My favorite movie/musical is “The Music Man”, the story about a travelling salesman in 1912 who sells bands. In order to get the get the local townspeople fired up, he has pointed out the evil of having a pool table in town. At a subsequent meeting in the schoolhouse he fires them up even more and as he changes into his bandleader uniform, he calls out reasons for why the town needs this band. One line is “We’ve got to protect the children!”

It is hard to argue that there is a lack of family values in the world today, especially here in the United States. What has happened in the past forty or fifty years? Without getting too political it is certainly my opinion the government is responsible for a good part of this.  Taking control of various social programs away from local organizations, most notably our churches, legalizing abortion and promoting fatherless families has created a culture where there are fewer and fewer families. Fewer families mean less family values.

We have also created a “culture of death” through abortion, contraception and euthanasia which has destroyed at least one generation, more likely several (more on the “culture of death” soon). These are the things I was thinking about as I listened to this morning’s readings at mass, and once again I think about how the New Testament which was written somewhere around 1,700 years ago, or more, and the Old Testament even further back than that, are still so relevant to today’s society.

The Gospel reading today was Mt 2:13-15, 19-23, which talks about Joseph being told by God in a dream to leave Bethlehem and head to Egypt because Herod wanted to find Jesus and kill him. Since Herod didn’t know where Jesus was he killed all the children two years old and under. Accounts vary on how many this may have been but it was probably around twenty. Why did Herod do this? Because he was angry and afraid that Jesus would someday take over his throne and rule the kingdom.

This is what is happening today. Someone is afraid the good will take over the kingdom. Who are the good? The children. When a child is born they have no preconceived ideas about anything, they get their ideas, their morals, their sense of what is right and wrong from their family. When there is no family, they don’t learn these things. When morality is removed from society it becomes a free for all where those with no moral authority rule. We aren’t far from this now. Who would benefit from this? Satan.

Satan doesn’t like children because he knows that it is through the children he can rule. As those who have been raised with family and family values fade into the distance, it is the  corrupt and immoral who take over. Satan has taken over our art, our music, all that is good and replaced it with evil.

It’s funny,  right wing conservatives always claim any time something bad happens, the liberals want to take more of money claiming “It’s for the children” and “we’ve got to protect the children.” Little do they know how right they just might be.

Also from today:

“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.  Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ.  For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.” – Col 3:12-21

Shop Amazon – New Year, New You in Books