Growing up a lot of us heard “you are what you eat.” It is true, both in a physical and spiritual sense, that we become what we consume. We are surrounded by mass media blaring the ways of the world into our ears and flashing images before our eyes that stay with us long after we’ve seen them. Whether that is through music, movies, television, radio, internet, video games, magazines – you name it, we are swimming in the gospel of the world and the doctrine of demons. The world provides a steady stream of exposure to the anti-gospel.
And it seems to be getting uglier by the day. This school year I’ve overheard female students singing “I Kissed A Girl,” a recent Billboard chart-topper. It holds the distinction of being the 1000th number one hit of the rock era. For those of you who have been fortunate enough not to have heard this “song”, it’s sung by a female and the lyrics promote both homosexuality and promiscuity.
The debauchery of current pop culture can be seen and heard everywhere. So-called reality TV glorifies behavior that we should find horrifying. This constant diet of garbage is affecting the way we think, what we say, and how we behave. It is especially damaging to children, who instead of being taught the truth, are absorbing and believing lies with every second they watch TV or listen to their iPods.
I have had to cut down tremendously on what I will permit myself to watch. I used to be a fan of the animated show “The Family Guy.” This season, it has gotten more crass and more offensive than ever. I saw a promo for a new episode of “The Family Guy” that was appalling. The new show, according to the preview, was going to be all about making fun of Jesus. Thirty minutes of unabashed blasphemy. I suppose after the recent rash of highly publicized (and sadly, often celebrated) Eucharist desecrations, having a cartoon join in the mocking, scourging, and spitting in the face of Christ is not surprising.
It is time for us to stop consuming the garbage, before it consumes us. Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice cried out in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.” That message still applies to us today. We cannot prepare the way for Christ in our hearts if we are constantly watching and listening to lies. The true Gospel can’t take root in a heart wrapped in the thorny weeds of the anti-gospel.
Jesus tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Have you stopped to listen to what’s coming out of your mouth? When I first did that, I noticed that it was time to clean up what was in my heart – with repentance, confession, the Eucharist, and resolving not to listen to or watch anything that encouraged me to internalize and then repeat the latest trash I’d acquired. Prayer has also helped with detachment from the kind of entertainment the world provides. What the world preaches is just not interesting or appealing to me anymore; I find much of it distasteful and seek to avoid it.
So what should we consume, then? St. Paul has the answer:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phillipians 4:8)
Tuning out of the world will help us tune into God. Around 500 years ago, the Lord said to St. Teresa of Avila, “Oh how gladly would I speak to many souls! But the world makes so much noise in their hearts that they cannot hear My voice. Would that they might retire a little from the world!”
