Mental Prayer for March 12, Citizens of Two Worlds

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: Christ, give me the good sense and courage to live for you and not just for the world.

The Idea: At their worst non-Catholic colleges can wreck young people morally or destroy their faith (*). A lot of the stories about the ugly things that go on at non-Catholic schools are, whether we like to face the fact or not, true.

But let's suppose they don't cause people to lose their faith or morals and that they turn out men and women who are really experts in their field. All right, at their very best, non-Catholic colleges train people to make money or become famous in this world, to drive disease out for this world, to write fine books and do deep thinking about this world, to make wonderful discoveries about this world, to turn this world into a comfortable, easy vacation­land.

They're interested in this world, nothing else. What they don't seem to know is that we are citizens of two worlds: this one and the world to come.

My Personal Application: I can think of a lot of reasons, and I'll hear more, for going to a non-­Catholic college: bigger campus, more social life, etc. One reason I'll never hear is: you'll learn to love God better.

I Speak to God: Help me to be sincere about this important matter, to choose honestly what will be best for me. If I must attend non-Catholic schools, remind me to take extra safeguards. Protect me.

Thought for Today: To choose the best.
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
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(*) Note: This was written when Catholic colleges were Catholic - and well before the 1967 Land of Lakes statement chaired by Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. This statement was, in fact, a "declaration of independence" from the magisterium and the hierarchy of the Church. The lamentable condition of so-called Catholic universities and colleges in promoting and teaching the faith and preparing Catholic students for life in this country is a result, many would say, of this refusal of obedience to the teachings of Christ and His Church. A Catholic student may even be more likely to lose his faith at a Catholic college than at a secular college. Over 15 years after "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" was promulgated, how few Catholic colleges there are which abide by its directives. Far too many Catholic colleges choose to prepare students for this world only - at the expense of the next.