There are three main obstacles to our growth in holiness: naturalism, relativism and mass-mindedness. Humanity without God becomes brutality and even bestiality.

Naturalism means that there is only what you can see and prove: it rejects any supernatural reality. However, if you take God out of people’s lives you are always left with some kind of dehumanisation. God’s grace protects and heals nature. If there is nothing divine in us, nothing supernatural in us, then we slowly transform ourselves into soulless machines.

Relativism means that there are no absolute truths for everyone. The only law is our own desires. If it does not hurt anyone then it is ok. Your conscience has nothing to do with my conscience. Your truth does not affect my truth. Pope Benedict XVI has spoken about this as a “dictatorship of relativism”.

Mass-mindedness means every personal bond or attachment is severed between spouses, within families, with the home as a place. It produces a rootless individual who is vulnerable to manipulation by others (e.g. by politicians, the media). People start to follow the crowd and do things simply because everyone else is doing it.