1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13
Psalm 132:6-10
Mark 6:53-56
Jesus went around healing people by the thousands. If he was able to do that, why hold back at all? Even though we accept that illness and suffering are the result of original sin, that God does not make us suffer, yet he holds the cure to all our suffering and can end it at any moment. So why does he let us suffer? It might be our fault; it is our fault, but still, how could God, who loves us, look on and see our pain without granting healing?
Certainly God could by a certain miracle suddenly remove all bodily suffering in the world by healing everyone who is sick or injured, but what then? People will be injured or sickened the next hour after the miracle. If the greatest good that could be achieved in this life was a mere removal of suffering, then God would do that every hour of every day, but we are made for something more. We are made to live the life of the blessed forever.
Death is not the greatest evil. Suffering is not the greatest evil. The greatest evil is a separation of our souls from God. Just as we will gladly undergo painful surgery with the hope of lasting benefits or endure the pain of exercise with the hope of stronger bodies, we should not fear the suffering of this world but rather hope that it will prepare us for the next. Our own suffering often accomplishes the real purpose of living.
Why does God permit the suffering of this world? We know why. Why does a parent permit their child to be stabbed with needles or have a tooth pulled? Because allowing some suffering now prevents greater suffering later. This does not take away our need to serve those who are suffering. It does not mean that we can forget about the suffering in the world, especially the suffering created by our own choices. It means that suffering can be necessary and can result in good.
Suffering is always evil but suffering can lead to compassion, endurance, patience, and humility and these are great goods. If all Jesus wanted to do was stop all suffering, there was no need for him to become a man and dwell among us; God could have done that at any time, but since he knew that permitting suffering was necessary in a world with sin, he instead came down to suffer with us.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Evil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evil. Show all posts
September 4, 2012 - Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
Psalm 145:8-14
Luke 4:31-37
Is it possible for a human to know the mind of the Lord? Definitely! Jesus Christ, in his human nature, knows the will of the Father. But can a merely human person know the will of God? St. Paul answers yes. “We have the mind of Christ.” This is because the Holy Spirit lives within us. We received the Spirit from God so that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.
This is why the Holy Spirit is called “the Holy Spirit”. Our relationship with the Father is like a human’s relationship with God, completely beyond words or knowledge. Our relationship with the Son is human to human, face to face, in human words. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is human to spirit. Ancient people knew what that meant because they had often seen possessions by evil spirits.
Not that it is exactly the same. The difference between how the Holy Spirit dwells in us versus how the evil spirits possess a person is as enormous as the difference between the Holy Spirit and the evils spirits. The evil spirits, once they possess a person, control them against their will. The Holy Spirit gives us power and knowledge but never forces us. Spirits cannot enter without permission, but evil spirits will take anything as a pretext: dealing with magic or fortune-telling or choosing a life of sin or hating God. The Holy Spirit only enters through the Sacraments, with our explicit permission.
Modern people disregard magic and fortune-telling because we do not believe that they are real, but the evil spirits are able to work acts of power. The evil spirit in the Gospel today has knowledge. He sees Jesus and recognizes him. Evil spirits can do impressive things and share secret knowledge, but remember, they hate us. Anything they do or tell us is for the purpose of harming us. They enter into people to use them for their purposes. The Holy Spirit, however, loves us. His acts are always for our good, what he teaches us helps us, and he does not act unless we cooperate. We do not want the evil spirits no matter what their power is. We want the Holy Spirit, even though his presence is hard to see. He does not shout or push, since this would take away our free will, but if we cooperate, he will do amazing things.
Psalm 145:8-14
Luke 4:31-37
Is it possible for a human to know the mind of the Lord? Definitely! Jesus Christ, in his human nature, knows the will of the Father. But can a merely human person know the will of God? St. Paul answers yes. “We have the mind of Christ.” This is because the Holy Spirit lives within us. We received the Spirit from God so that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.
