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Dear friends, abundant blessings!
I recently became aware of a fascinating practice some observe as the year comes to an end: recapping the previous year and being grateful for the blessings received, any blessings. 2024 was a wonderful year; as I’ve deepened my faith life, I can look back and see many ways that God has helped me to have more “abundant life” with Him, as He promised us in the Gospel of John chapter 10. In 2025, I propose we keep allowing God to work in our lives; undoubtedly this leads to good. In this way, let’s continue building a culture of life, a way of living that encourages light to continue to spread in this world that is often keenly a “valley of tears,” desolate and dark (Hail, Holy Queen prayer). As the news tells us and experience tells us, families are stressed, we feel economic pressure, we are lonely, it’s getting more and more difficult to be virtuous. But with different strategies and action by us and other people of goodwill, and God’s blessing, we can combat this culture opposed to life.
Popes Paul VI and St. John Paul II talked about building a “Civilization of Love.” In an encyclical, Pope St. John Paul II mentioned that this new way of living involves offering hope to the world, of course a hope rooted in Jesus Christ:
“
…together…[may we]…offer this world of ours new signs of hope, and work to ensure that justice and solidarity will increase and that a new culture of human life will be affirmed, for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love.
” (Evangelium Vitae #6)
Pope St. John Paul II’s thoughts on building this Civilization of Love, as you can imagine, are extensive, and I will not cover its entirety in this text, but I was moved by the Pope’s vision of how solidarity among all of us fits in. A blog post by Monika Jablonska in the National Catholic Register inspiringly summarizes:
“
For John Paul II, solidarity is a firm determination to commit oneself to the common good, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all responsible for one another.
“
The Wall Street Journal recently shared that parents are under dangerous levels of stress: nearly half of parents report overwhelming stress most days. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this, but I focus a lot on the lack of a faith life, and economic pressures, which arguably can place huge demands on a family’s time which prevents them from practicing their faith well. The article cites as well the stress from increase in societal violence like school shootings. The economic pressures are arguably unlivable, where you are called to give everything you have, time, effort, focus, to be able to stay afloat, at the risk of sinking – success requires crafty and ambitious plans and extensive education. And this isn’t a guarantee for success for the rest of our lives; the economy changes, skills change, etc. For those without elaborate plans for career, they will make an unlivable entry-level wage that has historically been around $10, but which recently Florida voters decided to raise to $15 by 2026. In the Kendall area of Miami alone, owning a single-family home, currently about $500K, absent a borderline miracle, is practically impossible (Zillow Home Value Index).
Don’t worry, this text isn’t all doom and gloom. There are definitely ideas we can consider to combat these phenomena, even locally.
Going back to the family who can afford a $500K+ home in Kendall, work often consumes one of the spouses, to an unhealthy degree. The spouses and family can then feel lonely or unfulfilled in many ways. The practicing of virtue, the vows of marriage, and faith becomes extremely challenging.
In 2023, the US Surgeon General also declared an epidemic of loneliness, sharing that 1 in 2 adults is experiencing considerable levels of loneliness, and young adults feel this more.
The next generation too feels massive pressure to succeed because not succeeding will be an absolute disaster that leads to a perceived loss of prospects, financially, socially, etc. Prudent families then teach their kids that they must hyperfocus on success to not be left out of the economy, but this leads to a lack of balance and distortions in life.
These extreme scenarios of stress then lead to a general state of anxiety not conducive to practicing virtue or living the faith life, leading to a falling into sin to escape. Students likely feel they can’t commit to relationships because their future is so uncertain, leading to physically and emotionally destructive relationships: a culture of casual romantic encounters that only reinforces the decline of healthy family life and leads to deep wounds in our young people: these sins leads to isolation and shame, or even deep feelings of betrayal and disillusionment, which leads to much darkness and lack of communion with others, even family, or the faith community. And most noteworthy of all, we are pressed on time, and so, don’t pray much, or seek God much, or His limitless mercy.
This is the picture of modern man.
Yet, thanks be to God, there is always hope! In the wondrous song, “Death Was Arrested” by North Point Worship, the artists dramatically sing of Jesus’ defeat of death at His resurrection:
“…then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand…”
The Resurrection by Carl Bloch (1834-1890)
We too, as individuals, families, cultures, and societies can and will rise.
