In life, naturally there are individuals in all sorts of authority roles, but we must humbly realise that we all need to be rooted in God’s authority first, the Supreme and Almighty Authority, if we are to amount to any good. Individually, no matter who we are, we all measure up to very much less than the tiniest crawling insect before the authority of God and at the end of the day we all have to stand before His throne of justice. This contribution is addressed to all whom it may concern, from the very top all the way down.

There is so much that is bad and is causing humanity to be so critically exhausted and unwell. We have the relentless and utterly obscene world hunger situation, there are so many wars going on and such widespread violence, unrest and spiritual corrosion, immorality running at such an alarming and pitiful low ebb. The icing on this bitter cake is of course the diabolic curse of abortion, so rampant the world over. Widespread legalised abortion has so very frightfully rendered our angelic babies a throw-away commodity. Dreadfully staggering, isn’t it? Calling animals brutes is a misnomer, they are 100% loving, caring and gentle with their offspring. Unfortunately and very regretfully, the human is becoming all the more deserving of the term, shamefully a perfect fit.

Certainly risking that I’ll be accused of going overboard with my thoughts, I dare ask: has evil overwhelmed the human heart to such an extent that God will again now in our time be compelled to allow calamities? This, of course, not as a punishment, but for the sake of humanity’s purification and out of His infinite love longing for its turning back to him. Neither may we ignore the always-imminent end of times. One cannot be more wrong to forget or ignore the fact that one’s very death puts him/her on the threshold of this final event, the central pillar of Christian revelation, the return of Jesus. Jesus warns, “BE READY for the Son of Man comes at an hour you are not anticipating (Lk 12:40).  So distant from God as it is, affluent society cannot possibly be more alienated and wandering lost. If now had to be the time, if Jesus were to show up in our day, will He find a humanity ready to meet him? One can only pray, “Dear Lord, do not hold our dreadful sins against us.” Will humanity ever correct its always increasing evil ways, will it never learn not to persist in error? How patient is God?

Oh, all too many with Christian roots and who may still profess to be Christian are seemingly living as if Jesus never came at all, they seem to have forgotten that out of infinite and pure love Jesus took flesh and suffered so much and such a terrible death for our salvation. They seem to be totally oblivious of the tender and infinite love God has for each one of us. How tragic, out of ignorance and lack of care, so very sadly, ingratitude reigns supreme.

So many campaigners for abortion, this awful and wilful killing, regardless of almighty God’s fifth commandment, claim to be Christian. Do they straddle the fence, do they stand one leg on each side? Loyalty just doesn’t make allowances or any sort of arrangement for that. Jesus warned “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Mt 6:24). Are we Christian or are we not?

How unbearably horrifying it is! In abortion the innocent and helpless sweet little angel is brutally condemned to death and in the most cruel and painful way is denied the most beautiful gift of life that you and I are blessed with and enjoy. Personally, I just cannot imagine a more gruesome and sinister human act than this.

Is it possible there are individuals who the thought of a heartless medic butchering a live baby in its mother’s womb entertains them, does it really stir their excitement? As to those who state that abortion is not murder, possibly do they not realise it is not a baby cat that is being so sadistically cut up and dismembered alive? Have they never seen the heart-breaking and utterly shocking images from the slaughterhouse?

There are those of us who very unfortunately seem to have lost all feeling. The infamous name of World War 2 medic Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death of Auschwitz does not shock and horrify any more, our present world is full of his terribly evil type. Amazingly in our day these operate legally and apparently not a few of us have become used to the horrific fact and accept it. We are all miserable sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and mercy, including this wretched sinner doing the writing, but there may be those among us who unfortunately and maybe rather unconsciously have become slaves to the darkness of evil and need to break free and come out into the brightness of Truth that is God. Then and only then will one see clearly and realise what peace, joy, bliss, light-heartedness and healthy living really are.

Lo and behold, those who are out to have not-yet-born babies killed may be the very same people one would find among those who campaign against cruelty to animals. That, of course, is a good thing and I most certainly agree with it, but how ironically incredulous the whole situation is very likely to be!

Locally, this generation has made critical mistakes, even in the recent past. Will we crash and stumble against this ultimately so very crucial hurdle too? Heaven forbid. Just a precious reminder from a great mind – Booker T. Washington: “A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good, just because it is accepted by a majority.”

To close up this contribution, from this point onwards, for the greater part I quote from the Catholic periodical Bible Alive. Communist Fidel Castro once said, “I have always considered Christ to be one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of humanity.” He was right, Jesus unleashed the most radical revolution the world has ever known. His kingdom is very much in conflict with every government which promotes a culture of death, quashes religious freedom and undermines human dignity. All Christians are responsible to be both salt and light to the rest. They are therefore called to live as signs of contradictions, resisting the immoral forces and influences which are an affront to God and humanity. Christians are called to get involved in civic life, to engage their political rulers and to be prepared to stand up for Gospel values, the Gospel of Life.

Rather than taking God out of politics we believe that we are called to put God and the message of Christ back into politics, which is our  national discourse. We are called to really and lovingly welcome God in our midst and give society back to Him. When it comes to governance, separating State from Church is one thing, but if this is to mean separating State from God, well then we are in for nothing but confusion, heartache and pain. George Washington, the first President of the United States, speaking to his American citizens declared, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. Do not ever let anyone claim to be a true American patriot if they ever attempt to separate religion from politics.”

Yes, Fidel Castro was right, but he would have been perfectly right had he admitted that in fact Jesus is so much more than a revolutionary, so much more than a king, a president or a prophet. Jesus is God. May we all repent, believe and practice the Good News, the Word of God. May we cooperate with the Almighty and receive His countless blessings with gratitude. May we, tiny as we are, always be an excellent example for the rest of the world to follow. Turning to God for His guiding light, wisdom and never-failing help, heaven forbid we follow all the others over the edge.

Bro Leli Gatt is a Salesian of Don Bosco