This is why the Holy Spirit is called “the Holy Spirit”. Our relationship with the Father is like a human’s relationship with God, completely beyond words or knowledge. Our relationship with the Son is human to human, face to face, in human words. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is human to spirit. Ancient people knew what that meant because they had often seen possessions by evil spirits.
Not that it is exactly the same. The difference between how the Holy Spirit dwells in us versus how the evil spirits possess a person is as enormous as the difference between the Holy Spirit and the evils spirits. The evil spirits, once they possess a person, control them against their will. The Holy Spirit gives us power and knowledge but never forces us. Spirits cannot enter without permission, but evil spirits will take anything as a pretext: dealing with magic or fortune-telling or choosing a life of sin or hating God. The Holy Spirit only enters through the Sacraments, with our explicit permission.
Modern people disregard magic and fortune-telling because we do not believe that they are real, but the evil spirits are able to work acts of power. The evil spirit in the Gospel today has knowledge. He sees Jesus and recognizes him. Evil spirits can do impressive things and share secret knowledge, but remember, they hate us. Anything they do or tell us is for the purpose of harming us. They enter into people to use them for their purposes. The Holy Spirit, however, loves us. His acts are always for our good, what he teaches us helps us, and he does not act unless we cooperate. We do not want the evil spirits no matter what their power is. We want the Holy Spirit, even though his presence is hard to see. He does not shout or push, since this would take away our free will, but if we cooperate, he will do amazing things.
August 20, 2012 - Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Ezekiel 24:15-23
Deuteronomy 32:18-21
Matthew 19:16-22
God takes away Ezekiel’s wife and requires him to mourn in silence. Ezekiel is informed in the morning that his wife will die that evening, and he is commanded not to mourn. If a human did this, we would condemn them as most cruel. The loss of one’s wife is painful enough, but when God requires Ezekiel to continue prophesying, not merely in spite of his loss but using this loss as an example for the people, it seems too much.
The rich young man in the Gospel today is sad. He obeys all the commandments, but he wants more. Jesus tells him that that to be perfect he needs to sell everything he has. In comparison with Ezekiel, the sadness of the rich young man seems petty, but how would we feel if every possession were taken from us? If you went home today and discovered that you no longer had a home and would be homeless from now on, it would be tragic. But Jesus does not immediately require the young man to sell everything. When he merely asks for eternal life, Jesus points him to the commandments. It is only when he asks for more, that Jesus reveals how to be perfect. Tradition holds that he went home and sold everything, but he went home sad.
It would be easier if we believed in a good God and a bad God, and we could thank the good God for all the good and blame the bad God for all the bad, but this is not the truth. There is one God, and we must bring all the thanks and all the blame and lay it all at his feet. We can be angry with God and question God and even hate God, but none of that will change reality. In a disagreement between me and God, I not only know that God will win because he is stronger, but that God is right. How could I be right and God be wrong?
Ezekiel confronts his loss in the only way we can: acceptance of God’s will. It is a mystery why God did it, but if we believe in an all-knowing and all-loving God, we know for certain that it was all for their good. God loves Ezekiel and he loves Ezekiel’s wife. He does not do cruel things. We know this, even when it is difficult to believe.
Deuteronomy 32:18-21
Matthew 19:16-22
God takes away Ezekiel’s wife and requires him to mourn in silence. Ezekiel is informed in the morning that his wife will die that evening, and he is commanded not to mourn. If a human did this, we would condemn them as most cruel. The loss of one’s wife is painful enough, but when God requires Ezekiel to continue prophesying, not merely in spite of his loss but using this loss as an example for the people, it seems too much.
The rich young man in the Gospel today is sad. He obeys all the commandments, but he wants more. Jesus tells him that that to be perfect he needs to sell everything he has. In comparison with Ezekiel, the sadness of the rich young man seems petty, but how would we feel if every possession were taken from us? If you went home today and discovered that you no longer had a home and would be homeless from now on, it would be tragic. But Jesus does not immediately require the young man to sell everything. When he merely asks for eternal life, Jesus points him to the commandments. It is only when he asks for more, that Jesus reveals how to be perfect. Tradition holds that he went home and sold everything, but he went home sad.
