May Jesus Reign in Every Heart!

In his Sunday June 17, 2018 homily, Most Rev. Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, France, stated:

"The Lord speaks to us of the Kingdom of God. But where is it, this Kingdom of the Lord? We know that a Kingdom is a country, a nation. Where is this land where the Lord reigns? Jews have a promised land. Muslims, when they are in the majority, call this place the "land of Islam". And we, Christians, are two billion strong. Where is our kingdom? Where is the territory where Christians rule? Where is the kingdom of God?

"Well, yes, it is not a territory, for the Lord reigns only in our hearts. This is where the Lord's kingdom is: the Lord does not want to reign over a territory, but in each of our hearts.

"How can he reign? Oh, it's simple! If there were, in your hearts, even a little bit of love, like a mustard seed, as the Lord says in today's Gospel, the Lord, with this little bit of love can make it shine everywhere, like this little mustard seed that becomes the most important tree of the vegetable garden, on which come to nest the birds. Your love will spread if you let the Lord act and seize that seed, that little bit of love that's in your heart... "

We recognize that the Kingdom of God requires that we do His will, "on earth as it is in heaven". All the earth belongs to the Lord. If Jesus reigns in our hearts, Satan will be kicked out, and the righteousness of God will be fulfilled in our actions and in life in society. This is what Louis Even explains, in his comments on the hymn, "We want God". When Jesus reigns in your heart, you can accomplish wonders, as it happened with the Polish servant of God, Rozalia Celakówna.

The first of God's Ten Commandments is: "You shall have no other gods before me." There is only one God who is the Creator of heaven and earth. The sin against this commandment is idolatry, which consists of worshipping that which is not God. The worship of anything that is not God signifies that we are worshipping an idol. Pope Francis explains that one of the primary idols today is money. This idol is one to which human lives are even sacrificed.

Another idol denounced by the Holy Father "which destroys the health and even the lives of young people" is the use of drugs. In this regard, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a "Statement on the Legalization of Marijuana/Cannabis for Recreational Use", in June 2018. This document highlights the important evidence-based concerns raised about marijuana use not only by a number of community professionals but also by the Holy See.

In this issue of MICHAEL, we are publishing Part I of Eric Butler's text, titled, "Social Credit and the Kingdom of God". This essay explains that "the future of civilization depends on those who have grasped Douglas' ideas" (see page 12).

One of the truths explained by Douglas is that every human being is entitled to a dividend, as a rightful heir of the natural wealth of the planet and technological progress, given that machines take more and more the place of man in production. One of the flaws of the current financial system is that it links income to employment alone. Another concern is the creation of money in the form of unpayable debts.

The need to create unnecessary jobs to generate and distribute income leads to a tremendous waste of resources and the destruction of the environment. This means that those who care about protecting the environment should also be interested in Social Credit as it safeguards the natural world while facilitating the development of the human person.

Finally, we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which is still relevant, courageous and prophetic.

Enjoy your reading. May Jesus reign in your heart. Surrender to Him all of your idols!