America and the free world have suffered a major dose of reality. Many of us are now afraid for our lives, but we really are in no more danger than we were before the September 11 assault. The threat was there, only we were concerned with trivialities and therefore oblivious to it.

Now the "sleeping giant" is awake. We are now contemplating actions that were before too drastic and unthinkable, or that at least seemed unnecessary. These include giving up some of our freedoms in favor of security, edging toward becoming a police state, and going to war. It is a shame we did not take steps to prepare ourselves before it came to this. No doubt complacency is human nature in a time of peace and prosperity.

We of the Church should learn from this hard lesson. Indeed, we are in an emergency, and long have been. The world is at stake -- not the buildings, the souls! People are going to hell on all sides, but most of us go on living our lives, seeking comfort, prosperity, and happiness, as if there were nothing wrong. Must we suffer some greater calamity, such as bloody persecutions of Roman ilk? We should like Samson shake ourselves, and like the Prodigal come to ourselves, and begin to work in earnest, for the time is short. Truly, even should the End remain distant, the allotted span of each of us is piteously brief. Shall we be like the unfaithful steward who had no profit to show to his master? For much has been given to us Americans, and much will be required.

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