It would be easier if we believed in a good God and a bad God, and we could thank the good God for all the good and blame the bad God for all the bad, but this is not the truth. There is one God, and we must bring all the thanks and all the blame and lay it all at his feet. We can be angry with God and question God and even hate God, but none of that will change reality. In a disagreement between me and God, I not only know that God will win because he is stronger, but that God is right. How could I be right and God be wrong?
Ezekiel confronts his loss in the only way we can: acceptance of God’s will. It is a mystery why God did it, but if we believe in an all-knowing and all-loving God, we know for certain that it was all for their good. God loves Ezekiel and he loves Ezekiel’s wife. He does not do cruel things. We know this, even when it is difficult to believe.
August 3, 2012 - Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 26:1-9
Psalm 69:5, 8-10, 14
Matthew 13:54-58
We have had particular reason lately to sympathize with Jeremiah and the other prophets who were condemned for their unpopular messages. In every age the prophetic word is despised. We love but we are accused of hate. We condemn no one, yet we are condemned as judgmental. We courageously say the obvious but unpopular truth, but are called phobic and fearful.
But we understand that it is no different than in the time of Jeremiah. He warned the people to follow the Lord lest their city be destroyed. They are angry that he would speak of their city being destroyed, as if his very point were not to prevent that from happening. He tries to save Jerusalem and is called the destroyer of the city. So too Jesus returns home. He teaches the people with wisdom and mighty signs of power, proving that he is not just the son of a carpenter, but the people take offense at him because the son of a carpenter should not be working miracles all over the country.
Evil tends to be all mixed up. Sometimes the devil accuses us of that very thing which we know we are guilty of and has power over us because he knows our sins, but often, it seems, the accusation is such mixed up nonsense that it would seem to have no power except that all the people agree that the nonsense is reason.
So a certain wicked man accused Blessed Theresa of Calcutta of not caring for the poor because she did not run for political office, he accused her of not caring for the dying because she did not provide medical care in the slums of Calcutta, he accused her of not respecting the people because she often baptized them. She did nothing he wanted her to do. She merely carried the dying poor from the gutters and streets to a home where she bathed their wounds and talked to them and brought them into fellowship with the Church, making them her brothers and sisters, from untouchable to children of God.
So too the Church is accused of hating women because she is opposed to drugs and surgeries that by their nature reveal a hatred of the female body. And she is accused of hating sex because we believe that sex is so important that it must begin with a solemn public ceremony binding the pair until death. The nonsense is repeated again and again, and people believe it.
Psalm 69:5, 8-10, 14
Matthew 13:54-58
We have had particular reason lately to sympathize with Jeremiah and the other prophets who were condemned for their unpopular messages. In every age the prophetic word is despised. We love but we are accused of hate. We condemn no one, yet we are condemned as judgmental. We courageously say the obvious but unpopular truth, but are called phobic and fearful.
But we understand that it is no different than in the time of Jeremiah. He warned the people to follow the Lord lest their city be destroyed. They are angry that he would speak of their city being destroyed, as if his very point were not to prevent that from happening. He tries to save Jerusalem and is called the destroyer of the city. So too Jesus returns home. He teaches the people with wisdom and mighty signs of power, proving that he is not just the son of a carpenter, but the people take offense at him because the son of a carpenter should not be working miracles all over the country.
Evil tends to be all mixed up. Sometimes the devil accuses us of that very thing which we know we are guilty of and has power over us because he knows our sins, but often, it seems, the accusation is such mixed up nonsense that it would seem to have no power except that all the people agree that the nonsense is reason.
