“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Anyone who knows me is aware I am a Lord of the Rings fanatic, not only because it’s a good story, but because it is soaked in the Catholic worldview.  Consider the wisdom behind the words penned by Tolkien, delivered by his wizard Gandalf to Frodo, who is fretting about the course of things.

I have been repeating this statement to myself – one that I so often give to others as advice.

I realize that, rather than sitting around fretting about the results of our most recent election, I have to focus on the root causes that led us to this situation, while fervently praying the Serenity Prayer, emphasizing the words, “Give me the Courage to change the things I can.”

I have been researching and taking notes.  One of the things that struck me, not surprisingly, is the fact that one of the major groups who voted in favor of this endless presidential term was young, unmarried women.   Despite all the efforts of our John Paul II generation to get the word out on the truth about human love, authentic femininity and the meaning of marriage, apparently we have a lot more work to do.

Trying not to despair, I found the words from young Catholic blogger Marc Barnes, who is basically how I discover most of the cool stuff out there.  In his article Does Contraception Reduce the Abortion Rate, I learned about the following website 1flesh.org.  Before you click, WARNING to those of you who are easily shocked by worldly things, the college students who produce this site don’t mince words.  Their message is very worldly.  But consider who their audience is — college students.  And before you criticize, read the words of James Lewis in his American Thinker blog:

Normal, decent people do not know how to live in this new, barbaric society. We live in protected communities; we drive around in SUVs, like armored cars.  The left knows exactly how to act in this Brave New World. They’ve made it…

Jesus warned us: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

The young people who put together 1flesh.org are being both simple and shrewd– they promote the true message about love and life in Catholic teaching, but they do it in a way so selfish nihilists will listen.

Jesus said, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.” (Luke 5:31)

I think we can agree that a large number of the people in our country and our world are in desperate need of the divine physician.  And isn’t a major part of our mission to help Our Lord save souls?  Jesus reminds in his description of the Good Shepherd about the celebrating in Heaven for one (just one!) lost sheep.

If you are a parent of a high school graduate and now college student (especially girls!) from one of our amazing Top 50 Catholic Schools – Pinecrest, the Highlands or Everest Collegiate, send the following website link to them and tell them to start a chapter at their college.  If your child is studying to work in the medical profession, like mine, tell them to consider being certified someday as an instructor in NaPro Technology, since there are precious few in the entire country.  Click here to find out how, via the 1flesh.org website.

And if you have a child, like my youngest daughter, who is working to become (or is) bilingual, tell her about the following quote from the Catholic scholar Helen Alvare, in her Reflection from her most recent email newsletter Women Speak for Themselves:

So, as for me, I will double down on what more I can do…be more consistent about praying the rosary to ask Mary to give us wisdom and to intercede for us…learn Spanish faster than I am so that I can speak to our increasingly Hispanic population about where our common good lies…work harder and harder to come up with ideas for winning the “religious liberty” and “women’s liberty” questions.  

If you didn’t know, Hispanics in this country were another major reason for the election results.

Finally, my family is taking the time before the upcoming feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 to consecrate ourselves to Mary using the formula of St. Louis de Montfort.  We use the tools from the Apostolate for Family Consecration.  I highly recommend this consecration as we go forth into our Brave New World.

Mary, Our Lady of America, pray for us.