Episode Transcript  

One

Life in Poland under Communism

Today is the memorial of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, a Martyr for truth who has a very important message for us today. Satan’s main goal is to get us to reject God as our Father and, in so doing, to destroy ourselves forever.  The whole Communist system was built on a lie: God does not exist. There is no higher power than the state. Physical reality is all that exists. By denying God and the right to religious practice, the Soviets aimed to control not only the political, economic, and social spheres, but the very conscience of the human person. 

When Poland fell under the control of the Soviet Union, they were denied almost all the freedoms we enjoy. Most especially, they were denied the freedom of religion. The communist government saw the Catholic Church as a threat due to its influence and opposition to atheistic ideology. Churches were closed, clergy were persecuted, and religious activities were restricted. Practicing your faith would often result in discrimination in employment and education. Religious leaders and faithful Catholics were often under surveillance and faced harassment.

Cardinal Wyszinski was arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement for three years simply because he was the head of the Church in Poland. Freedom of conscience was suppressed. Those who openly expressed dissenting opinions, whether on religious, moral, or political grounds, faced imprisonment, exile, or worse. The pervasive surveillance and culture of informing created an atmosphere of fear and distrust, fracturing communities and even families.

Since the Government owned everything, I mean everything, they controlled the means of production and pricing. As a result, the people faced unbearable inflation and shortages of basic goods and services. 

So, by August of 1980, the Polish People had had enough, and workers all over the country began to strike in protest, demanding their human dignity and freedoms be recognized.

Two

Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko 

When the steelworkers began to strike in Warsaw in August of 1980, Cardinal Wyzsinki sent Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko to celebrate Mass for them in the steel mill, and he became their spiritual leader. Every month, he had a special Mass for the freedom of Poland celebrated from the balcony in front of the church attended by half of Warsaw.

In his homilies, Fr. Jerzy confronted the “Lie” of Communism and urged the people to “wake up!” saying, “Our slavery comes from our knuckling under to the reign of the Lie. We do not unmask that Lie, and by doing nothing about it, by our silence, we encourage it!”

“Have no fear of those who kill the body; they can do nothing else. Remember that the Christian should be afraid only of betraying Christ for a bit of tranquility.”

The men who proclaim the truth do not need to be numerous. Christ, incidentally, surrounded himself with a small number of individuals. Falsehood is what requires a lot of people, because it always needs to be renewed and fed. Our duty as Christians is to abide in the truth, even if it costs dearly. Pope John Paul even sent him a Rosary with the message, “Be strong!”

Three

Martyrdom 

Fr. Jerzy became the symbol of the spiritual resistance against Communism. So, the Communists had to do something to stop him. But the harassment, arrests, multiple interrogations, and increasing media propaganda against Father Jerzy did not make him resign, so the communist government decided he had to die.

On October 19th, 1984, Father Popieluszko and his driver were abducted by the Secret Police. They forced the priest out of his car, beat him, and threw him into their trunk. Then they drove to a dam on the Vistula River, bound him hand and foot, tied weights to his body, and through him into the river to drown. His funeral was attended by a million people.

Communism denied religious freedom, freedom of conscience, and abused the human rights of the Polish People. Fr. Jerzy gave his life defending those freedoms, and his martyrdom, along with the inspiration of Pope John Paul II, ignited a fire that brought about spiritual and moral revolution. Finally, on December 31st, 1989, Poland was granted its religious and national freedom. And on June 6th, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Father Jerzy.

Four

Materialism and Sloth 

Satan used Communism in Poland to make people forget about God. Satan uses materialism in the West to make us forget about God. Materialism doesn’t mean having stuff. Materialism is the lie that self-worth is based on achievements, which are measured by money, and happiness comes from pleasure through entertainment. This causes us to be so busy and distracted that we forget about God. That is the deadly sin of sloth.

Sloth is the deadly habit of stuffing ourselves with busyness and entertainment, of stuffing ourselves with so much junk that we are no longer hungry for God. When you are not hungry for God, then you make the choice not to think about God or spiritual things. You make the choice not to pray or go to Mass or anything.

That choice is despair. The feeling of despair is the feeling of discouragement. The sin of Despair is the choice to not do anything that leads to God. So, sloth kills the hunger for God that leads to the choice not to seek Him. That is the sin of despair. The West is in Despair. 

Five

Hope

The remedy to the sin of despair is hope. Hope is the desire for God that causes us to seek Him in daily meditation, to seek Him in the Eucharist at Mass, to seek Him by learning our faith and discussing it, and to try to get rid of our vices and become virtuous. That’s hope.

If our addiction to busyness and entertainment has left us empty, that is when we need to cut out the junk and feed our souls with what they really need, feed our souls with God, through daily meditation, like we are doing now in the Rosary, and feed our souls with God by reading the Bible and silently thinking about it. We feed our souls with Jesus in the Eucharist, feed our souls with friendships and good conversation about things that last. If the unnecessary busyness and entertainment have left you a little empty and hungry for more, then start by cutting it out of your life. Then fill your day, your soul, your life with what your soul really hungers for, and you will move from sloth and despair to real hope and happiness!

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