The Gates of Hell will not prevail against us

Scripture promises us that no matter how bad it gets out there, satan will not win. The gates of Hell will not prevail. We have to hold on to this as we continue to walk into this challenging time in our church history.  We are being assaulted both inside and outside of the church walls.

 Inside the walls we have a few priests who are giving us a bad name by doing stupid and criminal things with our precious children, finances, etc... and people tend to generalize that all priests are like that, and they are not.  There are many good priests around and I think they are stressed out by what those few bad priests are doing and it makes their work even more challenging.  We have a very discouraged laity and only 30% of Catholics actually going to Mass on Sunday. They need their priests to be courageous and speak much more boldly in their homilies.
Outside the church we have the attack on religious freedom in the United States. Many are blind to that as well but they too, in time, will be forced to choose whose side they are on. It is obvious that the media and our culture in general is anti-Catholic by the way our church is portrayed on TV, or ignored, or the way people think it is okay now to use God's name in vain on TV and radio.  That said, I was impressed to see that the TODAY show just had a positive piece on a priest from Holy Cross College in MA. So there are pockets of positivity out there showing that the Gates of Hell will not prevail.

As a result of these interior and exterior attacks, the Church's people are suffering. The Church has an image problem. The Church is being persecuted.  The Church is weary and sad.  That sad: we can't lose heart.  We have to hang on to Jesus because He will get us through this time in history.

What can WE do as individuals ? Well, here are my thoughts..... Our good priests can pray more and work on becoming more holy than they currently are.  Our good priests can be bold in preaching the Good News and in consoling their flocks.  The laity can also pray more and work on their own holiness.  The laity can work on increasing their knowledge of the faith and both priests and laity need to stay close to the sacraments. The laity can prayerfully support their priests.

Not that I am anyone special at all, but in my life's experience, I would like to offer the following prescription to my fellow and fella Catholics - lay and clergy alike:

1.   Increase your prayer time - especially in front of the Blessed Sacrament whenever possible.
2.   Read the daily readings or go to daily Mass if you can. Meditate on them. Live them.
3.   Be nice to each other.
4.   Practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
5.   Go to regular confession.
6.   Don't be afraid to practice your faith in public: say grace before meals, wear religious jewelry, speak of your love for Jesus.
7.   Read other good books about our faith, the saints, the Catechism, etc...
8.   Support each other.  Priests should not be afraid to get to know their flock.  Laity should pray for their  clergy.
9.   Avoid as much temptation as possible becuase the draw these days is very strong and the devil is being  creative in the ways in which he snatches people.
10. Pray the rosary. Ask for Mary's intercession. Ask for the saints to intercede as well.