When I look back over my life’s years and think about my old friends and associates and what has now become of so many of them, I feel a lot of sadness. I don’t know of any of the companions of my youth who are now practicing Catholics, although, I must admit, I don’t really know what’s become of many of them. These Catholic-dropouts are a real sore spot with me (as also probably with you regarding your own) and this has been behind our push to have a parish "Saint Monica Sodality." We’re praying for the return to the faith of those dear to us.

While I feel regret for these lost souls since, without conversion, they’re headed for eternal ruin in the next life, I’m also sorry...for God’s sake. In a purely human way of putting it: to God, the human race must be an overwhelming disappointment (of course, that’s not an accurate way of saying it since God, knowing all things in advance, can’t ever be ‘disappointed’). But the point is that we humans have a potential for true greatness, for becoming saints; yet only a few seem even interested in their own salvation, and of those who have a care about it, there’s no certainly that they’ll actually make it to heaven.

My friends of years past, and many other misguided people as well, had thought that they had to give up God and the Church in order to have the world and to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. To some extent, of course, this is true. But there is concealed in this a misunderstanding that has deceived people ever since the fall of Adam. The truth is that in having God, one has everything else: virtue, happiness, peace, goodness and beauty, and all of this, not for the thrill of the moment, but for eternity.

Why then don’t men submit to God? Recently I heard that the late Fr. John Hardon once remarked that many people would become converts to the Catholic faith were it not for the sixth commandment. His statement carries a lot of weight because it was backed by years of pastoral experience in directing souls. But I’m afraid that his observation would be little taken into account. Too often we look for another explanation of why people are not good and practicing Catholics.

I can illustrate this by a comparison with our physical well-being–an apt counterpart to spiritual well-being. We know that if we have a bodily sickness, we have to find out exactly what’s causing it. A mis-diagnosis of the problem can often delay relief, can be very costly, and may, in fact, end-up worsening the problem by applying the wrong remedies. Notice that: a wrong diagnosis may make us worse than we were before! Now, if we’re so smart when it comes to the body, we are indeed ignorant when it comes to the soul. So, here’s the question: why is it that so many people today are unhappy, bored, depressed, suicidal? What’s at the root of this powerful wave of human suffering and sadness that is fast engulfing so many? There has to be a correct diagnosis in order to apply the right remedy.

While the prevailing sadness of so many people–especially, but not exclusively of our youth–may in fact be due to a variety of causes (hence, again, the need for a right diagnosis in each case), yet the most common cause of so much deep spiritual unhappiness is sensuality. Let’s say it again: indulgence in the flesh brings on sadness. This is the diagnosis that we need to grasp firmly and make known to others. I’m frustrated to hear the often-repeated and mindless comment that our youth nowadays are suffering from.... a lack of self-esteem. This is mis-diagnosis writ large. It’s in fact the very opposite problem. Our self-indulgent youth, their senses glutted with stimulants of imagination and body, have nothing else but self-esteem, so caught up in themselves and trapped in that horrible and frightening prison that is their selves. And, being in this prison, they suffer an isolation, a sadness, that is indeed great. But this is the self-inflicted punishment of guilt that results from the sins of sensuality, impurity, laziness and spiritual neglect. It’s the fruit of the selfish preoccupation with rock music, M-TV, body-piercing, tattooing, drug use, immodest dress, endless hours of cell-phoning, shopping, internet surfing, and so much more. The guilt that results from this is truly a beginning of hell here on this earth (just as being in God’s grace in this life is the beginning of heavenly beatitude).

What we like to call "low self-esteem" and its accompanying sadness is due to sinful indulgence. The devil’s trick is this: he entices, beguiles, ensnares people into the net of the deep sadness of guilt which comes from sense pleasures, that guilty feeling which is the very opposite of the pleasure they were looking for. The false equation is: sensual pleasures equal happiness. This fundamental error in calculation has caused untold grief and suffering for souls, both in this life’s miseries and in the eternal anguish of souls in hell. Let it be said: self-love is a hell. But this is a lesson in the spiritual life that seems so hard to master, and thus, many–instead of making a progressive movement forward in holiness–go round and round in a whirlwind of passion–exactly the image used by Dante for souls in hell who had sinned through impurity.

This brings me to the gospel of the day. "Go and take the lowest place." This is the remedy prescribed by our Lord for our pride, which is the root of so many of our sins. What we call ‘self-esteem’ is nothing but our newfangled word for pride. Low self-esteem is exactly what we really need: humility. The wisdom of Jesus is directly opposite to what people are saying today. Whoever humbles himself (that is to say, purposely lowers his self-esteem) will be exalted. And that exaltation will be not only in the next life, but also in that here-and-now happiness and calm-spirited joy that comes to those who are self-controlled and disciplined.

If we want our young people to be happy, here’s the right prescription: look at your life going nowhere; regret all the things you’ve done against your conscience; go to confession and be freed from the chains of self-love. We need to pray to their Guardian Angels so that they will be open to accept this loving message.

I’m tired of people rebelling, acting-out the guilt of their past sins by being rebellious dissenters, lashing out against God, the Church, and against the moral order. Somebody needs to be honest with them–with all due love, and without haughty self-righteousness–and tell them plainly that humility before God and submission to the Catholic faith will bring them real happiness and freedom. Let’s not offer them the devils’ brew by encouraging them to have self-esteem. God, at the judgment, is the One who will measure out esteem: "My friend, move up higher." He will lift up the lowly and place them high. The one who has humbled himself on earth will be forever exalted.