The '30-Year-Old World' Has Collapsed. What Can Catholics Be Calm About, and What Should They Be Concerned About?

What can we, Catholics, be certain about? First, we believe that the Lord God has not withdrawn from the world but is constantly involved in our history. Even if it seems that He is "asleep." This is more or less similar to the situation described in the Holy Scripture: "Master, we are sinking!!!"

So if we see changes in violence, "pandemics," the threat of war, etc., we must first raise our eyes to the Lord God, and as Catholics, also to the Blessed Virgin Mary, because she is the mediatrix of graces.

As Catholics, we must also not forget that Pope Francis, back in 2022, on the feast of the Annunciation - March 25 - consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima. So even if we face certain problems and difficulties, a difficult fate, we must trust in the Immaculate Heart of Mary and remain calm. After all, nothing other than death and the Last Judgment awaits us, and above all, we must prepare for that.

In light of all that has been said above, we must remain calm. Our fate is always in the hands of the Lord God. So here we should not worry.

What then, of course, also only to a certain extent, can we worry about? We can worry about the fate of unbelievers and the fate of our beloved Homeland, Lithuania. Unfortunately, today's Lithuania, its elite, and the majority of its inhabitants are not at all believing and practicing Catholics.

Consequently, they lack a supernatural vision and will most likely react only with material and human means. In this case, it is not worth expecting good fruits, because usually human actions not based on faith do not yield good fruits.

What can we do? In many cases, the only sensible action is prayer. Why? Our human powers are very limited. People are also not united around an idea based on faith and truth. For that to happen, we must first pray.

Here a question may arise: what about activism? How to awaken the consciences of Lithuanians? This is what is needed and what we must do so that at the Last Judgment we are not asked: why did you do nothing? However, we must also realistically assess the situation.

Our efforts are small compared to our needs. For Lithuania to change, we must move hundreds of thousands of people. That is enormous money. None of us has such money. Therefore, we return again to the starting point - we must first pray that the good Lord God will convert someone more worthy than us, and if such a person cannot be found, then us, so that we can gather enough strength.

The well-known monastic saying is "Ora et labora" - "Pray and work." But note - "pray" comes first. So first: prayer, prayer, prayer, and then action. May the Lord God have mercy on our dear Lithuania, and may the Mother of Mercy protect it!