So a certain wicked man accused Blessed Theresa of Calcutta of not caring for the poor because she did not run for political office, he accused her of not caring for the dying because she did not provide medical care in the slums of Calcutta, he accused her of not respecting the people because she often baptized them. She did nothing he wanted her to do. She merely carried the dying poor from the gutters and streets to a home where she bathed their wounds and talked to them and brought them into fellowship with the Church, making them her brothers and sisters, from untouchable to children of God.
So too the Church is accused of hating women because she is opposed to drugs and surgeries that by their nature reveal a hatred of the female body. And she is accused of hating sex because we believe that sex is so important that it must begin with a solemn public ceremony binding the pair until death. The nonsense is repeated again and again, and people believe it.
June 6, 2012 - Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 1.1-3, 6-12
Psalm 123.1b-2ab, 2cdef Resp. 1b
Mark 12.18-27
St. Paul is teaching Timothy that being imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel is no shameful thing. It is not a sign that Jesus is failing to protect his own. Jesus does not promise us worldly success in this life. St. Paul is not worried about being imprisoned and not even concerned that he will die for the Gospel, for he is depending on the promise of Jesus that we shall be like angels in heaven.
Christianity is all about turning failure into victory, beginning with Jesus’ victory on the Cross. Up until our Savior came and revealed the mercy of God and what is waiting for us on the other side of death, a blessed person was someone who had enough of this world’s goods and not too much of its troubles. Now the blessed include martyrs who died horrific deaths and saints who suffered their entire lives.
Why is this life a life of suffering? Could not God have made this life more pleasant? We Americans generally have a pretty pleasant life, but people suffer throughout the whole world. And even our pleasant lives are interrupted by sickness or economic problems, which turn our lives upside down. And it cannot be said that the suffering of this life is given to those who are bad in order to convince them to convert. The evils of this world, if anything, are more prevalent among those who refuse to take advantage of their neighbors. We must admit that sometimes we suffer the consequences of our sins, but sometimes the suffering is without reason and, anyway, why do some people suffer the consequences and other people luckily avoid them?
The only way this all makes sense is if this world is not that important. It seems important because it is all we know, but 10 million years into eternal life, the few decades we spent here are not going to be all that important. What will matter is what we did with this opportunity. If we use this time to draw closer to God, no matter our circumstances, and if we use this time to preach the Gospel in whatever way God sends us to preach, and if we use this time to serve our brother and sisters and loving everyone, then, when this time is up, we will be ready to enter into what could be called our real life.
Psalm 123.1b-2ab, 2cdef Resp. 1b
Mark 12.18-27
St. Paul is teaching Timothy that being imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel is no shameful thing. It is not a sign that Jesus is failing to protect his own. Jesus does not promise us worldly success in this life. St. Paul is not worried about being imprisoned and not even concerned that he will die for the Gospel, for he is depending on the promise of Jesus that we shall be like angels in heaven.
Christianity is all about turning failure into victory, beginning with Jesus’ victory on the Cross. Up until our Savior came and revealed the mercy of God and what is waiting for us on the other side of death, a blessed person was someone who had enough of this world’s goods and not too much of its troubles. Now the blessed include martyrs who died horrific deaths and saints who suffered their entire lives.
Why is this life a life of suffering? Could not God have made this life more pleasant? We Americans generally have a pretty pleasant life, but people suffer throughout the whole world. And even our pleasant lives are interrupted by sickness or economic problems, which turn our lives upside down. And it cannot be said that the suffering of this life is given to those who are bad in order to convince them to convert. The evils of this world, if anything, are more prevalent among those who refuse to take advantage of their neighbors. We must admit that sometimes we suffer the consequences of our sins, but sometimes the suffering is without reason and, anyway, why do some people suffer the consequences and other people luckily avoid them?
The only way this all makes sense is if this world is not that important. It seems important because it is all we know, but 10 million years into eternal life, the few decades we spent here are not going to be all that important. What will matter is what we did with this opportunity. If we use this time to draw closer to God, no matter our circumstances, and if we use this time to preach the Gospel in whatever way God sends us to preach, and if we use this time to serve our brother and sisters and loving everyone, then, when this time is up, we will be ready to enter into what could be called our real life.
