"Black & Blue" Friday

"Black & Blue" Friday

By: Eric Gajewski

As many families are finishing their holiday today there are also many gathering outside the businesses of Americas new secular holiday called “Black Friday”.  It is sad to have to say this but many Americans are more excited over Black Friday then Thanksgiving itself.  Forget about giving thanks to God and family in general.  We have pushed this all to the side in the pursuit of self-fulfillment in “things”.  No longer looking to our Creator we look to the latest Notebook Computer coming out.  As I write this there are people who will make camp outside of the local retail establishments in their pursuit of the “good deal”.  If people only had half the fervor for Black Friday as they did for Our Lord it could quite possibly get this country moving in the right direction however they will not.  This country has already passed the point of no return and supposed “outsider” Trump is not going to “right the ship”.  Rather than celebrate Black Friday by buying more things we ought protest this day and substitute it with “Black & Blue Friday”. It should be a day after Thanksgiving to reflect upon how our pursuit of materials has only damaged our hearts, souls and literally our own neighbors.  If you don’t believe me that Black Friday is not violent you are sadly mistaken.  You can search youtube for the latest Black Friday videos demonstrating just how pathetic we have become as a country.

Deny rather than acquire?  It is true that families have material needs and no one denies this but are we truly setting the right example for our friends and family by partaking in “Black Friday”. Our country, as each day passes, is being swallowed up by the “deep dark” which is consuming our hearts.  Some may have the right intent in giving but I still think it can be done in other means.  What will happen after the economic collapse when God puts on display men’s ailing hearts who pursue “things” over Him?  What a dark day indeed as many will fall into a deep depression and even commit suicide and yet it is our own fault!  You want what is not good for the soul but what is good for your satisfaction.  You ask for things which do not truly pertain to your salvation.  When was the last time at Christmas you prayed for someone else’s prayers being answered rather than your own? 

 And you are the same to complain about getting to Mass 30 minutes too early?

Black hearts deserve a day.  I will sit back and watch some of the latest viral videos of the poor souls who treat this day as if it were a part of their religion.  You will see men and women pounding on doors to get in to these places of business while their own hearts have locked out Christ.  He shivers out in the cold and they will not let Him in because they are too focused on acquiring.  I will sit back and watch the men and women punching and hitting each other for the latest “hot ticket” item as if their whole existence revolves around it.  It is truly a day we ought be praying more but we do not.  Our country is sick in virtually every way imaginable and it is not going to be Trump to pull us out of the ditch.  These times have been reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary and only she can now save this country.  We are due a great punishment and this punishment cannot be stopped but only mitigated.  Will you participate in the madness or turn to Our Lady for counsel?

This country is black and blue.  We are run by outside forces who seek to draw us into civil war with one another.  They seek to start a race war.  They seek Christians to fight atheists/Satanists.  They are very clever.  Thus, in order to defeat them we will have to rely upon the Divine.  We must continue to work, expose and correct the error’s coming from Americans who think the nightmare they are currently living is an “American dream”.  We have reduced happiness to the acquiring of things.  We have built this false city of security up and God will take it down.  The reality is that things can and will get in the way of your relationship with Our Lady and Lord.  In the end, we hope to be in the Presence of God not things.  I hope to awaken with eternal eyes centered on Christ not the latest video game system, shoes, TV, etc.  What in the world are we teaching are kids?  How can we break this cycle of self wherein we are competing with our neighbors over goods?  Forget about trying to help your neighbor Americans are trying to outdo one another on the material level and call it happiness.  I should know I was there was once too in my former life.  

As I have mentioned repeatedly modern man is a surface dwelling creature.  Five minutes of prayer is even painful to him.  Forget about silence and solitude.  Forget about examining our consciences and trying to please Jesus.  Metaphorically speaking we are our own Walmart.  We are our own place of business.  We keep ourselves open 365 days a year 24/7 only for gain.  We lower the price only for personal profit.  St. Francis once said “it is in giving that we receive” but not to modern man.  Modern man screams violently.  It is better that I have and you do not under the threat of my fists.  This is the antithesis of the life of a Christian.  I do not think your everyday American truly pauses to think just how pathetic we have become in general.  Thus, this is why we need a “Black and Blue Friday” instead.  Let this one day become a habit wherein daily you pause to reflect how you can contribute to society and help turn it Catholic.  We thank God on Thursday and then we become “turkey’s” without a head running about within the world seeking something that truly doesn’t matter in the end.

The Black & Blue Christ.  I sit and meditate upon the Passion of the Cross and see our Redeemer all beaten up and yet we will go out and beat each other up for some of the stupidest reasons possible.  The Sacred Heart of Christ is the answer and we can know this Eternal Heart more intimately by first going to Our Lady.  She, along with the few, who, were found under the Cross (in the end) prove that only few in the end are saved.  This is the common opinion amongst the greatest in the Church.  There are many who will go out to Target today and be willing to get beat up over the latest gadget yet who would not dare speak up in this Church crisis!  They are full of themselves and truly run with their mistress called “the world”.  They truly do not love Jesus in the end they love fitting in.  What sadness.  Behold Our Lord who was willing to be beaten to death.  He was a bloody massacre upon the Cross and yet we focus our day around so many other things.  Few remained around the Cross in the end indeed.  Therefore, are you one of those who will flee at the slightest hint of persecution for your Faith or will you remain unmoved?  The more we stay glued to the TV and what the “mainstream” is doing and saying the more likely we are to lose our souls that is a fact not mere conjecture.

Rather than beat up the “competition” beat yourself up (metaphorically speaking).  I propose this day called “Black & Blue Friday” with the intent of changing hearts and rerouting them in orderly fashion back unto Christ.  Who has time for Christ these days?  There is always something going on and yet it is for this reason Christ is ignored.  Have you ever not paid attention to your wife for a few days?  How do you think that makes her feel and how well do you think that subsequent conversation will go?  You say I want salvation but your actions tell another story.  So put down the new toaster oven you have been waiting for this week.  Quit dreaming about that 96-inch screen TV which has so consumed your heart that you can barely talk about other things.  Get focused for time is running more short before the first domino falls in the world and if you are not prepared by then it is because you are at fault.  Walk with Christ in silence and your actions will speak loud unto your neighbor.  Be alone often enough with Christ and you will find the world is already under your dominion because through Him do we conquer.   

When the collapse happens ask yourselves honestly will I abide by the Law of Self or the Sacred Heart? Christ GAVE IT ALL my good friends and yet as I write this the majority of you will be reluctant (after the economic collapse) to give your neighbors some bread.  Yes, this “disease of me” has sickened many here in America but if we turn to Our Lady now, we can, through her intercession begin to build the foundation of an entirely new and Christian country.  Christ is not only the answer today He is the answer for everyday. Therefore, let us cling to His Passion and unite our own hearts with the His Heart.  His Heart was not only bruised for our transgressions it literally exploded.  Such is the Way of Selfless Love and does Black Friday paint a picture of self or selfless love?  For in Him there is no self and thus this is our model if we are to regain order in America.  Deny thy self, take up thy Cross and come follow Me…says He.  In this process of death to self, assuredly, there are a lot of “black and blue” moments but then again it is the Cross we boast of!  Let us turn in prayer to make the Friday after Thanksgiving a “Black & Blue” day of remembrance of just how far we have fallen.

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