WITNESS TO JESUS | TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Here is the prepared text of the homily delivered on Sept. 14 at Holy Family Church, Honolulu, for the installation of Father Dario Rinaldi as pastor, and on Sept. 15 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Wahiawa, to mark Our Lady of Sorrows’ feast day.
Recently a man approached me and told me I should confront one of our political leaders because this leader is saying unkind things about the Catholic Church. I can understand this man’s concern. Even though we are all aware that the Catholic Church has its faults and failings, we are still proud to be members of it.
On the other hand, my response to the man was, “We should rejoice and be glad we are being criticized, just as Jesus said we should in the Beatitudes, because we are being criticized for living our faith in works, and not simply to be popular or well accepted.”
The Catholic Church is still proclaiming the sacredness of every human life, not only by advocating against abortion, assisted suicide and other actions that disrespect the sanctity of life, but by our great works in health care and social services, which enhance life for the most vulnerable.
The Catholic Church is still teaching that true marriage is only between one man and one woman, and that this life-long and faithful union is the basis for solid family life, which is good for everyone.
The Catholic Church still insists that there are only two genders, male and female, and that we are happiest when we accept the way God has created us.
As you know, these stances are far from popular these days, and we might be tempted to just “get along” with everyone and accept whatever the world says we should accept. The fact that we are hated by many, and even persecuted, is actually something that should cause us to rejoice and be glad.
That may seem absurd, but no more absurd than what Jesus is saying. He says that “the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.”
This is absurd, because Jesus was nothing but good, expressing his unwavering faith in God the Father in the many works he did that flowed from that faith. Why would anyone want to hurt someone who was doing so much good?
Peter, who is also a man of faith, and who knew that Jesus was none other than “the Christ,” the Messiah, thought Jesus was being absurd when he spoke of his suffering and death. Yet Jesus immediately rebuked him for “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Peter, like most of us, wanted comfort and even justice in the face of truth. But Jesus, who is not only human but God as well, knew that to truly overcome injustice and hatred, one would be most successful by suffering in love and expressing faith in the ultimate work of laying down one’s life for one’s beliefs.
The struggle Peter had is not unfamiliar to any of us. When parents must correct their children who are clearly going astray, they might be tempted to “mind their own business” and say nothing, knowing that if they say something they will be criticized and perhaps rejected. But if they take up the cross of loving parenting, they may or may not be successful in the outcome, but they will at least have presented a healthier alternative.
When an employee calls attention to an obvious injustice her employer is committing, there could be unwanted consequences; but if there is ever going to be real justice in the workplace, thinking as God thinks would lead the employee to prudently but honestly tell the truth.
When our whole society is living a lie that is ultimately self-destructive, if we do not raise our voices with the truth, then nothing will change. We surely can expect to be criticized, rejected or even persecuted for speaking the truth, but we can rejoice that God has given us the strength to do his work despite the difficulties.
We so often speak of Jesus as thoughtful, friendly, courteous and kind, and I am sure he was all of these things. But we must always remember that no one said, “He is such a wonderful and loving man. Let’s crucify him!”
No, he was crucified because he insisted on loving as God loves and not as human beings do. He was sorely defeated for doing so by being tortured and killed in the most cruel form of capital punishment known in human history.
But he also rose from the dead, making all things new! And he invites us to put the same trust in him, so that we can live the truth in love, even if others criticize us — or worse — because we know that in the cross is true redemption.
