At one time, Holy Week – Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday – was recognized and commemorated by the Western world as a solemn period where earthly matters were put aside and focus was directed to history’s most seminal event.
Most businesses were closed or had reduced hours especially during the Sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Entertainment and leisurely activities were curtailed while schools and universities’ “spring breaks” coincided with Holy Week as mankind contemplated, as best as it could, the momentous events which took place in a small backwater outpost of the mighty, and at the time, unknowing, Roman Empire.
Tragically, for the human race those days are a thing of the discredited past. Sports are played, most work throughout the week, financial affairs are routinely conducted, while Easter Sunday is not seen as a celebration of the Resurrection, but of egg hunts. In politics, it can be safely assumed that there will be no let up in the seemingly interminable U.S. presidential campaign during this week which, of all places, is in the most need of spiritual reflection.
The triumph of secular humanism is almost complete.
Such disregard and ingratitude for what took place two millennium ago does not bode well for mankind’s future, especially in those lands and among those peoples which once revered these sacred days. The ominous eternal consequences of such indifference was warned about by the Divine Savior as recounted in St. Matthew’s Gospel: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father, who is in heaven.”
While most do not realize it, the grave economic, political, and social problems which the West faces are ultimately the result of the indifference toward God with the neglect of Holy Week as a prime example. None of the current abominations such as abortion and “gay” marriage could have ever been possible had human societies been dedicated toward Christ.
Such disregard will not go unpunished. Could the continuing economic malaise and possible financial collapse, the burgeoning police states and the mostly Muslim invasion of what was once Christendom be heavenly retribution for man’s lackadaisical attitude toward his God?
It is amazing that none among the current crop of presidential contenders have recognized this obvious fact. Their ignorance, and the blindness of those that are currently in power, will mean that none of the issues being debated and discussed will be solved. The problems that the West faces today cannot be resolved as a matter of the right policy, but are at their core spiritual. Redress of these issues will not come about through the ballot box or reform.
The forces that seek the West’s destruction must be fought on the spiritual plane. They have long understood this, which is why they have tried to and largely succeeded in removing religion from society, allowing it only on Sundays – and if trends continue even this will no longer be tolerated. Those who seek to preserve the fruits of Western civilization must realize that it is a religious contest.
The disastrous consequences of mankind ruling itself is on display for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. The cultural depravity that abounds in contemporary life is stunning and has gone on so long and has been conducted with such intensity that most are now desensitized to it. Creating jobs, halting mass immigration, appointing “conservative” judges will do little to overthrow the cultural Marxism that permeates society.
Until the Divine Entity for which Holy Week is centered on is once again placed at the summit of Western life, the chances of resolving its various crisis are nil.
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas