15 March 2026

15 March 2026 - Fourth Sunday of Lent - Why Western civilization is more moral.

Transcript

Reading:  

Ephesians 5:8

Write:  

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. 

Reflect:   

(Statement:) Why Western civilization is more moral. 

Or is it? 

Or maybe a better question is, “does our society have enough of what it had to overcome today’s onslaught against morality?” This is a serious question that I’m afraid the answer may be: “No!” Let me explain.

Our culture – Western civilization – was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. This meant that the morality underpinning our laws and our moral backbone was born from the influence of Christian morality.

Two quotes from the first president of the United States: 

“Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.” — George Washington. 

And:

“Do not let anyone claim to be a true American who attempts to remove religion from politics.” — George Washington, this is a quote from his farewell address to the country and Congress .

Another later president said this:

“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” — John Quincy Adams (the sixth president of the United States – his father, John Adams, was the second president.)

And from a different statesman: 

“[Only] a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Benjamin Franklin. 

A very prescient comment indeed!

This is what St. Paul was trying to tell us as I quoted at the beginning. Notice he said we once were darkness. Not we were in darkness. He said we are light in the Lord. Not we are in the light of the Lord. And then he says, “for light produces every kind of goodness, and righteousness and truth.” This is our cultural heritage. A heritage that is being belittled or dismissed by too many of those who claim to be “elite” in our country. They have not learned history.

And, as a counterpoint, we have this from a more modern president:

“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation… We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” — Barack Obama.

Apply:   

I am not saying we cannot have Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu – or even nonbeliever citizens. That is part of what the freedom is that our country offers.

However, when we look at what is called “the rule of law,” we find in our country a base that has been established by Christian, if not explicitly Catholic, moral guidelines. The two thousand years of history that the Catholic Church brings to society has a rich and deep moral tradition. We are allowing that to be thrust aside by some sort of egalitarian expectation that the history of morality – springing from our Christian faith – is flawed. What a tragedy. For example, this has left room for sharia law to be established in some cities in England.

Unbelievable! The Christian heritage in England is historical and strong – in history.

Now, here is my premise: society-wide, we have seen less violence than other cultures over the entirety of our existence. Yes, there have been “bad actors,” but the morality of our society – coming from Christianity – has tamped down the amount of violence we have experienced. It is because of our adherence to basic Christian moral guidelines that we have been able to suppress many of the violent troublemakers. Rullo, Nebraska; the Branch Davidians in Texas just to name two.

But in our more recent times, that does not seem to be able to be done as effectively as in the past. Whether you are talking about school shootings, attacks on synagogues, kidnappings, serial killers, pedophiles – in and out of the Church, bomb throwers, or whatever – we have always had some problems, but the moral fortitude rising from Christianity has historically given us a safer society.

Now, turn and look at a society like Iran where violence from the ruling regime is a way of life. Some estimates are that the regime in Iran murdered twenty thousand – or more – of its citizens within the last few weeks because they were daring to say they want freedom.

Or look at the horrible history of communist countries where millions were killed because they were thought to be a threat to the power mongers of the day.

Critics of Christianity point to some of the wars among Christian peoples saying: “here is a proof of the failure of Christian morality!” But they conveniently fail to look at the magnitude of murders that happened in communist countries or under radical Islam. These far out strip the tragic mistakes in Christian culture. I don’t say that to excuse what Christians have done. Man’s inhumanity to man – regardless of the perpetrator – is something that must be accounted for before God.

Now, I think one of the reasons why our society has been turning away from this strong moral backbone is because we seek too much of our own individual rights instead of recognizing the requirement to work for a just society – to work for, and with, our neighbor. Pope Leo recently said: “So often today, in the highly individualistic society that people are growing up in, people think that my experience is the criteria. ‘Am I happy or not happy?’ What that might really be is, ‘Do I feel pleasure or don’t I feel pleasure?’ Or, ‘Do I feel selfish?’ And if I feel okay, then that’s all that matters.”

Pope Leo nailed it! “that’s all that matters.” Me! Me! Me!

If we hope to see a resurgence of the greatness of our country, there must be a return to the moral guidelines that spring from our Catholic faith. Again, St. Paul says, “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret…” We… are… light… to… the… world!

Look at the close of our gospel today: 

“Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”

Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”

This is why I asked at the start today: “ ‘does our society have enough of what it had to overcome today’s onslaught?’ This is a serious question that I’m afraid the answer may be: ‘No!’ ”

Pray/Praise:   

But… we can pray for a revival.

Lord Jesus, you have called us to be light before the world. You have poured out your Holy Spirit on the church and on each one of us. Give us the courage we need to stand before a world that does not understand nor wants to understand what it means to live for you.

Help us in our day to turn away from selfishness and from our own pettiness that causes so many to reject our faith. Give us the courage to be light before the world that the blindness of the world will be removed. As President Adams said there is an, “indissoluble bond [between] the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” Hear our prayer and help us to make this bond a new reality in our country and in our day. Amen.

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