Editorial
Why Isn't Anyone Fixing This?
Rev. Raymond Petrucci
Politically, economically, and ecclesiastically, this question has been asked many times throughout the ages. Fixing things that are most important to fix can be intense and lengthy affairs. Last year, there was an article of the same name written for Time magazine by Haley Sweetland Edwards dealing with tenured teachers and the challenges of removing ineffective teachers. Founder of the company, Vergara and California judge, Rolf M. True used the "equal protection clause" of the California Constitution to do something about fixing it. Based on a study in 2011 by Harvard University, it was determined that a student with excellent teachers versus a student with bad teachers can expect to earn at least $250,000 or more during their lifetime.
There is very much in our American culture that also needs fixing. The values that a society advocates and the degree to which they are witnessed define its character. In a past editorial by Alton J. Pelowski, Columbia magazine, Rear Admiral Jeremiah A Denton, Jr laments the lessening of religious values in American society, "Our own moral decline is the greatest threat to national and international security. In my view there is no more timely, feasible or suitable project than the noble quest to regain America's worthiness to claim the title: "One Nation under God.'" These prophetic words were stated 40 years ago. The challenge of living the faith we proclaim is still in full force today.
We are all in the construction business and our tools are found in the knowledge of our faith, the soundness of our conscience, and the boldness of our discipleship. No one formula for action applies to this task, but a commitment to action does. Overlooking the tremendous amount of effort expended every day by a multitude of believers in manifesting the gospel would be a serious oversight indeed. Exploring any Catholic newspaper, magazine, the Internet, and other media outlets reveal the magnitude of organizational and individual ministerial work in making the presence of Christ felt in our world. Renewed vigor in spreading faith, hope, and love is required to stem the tide of the visceral attractiveness of a worldliness that abrogates the rightful place of the centrality God and his Truth in our lives. Faithfulness to the cause of evangelizing a world that has been given the invitation to enter the Kingdom of God and so often gives evidence of a tendency to ignore it belongs to all generations. We must not be overcome by the gravity or the enormity of the challenges ahead, but just to be untiringly faithful to our vocation.
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. Quality also marks the search for an ideal after necessity has been satisfied and mere usefulness achieved.
Willa A Foster
Attending Mass is the most intimate encounter with Jesus that we are offered in our faith. And it is Jesus Christ himself who presented it to us. One of the effects of this communion with the Lord should be the feeling of confidence, assurance, and devotion that all believers need to walk from that experience of worship to the task of discipleship. As a community given, in faith, so many diverse gifts form the Holy Spirit, let us appreciate those gifts, nurture them, and let them shine in our lives. The Lord calls us not to shrink from the cross and not to lose our perseverance and dedication in facing what is spiritually broken in our culture and doing our best to the work of fixing it.