April 2, 2012 - Monday of Holy Week
Today's Readings
Some people are always trying to suggest that Judas was not so bad. Maybe he only betrayed Jesus in order to push him to get started saving Israel. They point to the fact that, when Jesus was condemned to death, Judas regretted what he had done. Of course, this just makes him more prideful than pure evil, to think that Jesus needed to be pushed along by Judas. We hear today that Judas was indeed greedy. Whether he had intended for Jesus’ arrest to be the beginning of something greater or not, Judas was the kind of person who stole money from the poor. Judas was greedy. The thirty pieces of silver were all the temptation he needed.
What we hear about the chief priests is truly horrible. Sometimes it is suggested of them as well that they only arrested Jesus in order to encourage him to act more like the Messiah. Others say that they were only fulfilling the law. No matter how people try to justify their actions toward Jesus, the suggestion at the end of the Gospel today that they were planning on killing Lazarus shows that they were bad men. They were willing to kill a man because he was living proof of the power of Jesus Christ. They wanted to hide the works of Jesus Christ. How corrupt does a person have to be, to be willing to kill someone to hide the fact that he had risen from the dead?
Perhaps Judas just began by “borrowing” a little money from the money bag. Perhaps he began to take a small percentage of each donation as a “fee” for handling. I would expect that he had all sorts of ways of justifying what he did, but he eventually became the sort of person who reprimands others for not making donations to the poor (which he intends to steal) and who would sell his friend for 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps the chief priests began with legitimate doubts about whether Jesus was the Christ. Perhaps they even made up lies about him to “help” the uneducated people see that he was not. I expect that they could justify lying and hiding the truth, but today they are willing to kill a man for no better reason than that he used to be dead. We learn today that Judas and the chief priests were scoundrels. Nothing can justify the crimes they are accused of today.
Some people are always trying to suggest that Judas was not so bad. Maybe he only betrayed Jesus in order to push him to get started saving Israel. They point to the fact that, when Jesus was condemned to death, Judas regretted what he had done. Of course, this just makes him more prideful than pure evil, to think that Jesus needed to be pushed along by Judas. We hear today that Judas was indeed greedy. Whether he had intended for Jesus’ arrest to be the beginning of something greater or not, Judas was the kind of person who stole money from the poor. Judas was greedy. The thirty pieces of silver were all the temptation he needed.
What we hear about the chief priests is truly horrible. Sometimes it is suggested of them as well that they only arrested Jesus in order to encourage him to act more like the Messiah. Others say that they were only fulfilling the law. No matter how people try to justify their actions toward Jesus, the suggestion at the end of the Gospel today that they were planning on killing Lazarus shows that they were bad men. They were willing to kill a man because he was living proof of the power of Jesus Christ. They wanted to hide the works of Jesus Christ. How corrupt does a person have to be, to be willing to kill someone to hide the fact that he had risen from the dead?
Perhaps Judas just began by “borrowing” a little money from the money bag. Perhaps he began to take a small percentage of each donation as a “fee” for handling. I would expect that he had all sorts of ways of justifying what he did, but he eventually became the sort of person who reprimands others for not making donations to the poor (which he intends to steal) and who would sell his friend for 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps the chief priests began with legitimate doubts about whether Jesus was the Christ. Perhaps they even made up lies about him to “help” the uneducated people see that he was not. I expect that they could justify lying and hiding the truth, but today they are willing to kill a man for no better reason than that he used to be dead. We learn today that Judas and the chief priests were scoundrels. Nothing can justify the crimes they are accused of today.
February 6, 2012 - Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Today's Readings
Jesus went around healing people by the thousands. If he was able to do that, why hold back at all? Even though we accept that illness and suffering are the result of original sin, that God does not make us suffer, yet he holds the cure to all our suffering and can end it at any moment. So why does he let us suffer? It might be our fault; it is our fault, but still, how could God, who loves us, look on and see our pain without granting healing?
