizon television commercial phrase “Can you hear me now?”
For while the Lord speaks in the stillness of our hearts, one wonders how often He is drowned out by the intentional choice to reject the undesirable, the inconvenient, and the so-called unwanted.
Divine love constantly calls on human beings to love in Him, through Him, and for Him. Can we hear Him now?