Mission Monthly – October 1998
“Poor mothers,” thought he. “There is one thing sadder than to see their children die—to see them live evil lives.”
Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
I do not know nor can I possibly imagine a parent’s anguish caused by the death of a child. I’ve known several parents who have survived the death of one of their children and whether the child was an infant or a retiree and the parents young or entering the twilight of their own lives, the tragedy of the child’s death always left a surging wake of broken hearts assaulting the very ramparts of one’s faith and strength.
My peripheral experience of this type of sorrow does not, however, deprive me of empathy (indeed, I have lost a parent and others very close to me). Knowing the sorrow of death, and indirectly the death of a child, I approach this subject with great tenderness.
The much heralded story “Les Miserables” was written and set in early to middle 19thcentury France. Anyone who reads is aware that “classic” literature often provides excellent social commentary and, according to the Fathers, it engages and exercises the soul Godward. The presence of God is more than obvious in this story and must propel before even the narrowest of visions the glaring use of the word “evil.” It certainly grabbed my attention and left me wondering about our era relative to “evil” as an acknowledged reality. The possibilities are frightening, not so much in the presence of evil but rather that we actually might not see it! Author M. Scott Peck wrote in his book, The People of the Lie, “I can think of nothing that would fill Satan with greater glee… than an attitude on the part of humans that it is impossible to identify evil.”
A topic this large hardly lends itself to a brief meditation but its significance certainly is worthy of an introduction. The growing social and media trend to portray immorality as “normal” relativizes evil as dangerously as it does Truth. This should weigh heavily upon our hearts, especially regarding its affect on the spiritual and moral development of our youth. As a person working in a public high school I am exposed to teenage rituals on a daily basis. I will spare my readers the graphic details, but I wonder how many parents are aware of the growth in cynicism, disrespect, anger, violence, self-indulgence, immodesty, sexual promiscuity and lack of direction and purpose in this population? I think many would be shocked!
It is not my goal here to reproach our youth, rather my desire is to protect them by focusing the Light of Christ upon an amoral world, forcing both children and adults alike into the spotlight of accountability. What are we doing as priests, parents, god-parents and teachers to help our children awaken to the Love and calling of God and to direct their spiritual gifts towards God as they are revealed? Our modern society is so riveted on “success, security, and schedules,” that many are left cold and rootless, seeking any sense of feeling, sifting through a myriad of mixed messages to fill the void of missing Love and Truth in their lives. M. Scott Peck went further to define evil simply as, “the absence of Truth.” This is a very subtle reality which demands much more than just a casual glance into our heart to see how selectively one can be when rationalizing compromise on matters of good conscience. It also helps me to better understand the quote from Les Miserables; it may be easier to endure the death of a child then if he were to turn to evil, because then we must fear even more for his salvation as well as for our own.