Certainly God could by a certain miracle suddenly remove all bodily suffering in the world by healing everyone who is sick or injured, but what then? People will be injured or sickened the next hour after the miracle. If the greatest good that could be achieved in this life was a mere removal of suffering, then God would do that every hour of every day, but we are made for something more. We are made to live the life of the blessed forever.
Death is not the greatest evil. Suffering is not the greatest evil. The greatest evil is a separation of our souls from God. Just as we will gladly undergo painful surgery with the hope of lasting benefits or endure the pain of exercise with the hope of stronger bodies, we should not fear the suffering of this world but rather hope that it will prepare us for the next. Our own suffering often accomplishes the real purpose of living.
Why does God permit the suffering of this world? We know why. Why does a parent permit their child to be stabbed with needles or have a tooth pulled? Because allowing some suffering now prevents greater suffering later. This does not take away our need to serve those who are suffering. It does not mean that we can forget about the suffering in the world, especially the suffering created by our own choices. It means that suffering can be necessary and can result in good.
Suffering is always evil but suffering can lead to compassion, endurance, patience, and humility and these are great goods. If all Jesus wanted to do was stop all suffering, there was no need for him to become a man and dwell among us; God could have done that at any time, but since he knew that permitting suffering was necessary in a world with sin, he instead came down to suffer with us.
Jesus went around healing people by the thousands. If he was able to do that, why hold back at all? Even though we accept that illness and suffering are the result of original sin, that God does not make us suffer, yet he holds the cure to all our suffering and can end it at any moment. So why does he let us suffer? It might be our fault; it is our fault, but still, how could God, who loves us, look on and see our pain without granting healing?
Certainly God could by a certain miracle suddenly remove all bodily suffering in the world by healing everyone who is sick or injured, but what then? People will be injured or sickened the next hour after the miracle. If the greatest good that could be achieved in this life was a mere removal of suffering, then God would do that every hour of every day, but we are made for something more. We are made to live the life of the blessed forever.
Death is not the greatest evil. Suffering is not the greatest evil. The greatest evil is a separation of our souls from God. Just as we will gladly undergo painful surgery with the hope of lasting benefits or endure the pain of exercise with the hope of stronger bodies, we should not fear the suffering of this world but rather hope that it will prepare us for the next. Our own suffering often accomplishes the real purpose of living.
Why does God permit the suffering of this world? We know why. Why does a parent permit their child to be stabbed with needles or have a tooth pulled? Because allowing some suffering now prevents greater suffering later. This does not take away our need to serve those who are suffering. It does not mean that we can forget about the suffering in the world, especially the suffering created by our own choices. It means that suffering can be necessary and can result in good.
Suffering is always evil but suffering can lead to compassion, endurance, patience, and humility and these are great goods. If all Jesus wanted to do was stop all suffering, there was no need for him to become a man and dwell among us; God could have done that at any time, but since he knew that permitting suffering was necessary in a world with sin, he instead came down to suffer with us.
October 3, 2011 - Monday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Jonah was not afraid to go preach in Nineveh because he was afraid of any danger to his own life. He is a man of great faith. He was willingly thrown into the ocean during a storm. He would have gladly gone into Nineveh if it were a question of danger. He was afraid of God’s mercy. He knew that God would be merciful and not really destroy the city of Nineveh. He was afraid of God’s mercy toward the Assyrians. If he could have been assured that God would be implacable, he would have gladly gone and watched the city burn. The historical records we have show that Nineveh was a cruel, horrible city. Jonah did not want to go warn them about God’s coming wrath; he wanted to see them destroyed. Jonah was a man of great faith but little mercy.
