Sunday Meditation: Deliver Us From Evil

St. Joseph, patron of a good
death, pray for us.

I read a sobering article this morning, Father Hyde and the Mystery of Evil, by Deacon James Toner about a pious Catholic priest who became immersed in a child sex abuse ring. It's a horror story to rival Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

As I read the article I couldn't help thinking of the psychological term, cognitive dissonance, believing two opposing ideas at the same time. Clearly, that's what happens when the rug is pulled out from under one -- when a person you believed was holy suddenly is revealed as committing the most horrific evils. How could that be? Is it the same person you loved and respected?

But perhaps a holy "Fr. Hyde" really was pious and good until, somehow, he gradually, step by step, embraced the persona of the evil "Fr. Hyde." It's sobering isn't it? To think of someone we admired and loved, a person we looked up to and respected is revealed as the betrayer. Was he always a fraud? Were we simply blinded by a false light?

Preserve Us, Lord, from an Unprovided Death

If you were caught in a terrorist situation tomorrow and, God forbid, were killed, would you be ready?

The very worst thing for any of us is, not to lose his life, but to lose eternal salvation. And that means, we need to be ready. Pray to St. Joseph that you will be ready at the moment of your death -- whether it is expected as the final end of a serious illness or is a shocking surprise from an accident or an act of violence. 

Fr. Z did a great post on being ready. As he said, "A sudden death can be a blessing. A sudden and unprovided death is a horrifying prospect." I'm working on my relationship with St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death.

PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH

O Glorious St. Joseph, behold I choose thee today for my special patron in life and at the hour of my death. Preserve and increase in me the spirit of prayer and fervor in the service of God. Remove far from me every kind of sin; obtain for me that my death may not come upon me unawares, but that I may have time to confess my sins sacramentally and to bewail them with a most perfect understanding and a most sincere and
perfect contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen