5th
Sunday of Easter
Cycle
C
Acts 14:21-27
Rev 21:1-5a
Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
On Christmas Day of last year, a petition was added to the White House web site,
urging the U.S. government to “officially recognize the Roman Catholic Church
as a hate group.” And you know, sometimes I agree with that statement, but not
for the reasons the petitioner gave. He was responding to Pope Benedict’s
Christmas Eve message, in which the pope restated the Church’s 2000 year old
teaching on marriage and homosexuality. I don’t think that the Church shows
hatred by being a prophet to the world. What bothers me is the hatred
Christians tend to feel for one another.
“This is how all will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I like to read Catholic blogs. There are so many
really good ones out there, and since I am called upon very often to defend and
explain the faith, I am always looking for another insight on how to do so.
Some blogs are very deep and profound. Others are funny and common sense. But
what I find about just about all of them is that they are respectful,
forthright, and charitable in the way they explain the truths of the Catholic
Church. They show no hatred or intolerance towards those who hold differing
opinions. However, the same cannot be said of the people who comment on these
blogs.
And it’s not just the comments that oppose the
position of the blogger. It’s the people who comment on the comments. That’s
where you see the divisions among the people in the pews. That’s where you see
the ignorance and intolerance and name calling and sometimes pure venom.
Usually, when someone cannot articulate a good argument they resort to name calling
and ad hominem attacks.
The issues of the day have polarized us all. If we disagree
with someone, we don’t have civil discourse, we attack them personally. The advent
of social media means we can call people all sorts of names anonymously with no
threat of reprisal. We post political statements on Face book and put bumper stickers
on our cars that make sweeping condemnations of entire groups of people, not thinking
that we may be calling some of our closest friends bigots or racists or worse by
association. In the old days duels were fought over such insults.
But every once in awhile someone I disagree with
will lay out a compelling argument, and those are the ones I like, because they
force me to rethink my own position and refine my own arguments against them.
But most of the time the comments are petty, like the one person who got all
bent out of shape because one of the cardinals at the Pope’s installation Mass
wore his stole on the outside of his chasuble rather than inside. Horrors. I
guess that meant the Mass wasn’t valid.
And it’s not just a problem in the blogosphere.
Practically every Sunday here at St. Mary’s I am confronted by people I call
the drive-by complainers. Those folks who didn’t like this or that about the liturgy
that day, and it bothers them so much that they have to unload on the poor
deacon. They say something nasty and then walk away. And I am saddened that
they allowed something petty to ruin their entire experience of the Mass that
day.
I’m probably going to get some today after this
homily.
We are all worried about how our religious freedom
is being whittled away day by day, and we see all the attacks on the Church and
its members around the world, but do you blame them? How can the world see the
Church as a loving presence in the world when we cannot even show love for one
another?
If we ourselves are ignorant of our own Church’s
teachings or, worse yet, attack them, how can we expect the world to treat us
any differently than we treat ourselves? If all we show the world is our own
self hatred, how can we expect them to see anything in the Church to emulate
and admire?
Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ. I do not like
your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Forget all the attacks from without. Be worried by
the attacks from within. You know, Jesus didn’t say, “This is how all will know
you are my disciples, if you love everyone in the world.” He knew that would be
an impossible dream. Instead, as usual, he focused on what was right in front
of him. He knew that if only his small group of close friends could learn to
love one another, then that would be an attractive example to the rest of the
world. He said, first, love one another. Then go and make more disciples who
love one another, and after awhile the whole world would be disciples who love
one another. And that is how he would renew the face of the earth.
But we cannot seem to even get past square one.
Jesus said our mission is to go and make disciples
of the entire world. But first we must be disciples ourselves. Tramping around foreign
countries as missionaries isn’t in the cards for most of us, but why can’t we
simply love? It starts small. First, we must see that we ourselves are loved
beyond measure, just because we are. We are celebrating the great manifestation
of that love these fifty days of Easter.
You notice I didn’t say, “First you must love
yourself”. The danger of self love is that it has limits and oftentimes our
love just stops there. Self love is inner directed while true love is directed
outwards. Our love can fail; God’s love cannot, so build your foundation on
that unchanging truth.
Then, just strive to love those closest to you.
Jesus didn’t say, “Love one another as I have loved all the crowds I’ve been
preaching to and healing these past three years.” He said, “Love one another as
I have loved…you”. He loved his friends. It was hard enough to get
them to understand who he was. Jesus didn’t show his love to the crowds, he
showed it to those right in front of him who were hurting. He taught the
crowds; he had compassion for and healed individuals. It is sometimes easier
for us to be kind to a stranger in need than it is for us to be kind to the
people in our families. Why not start there?
A disciple is more than someone who just learns from
the master; a disciple becomes like the master. A disciple patterns his or her
entire life on the master’s, and then calls others to do the same. What did
Jesus do? He gave his entire life for the people he loved. He never let petty
differences get in the way of his true mission of love. Jesus got into some
heated discussions with his opponents, and he wasn’t above calling names. But
Jesus died for those Pharisees, too.
If we truly showed that kind of love for our
families, we wouldn’t have to worry about them eroding. If we showed that kind
of love for our spouses, we wouldn’t have to worry about the institution of
marriage. If we showed that kind of love for our children, there would be no
abortion or abuse of any kind. If our families are images of Jesus, society
would be transformed in just a few generations.
When there is need for correction, do so with love.
St. Paul said we are to admonish one another out of love. Blessed John Paul II
used to say that the best way to love someone was to tell them the
truth: To teach the truth with love. Get
it right, know what you’re talking about, and then offer correction with
compassion and charity.
As Blessed Pope John XXIII stated, “But the common
saying, expressed in various ways and attributed to various authors, must be
recalled with approval: in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in
all things, charity.”
