Acts, Chapter 24,
Verse 24-26
24 Several days later Felix came with
his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He had Paul summoned and listened to him
speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he spoke about righteousness
and self-restraint and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now; when I find an
opportunity I shall summon you again.” 26 At the same time he hoped that a bribe would be offered him
by Paul, and so he sent for him very often and conversed with him.
As you can see play for pay has been around for a very
long time. Are we living in Rome again? When will we start going to the FEMA
camps or some modern form of the coliseum?
1. Instead of having short, publicly-funded political campaigns with limited and/or free advertising (as a number of Western European countries do), the US has long political campaigns in which candidates are dunned big bucks for advertising. American politicians don’t represent “the people.” With a few honorable exceptions, they represent the the 1%. American democracy is being corrupted out of existence.
2. That politicians can be bribed to reduce regulation of industries like banking (what is called “regulatory capture”) means that they will be so bribed.
3. That the chief villains of the 2008 meltdown (from which 90% of Americans have not recovered) have not been prosecuted is itself a form of corruption.
This
month, according to the Los Angeles
Times, the Justice Department decided not to charge Angelo Mozilo, the
former CEO of the former company known as Countrywide Financial Corp., someone
long thought of as a prime potential target Should Americans be outraged that
the meltdown moguls aren't headed for the slammer, as director Charles Ferguson
suggested Sunday night when his documentary, Inside Job, won an Academy
Award? Perhaps. But, nearly three years after the financial crisis hit, a
better way to look at the lack of high-level indictments is as an indictment of
the entire financial system — a system that was rife with avarice, ignorance
and double-dealing.[2]
4. The US military
budget is bloated and enormous, bigger than the military budgets of the
next twelve major states. What isn’t usually realized is that perhaps half of
it is spent on outsourced services, not on the military. It is corporate
welfare on a cosmic scale.
5. The US has a vast
gulag of 2.2 million prisoners in jail and penitentiary. There is an
increasing tendency for prisons to be privatized, and this tendency is
corrupting the system.
6. The rich are
well placed to bribe our politicians to reduce taxes on the rich.
7. The National Security Agency’s domestic spying is a form of corruption in itself and lends itself
to corruption. With some 4 million government employees and private contractors
engaged in this surveillance, it is highly unlikely that various forms of insider
trading and other corrupt practices are not being committed.
8. As for insider
trading, it turns out Congress undid much of the law it hastily passed
forbidding members, rather belatedly, to engage in insider trading (buying and
selling stock based on their privileged knowledge of future government policy).
That this practice only became an issue recently is another sign of how corrupt
the system is.
9. Asset
forfeiture in the ‘drug war’ is corrupting police departments and the
judiciary.
10. Money and corruption have seeped so far into our media system that people can with a
straight face assert that scientists aren’t sure human carbon emissions are
causing global warming.
Let
us take our nations problems to our mother for help
The national votive shrine of our lady of prompt
succor serves God and all God’s people as the center of devotion to the Mother
of Jesus under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor—Our Lady of Quick
Help. The Shrine is a place of pilgrimage, worship and prayer. It
welcomes all who try to live in faith and love, with a special commitment to
those whose hope and trust in Mary lead them to seek her motherly care and
consolation. Since 1727, long before her statue arrived on November 10th,1810
and was enshrined in the Ursuline Convent Chapel in the French Quarter,
devotion to Notre Dame de Prompt Secours had spread among the
Ursuline Sisters, their students and the women and men of New Orleans. Prayers
for deliverance from wars, fire, pestilence, disease, storms, despair and
hopelessness were made to Our Lady of Prompt Succor. In 1815, in gratitude for
the miracle of America's victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans,
the Ursulines, along with Bishop Louis Du Bourg, made a promise to celebrate a
Mass of Thanksgiving each year on the feast day of Our Lady of Prompt
Succor, January 8. In 2015, that promise was observed for the 200 time!
In 1895, the statue, gilded in gold, was crowned by Decree of His Holiness,
Pope Leo XIII; and in 1928, the Holy See approved and confirmed the naming of
Our Lady of Prompt Succor as the Principal Patroness of the City of New Orleans
and of the State of Louisiana. Standing in the central niche over the main
altar on State Street, she welcomes all who come to honor her, to thank her for
intercession, and to pray for her help and protection, not only from global
wars and devastating storms, but, also, in overcoming greater enemies…poverty,
illness, ignorance, racism and violence.
“The
hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being
acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an
influence, an effect, and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this
moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women
impregnated with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not
falling.” (Closing speeches Vatican Council II, 12/8/65).
Mother
Mary is a perfect role model for all women, of course, but for women who work
in particular. According to St. Louis de Montfort, Mary has principle virtues,
which when practiced help to lead us to her Son and create a home and world
that celebrates the greatness of the Lord.
·
Profound Humility: Are you focused on others
more than yourself? Do you recognize the work of the team, or are you taking
credit for the work? Do you care who gets the credit? Does this impact the way
you treat others?
·
Ardent Charity: How can you demonstrate great love
at work? This is not the same love as a spousal love, of course. How do you
approach your employees? Your supervisors? Your clients? Your customers? Is
your approach focused on valuing a relationship more than a material good? Are
you able to articulate information and ideas in a mutually respectful way?
·
Angelic Sweetness: Is your approach nurturing
and relational? Do you avoid calumniation of fellow co-workers and supervisors?
Even when difficult, do you respond to others at work by extending grace and
mercy?
·
Heroic Patience: Do you really listen
at work? Are you able to rise above a situation in order to assist others as
they learn new tasks? Do you hold your temper or judgment about your supervisor
when you disagree with them? Are you willing in your attitude to seek
understanding of others, even when it is difficult?
·
Divine Wisdom: Recalling your baptism, and
especially your confirmation, do you recall and use the gifts of the Holy
Spirit in your work decisions? Do you pray for guidance? Do you seek Biblical
and Church tradition answers and solutions? Do you show gratitude to God when
you recognize divine wisdom at work?
Mary’s
virtues bring us to a very feminine leadership style: one steeped in
relationship building, not shying away from truth or faith, but approaching
others in grace. When practiced at work, these virtues of Our Lady can lead us
to Holiness and a fulfilled leadership at work.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD, who greatly
delights in his commands.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
111. If you only knew what you are worth!... It is Saint Paul who tells
you: you have been bought 'at a great price'. And he adds: 'That is why you
should use your body for the glory of God'.'
Daily Devotions
[1]http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/corrupt-country-world.html
[4]http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2013/01/wallace-everyday-example-of-mary-for-women-who-work/
[5]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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