Meanwhile, in our Gospel reading today, we are confronted by extraordinary mercy. Because of this story, the word “Samaritan” has come to mean a good and generous person. Many people today do not even know that Samaritan is just a nationality. The Samaritans had been fighting with the Jews for centuries. Both sides had done some remarkably cruel and despicable things to the other. For the Jews listening to Jesus, the idea of a “good Samaritan” was as unlikely as the idea of a good Palestinian would be to the Israelites today. The expectation is that when the Samaritan man saw a Jew beaten by the side of the road, if he had walked over at all, it would have been to kick him an extra time or two. Instead, he shows remarkable mercy.
To have mercy for an enemy, to see your enemy beaten and help them, to warn your enemy to repent rather than be destroyed, requires seeing your enemy as a fellow human person. So long as they remain just “one of them”, we forget that, more basically, they are “one of us”. These people are our neighbors; they are our brothers and sisters since we are all descended from Adam and Eve. We may have to fight a war to defend something, but we do not fight against alien monsters. We fight against people, like ourselves, who we would gladly see convert and be saved. We fight against people, like ourselves, who we would care for in their hour of need.
Jonah was not afraid to go preach in Nineveh because he was afraid of any danger to his own life. He is a man of great faith. He was willingly thrown into the ocean during a storm. He would have gladly gone into Nineveh if it were a question of danger. He was afraid of God’s mercy. He knew that God would be merciful and not really destroy the city of Nineveh. He was afraid of God’s mercy toward the Assyrians. If he could have been assured that God would be implacable, he would have gladly gone and watched the city burn. The historical records we have show that Nineveh was a cruel, horrible city. Jonah did not want to go warn them about God’s coming wrath; he wanted to see them destroyed. Jonah was a man of great faith but little mercy.
Meanwhile, in our Gospel reading today, we are confronted by extraordinary mercy. Because of this story, the word “Samaritan” has come to mean a good and generous person. Many people today do not even know that Samaritan is just a nationality. The Samaritans had been fighting with the Jews for centuries. Both sides had done some remarkably cruel and despicable things to the other. For the Jews listening to Jesus, the idea of a “good Samaritan” was as unlikely as the idea of a good Palestinian would be to the Israelites today. The expectation is that when the Samaritan man saw a Jew beaten by the side of the road, if he had walked over at all, it would have been to kick him an extra time or two. Instead, he shows remarkable mercy.
To have mercy for an enemy, to see your enemy beaten and help them, to warn your enemy to repent rather than be destroyed, requires seeing your enemy as a fellow human person. So long as they remain just “one of them”, we forget that, more basically, they are “one of us”. These people are our neighbors; they are our brothers and sisters since we are all descended from Adam and Eve. We may have to fight a war to defend something, but we do not fight against alien monsters. We fight against people, like ourselves, who we would gladly see convert and be saved. We fight against people, like ourselves, who we would care for in their hour of need.
May 30, 2011 - Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter (Memorial Day)
Today's Readings
“The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Jesus is saying this referring to the persecution of the early Jewish Christians by those Jews who did not become Christian, but this is a problem we are facing again now. Clearly many of the terrorists think that when they are killing people, whether innocent civilians or American soldiers, that they are offering worship to God.
I heard on the radio about a week ago of a recent attack in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked the cafeteria of a hospital. He killed 6 Afghan medical students and injured dozens more. I found this attack to be particularly frustrating in its complete pointlessness and stupidity. As a modern American, I try to understand their point of view, but I fail. This attack was not merely wrong or mistaken, it was evil: it was inspired by Satan.
I do understand that they are not killing us only because we are Christian, that there are complex issues at play, consequences of years of greed, but I have not forgotten how, before September 11th, when they still ruled Afghanistan, they killed Christians in a stadium for preaching the Gospel. I understand that there are Muslims, many Muslims, who have no sympathies for the Taliban cause at all. So, without labeling it, I speak only of the religion of the terrorists, who think that they are worshipping God by killing people.
We see a reflection of the spiritual battle between good and evil. Just as Jesus told us, the spiritual battle will have life and death consequences in the material world. I am not saying that this war or any war is the will of God. I am saying that there are some things worth fighting in this world. Those who fight evil with peaceful means deserve to be commended, but so too do we owe respect to those who fight with necessary force against evil, putting their own lives in danger so that evil is less able to cause suffering.
