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This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Cunning World. Tuesday, April 1. Lent 2014.

“Never has the world been so corrupt as it is now, for never has it been so cunning, so wise in its own ways, and so crafty. It cleverly makes use of truth to foster untruth, virtue to justify vice, and the very maxims of Jesus Christ to endorse its own, so that even those who are wisest in the sight of God are often deceived.”

Ouch.
This was written in the 1700s.
Even more ouch.

It is such a challenge to live in a place
that we are not of.

We feel as though we are never truly home.
And on top of that we have to deal with
all the evil that the world throws at us
in pretty little packages.

The world is cunning, wise, and crafty.
It is not going to label something as evil.
No, it will label evil as good.

It will use truth to tell lies,
use virtue to hide vice,
and worst of all,
use Christ to sell Satan.

We have all been deceived by the world.
Usually, it doesn’t start out very serious.
I’ve had it happen to me,
it’s embarrassing but usually,
I forget about it within a few days.

But these times of being deceived by the world add up.
Soon, it is no longer little things,
it’s big things,
thing that put your soul in danger.

Instead of the world being cunning,
you find yourself being cunning.
You notice that you are covering lies with truth,
vice with virtue,
and things of Satan with Christ.

The world gets the best of us at some time or another.
It is ready to attack at a weak point in our lives
and we give in.
We are too weak to fight on our own.

The world is a conniving place.
It is not something we can stand up to.
It is for this reason that we must discern.

Do not worry about anything, instead pray about everything.
Philippians 4:6-7

Even this verse can be overwhelming.
Pray about everything?
How am I supposed to get everything done?

I don’t think this verse implies that we sit in church all day long.
I think it means before we make a decision,
or when we are having a hard time,
or when facing a temptation,
we offer a quick,
‘Lord, help guide me here.’

Even a simple prayer is better than all the worrying
and the focus on the world.

If I took all the time I spend worrying
and put it towards prayer,
I would be a different person.

I would not be deceived by this cunning world.
My eyes would be fixed on Christ.

Sure, we are all going to fail.
We are all going to be deceived by the world.

But keeping our eyes on Him,
our hearts focused on His will,
and His name ever on our lips
will lead us closer to Him
and further from the deceit of the world.

This Lenten blog series is based upon St. Louis de Montfort's writings. Unless otherwise noted, all the phrases in quotation marks are taken from the book Jesus Living in Mary.

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