The culture of life we should continue to build in 2025 will address these issues. This of course can’t be the only solution, but I firmly believe we need to turn down the temperature of the economic pressure everyone is feeling and we can do this first in our families, and especially with our adult children, but this can extend outside the family too. Some may already do this, but we should give extravagantly – are they starting families or do they have a lot of debt, including student debt? Let’s take out some of our home equity, which has grown at least 25% since 2020, and help them with these noble enterprises of starting families or having taken out loans to get educated (Zillow US home values trends); I think handsome sums of $25000 or $50000 should not be thought of as too much, of course as one is able. A loan of $25K over 10 years has a monthly payment of about $300 a month. Of course it is understandable if one is deep into retirement, monthly payments like this cannot be afforded easily, so we can give less, or not at all. We can also help them payoff cars, of course telling them to be sure not to wrap themselves up in more debt after this help. A life with this type of financial freedom allows us to live our highest vocation: to devote time and energy to our faith for our benefit and that of the world, which gives great Glory to God: we can pray and we can serve God and our neighbor.
For local Miami readers, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention as well that Miami-Dade County has a down payment assistance program for individuals and couples earning about $100K or less with a maximum loan award amount of $35K.
I recently heard a homily where the priest encouraged us to give away one weeks’ salary to someone in need in order to mortify our unhealthy attachment to money – we should absolutely follow through with this. This about-2% reduction (figuring 52 weeks in a year) in annual wage likely is not an impact, but it will hurt enough that it helps us to boldly symbolically proclaim: “I serve Jesus Christ, and I know He will fill me since He is the Bread of Life.” If you know someone who involuntarily lost their job or is struggling financially, please do likewise: don’t be afraid to give lavishly, $500 a month for a few months for whatever they may need, or help them to pay down some debt with that weeks’ salary you decided to give away.
If you own a business or are involved in starting salary decisions, please consider paying $20+ an hour and offering healthcare for all workers; should the higher wage require more work for the employee, please even then consider it, but of course allowing some balance with workload. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated chiefly by Pope St. John Paul II, mentions that the political community has duties to the family: that people have the freedom of starting a family and, among other things, for its stability (#2211). Would we seriously be able to start a family making $10 an hour? Furthermore, is it just and correct to think that only the best-educated, who make adequate salaries, can marry and start families? In the Kendall area of Miami, rent below $2000 is unheard of: so strictly speaking of financial best practice, families would have to make $80K a year to afford this; if each spouse makes $10 an hour full-time, they will be making $40K a year.
Last in terms of finances, do you know a young couple who just got married or a young family that is starting to have children? Please consider helping them financially to get off on a solid foot: don’t be afraid to gift $1K or $5K: this surely will help them pay down debt, save, or pay off cars or have an emergency fund. Also, are these teachers, or Catholic teachers? Please do so moreso, as teachers, and moreso Catholic teachers, many times make less than $40K a year, despite stellar credentials and many requirements from the state and the different Archdioceses to teach (ZipRecruiter); these are the individuals who help mold the future of our world! This is the type of noble vocation that we should encourage, including materially, as families and communities, the one that seeks to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through example of life, deed, witness, and prayer.
Central to our continuing to build a culture of life will be to continue to practice fervently our faith in Jesus Christ as Catholics. Our actions and prayer for these noble causes I’ve mentioned are priceless and necessary, with each contributing as he is able. We should also give courageous witness to God’s plan for families, even at the risk of rejection from young people and in general. Encouraging young people to go against the current culture and seek purity, chastity, and marriage will help them to move forward boldly, courageously, and as God wants them to. We should also discourage vices of excessive consumption of alcohol and late-night partying, which can be commonplace in lives with excessive stress. Last, we should be sure to provide frequent and periodic opportunities for healthy and beautiful encounters with families and friends, such as barbeques and dinners, regular prayer such as rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy at different homes in the community, and fun and wholesome activities such as family outings, family vacations, even and especially with adult children and their friends. A culture such as this of love, warmth, presence, and fun is the best contrast to a stressful, demanding, and often-times desolate life of responsibility, competition, and careers, and, unfortunately due to current practice, one even without the consolation of people having their own families.
Friends, I thank you for your time and attention to my words that will help us keep moving toward everyone having the opportunity to live a full life with each other and with the God who adores us. Of course, our efforts don’t guarantee a wholesome civilization because people, in their free will, are allowed to reject us and God, but we are still called to act and pray to try to provide an environment conducive to rich life. Let us proceed mercifully and respectfully!
God bless us and our efforts, especially in Miami and Florida, as we seek to spread, as mentioned in Christmas carols, the “everlasting light” of Jesus, of life, of redemption, of blessing.
Abundant blessings,
Juan B
Citations:
Jablonska, Monika, “42nd Anniversary of JPII’s Election: “The Civilization of Love is the Way of the Church“, blog
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/42nd-anniversary-of-jpii-s-election-the-civilization-of-love-is-the-way-of-the-church. Accessed 31 Dec 2024
ZipRecruiter, “Catholic School Teacher Salary in Florida“
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Catholic-School-Teacher-Salary–in-Florida. Accessed 2 Jan 2025