Today we remember all those who have died while fighting evil. The circumstances of each individual’s death do not matter today. We can blame various political leaders if they deserve it. The soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians were ready to fight and die for the battle against evil. For their own sake it matters only that they acted with honor, obeying their conscience at all times. For our part, we do not stand as anyone’s judge, but honor all those who have died fighting the enemies of our country.
“The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Jesus is saying this referring to the persecution of the early Jewish Christians by those Jews who did not become Christian, but this is a problem we are facing again now. Clearly many of the terrorists think that when they are killing people, whether innocent civilians or American soldiers, that they are offering worship to God.
I heard on the radio about a week ago of a recent attack in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked the cafeteria of a hospital. He killed 6 Afghan medical students and injured dozens more. I found this attack to be particularly frustrating in its complete pointlessness and stupidity. As a modern American, I try to understand their point of view, but I fail. This attack was not merely wrong or mistaken, it was evil: it was inspired by Satan.
I do understand that they are not killing us only because we are Christian, that there are complex issues at play, consequences of years of greed, but I have not forgotten how, before September 11th, when they still ruled Afghanistan, they killed Christians in a stadium for preaching the Gospel. I understand that there are Muslims, many Muslims, who have no sympathies for the Taliban cause at all. So, without labeling it, I speak only of the religion of the terrorists, who think that they are worshipping God by killing people.
We see a reflection of the spiritual battle between good and evil. Just as Jesus told us, the spiritual battle will have life and death consequences in the material world. I am not saying that this war or any war is the will of God. I am saying that there are some things worth fighting in this world. Those who fight evil with peaceful means deserve to be commended, but so too do we owe respect to those who fight with necessary force against evil, putting their own lives in danger so that evil is less able to cause suffering.
Today we remember all those who have died while fighting evil. The circumstances of each individual’s death do not matter today. We can blame various political leaders if they deserve it. The soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians were ready to fight and die for the battle against evil. For their own sake it matters only that they acted with honor, obeying their conscience at all times. For our part, we do not stand as anyone’s judge, but honor all those who have died fighting the enemies of our country.
March 8, 2011 - Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
The Gospel begins with the Pharisees and the Herodians together. These two groups despised each other, but they are willing to come together for the common cause of making Jesus look foolish. They begin by complimenting him on his integrity and honesty. Then they ask a question which they were sure there was no good answer to. This question of paying tax money to a government that uses it for evil is a very difficult question, requiring a nuanced answer. Surely, they think, Jesus will have to take a side in the debate either for taxes or against them, or look like he cannot answer a simple question.
Jesus asks, “Why are you testing me?” Indeed, why? They are not really looking for an answer to a difficult question. They are not even testing him to see if he is really wise. Their only motivation is to make him look foolish. Nevertheless, he uses this question as an opportunity to give one of the most memorable teachings in the Gospel: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
What belongs to God? Jesus’ criterion was that the coin is stamped with the image of Caesar. What is stamped with the image of God? We are. In his image and likeness, he created us. Jesus is not teaching that we need to balance in our lives the demands of God and the demands of government. We should give what is worthless (money) to the government, but give to God our whole selves.
We in 21st century America are in a different political situation than the Jews of the 1st century. We have the ability, some more than others, to change what our government does with the tax money. It is not wrong to work, as some people are right now, so that the government does not fund evil corporations like Planned Parenthood. We do not need to leave government entirely in the hands of nonbelievers. However, we should be careful to follow Jesus’ instructions to never give away ourselves, who are stamped with the image of God. In our support for pro-life causes, we should not give ourselves to some agendas, nor, in our support for our immigrant brothers and sisters, should we give ourselves to the opposite side. We, made in the image of God, and the Church, with Jesus as our Head, are too valuable to be given to anyone but God.
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