25th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
Two
Sundays ago, Jesus told us that we must love him first, so that when
we love our families, friends, and our stuff we love them all through
him. Last Sunday, he taught us that when we love him first, we
receive his love as divine mercy. Tax collectors, prostitutes,
adulterers, murderers, prodigal sons, even priests (!) experience the
love of God as forgiveness of their sins. This Sunday, our Lord piles
on the wisdom by revealing a simple yet difficult truth: we cannot
serve two masters. This truth is simple b/c it reveals a starkly
bare choice. This master or that one. It's difficult b/c making the
choice leaves no room for compromise, no wiggle-room for convenient
adjustments, or mercenary deal-making. I serve Christ, or I serve the
Enemy. If I choose to serve Christ, then I serve Christ with all my
heart, soul, body, mind, all my strength. There are no vacation days
so that I might pop over to the Enemy's place and do a bit of work
for him. Serving your master (whichever one you choose) is a great
responsibility. The risks and rewards are greater still. For the
followers of Christ, those who serve our master, the Christ, the task
is easy, the burden light.
Our
task is easy and our burden is light. However, teaching, preaching,
and living out the Good News of Christ Jesus is still a fairly large
responsibility. To this one task are attached many other tasks. And
to these many tasks are attached even more. But all these tasks come
down to one Big Task: serving Christ among nations. We serve
Christ among the nations by doing, saying, thinking, feeling only
those things that bring us closer to Christ, only those words and
deeds and thoughts that propel us toward perfect holiness in him. The
more consistently and zealously we serve, the more determined we
become to serve. And the more determined we are to serve the greater
the chance that we will not fall prey to the temptation of serving
the Other One. If you think that the Enemy is going to appear in your
bedroom at 3am and entice you into his service with wealth, power,
and celebrity – think again. Such a stunt would likely give you a
heart attack! He's a fallen angel not a Cartoon Network clown. The
temptation to serve the Enemy can be subtle. It's quiet, often
elegant and complex. Sometimes – true – it rushes at you like a
flash flood. And more often than you might imagine, the invitation to
serve the Other One comes dressed up in its Church clothes.
For
example, this past week, a group calling itself “Catholics for
Choice” put full-page ads in a number of major media markets,
touting their lies about the compatibility of Catholicism and
abortion. The ad proclaimed in part, “Public funding for abortion
is a Catholic social justice value.” Tellingly, the ad goes on to
note that since 99% of married Catholics practice artificial
contraception, it makes perfect sense that Catholics can – in good
faith – ignore the Church's 2,000 year old teaching against
abortion. So, the logic goes, if you use contraception, you can
condone abortion – in
good faith. That
is the Enemy tempting you to serve his cause. He dresses it up in
churchy language, ties it to a common sin, and then offers you a way
to serve him that allows you believe that you are still serving
Christ – in good
faith. If you think
the Church is wrong on contraception, and you practice contraception,
and you still consider yourself a “good Catholic,” then why stop
there? You can be a “good Catholic” and support using taxpayer
money to pay for the killing of unborn children. Thank God, our
bishops stepped up immediately and rounded denounced this group for
what it is – liars. It isn't Catholic. And it doesn't serve Christ.
“Catholics
for Choice” is just one, very obvious example of the Enemy tempting
faithful Catholics into his service. Most of us will experience more
subtle temptations. The occasional venial sin. The more dramatic
mortal sin. The compromise to keep the peace, to keep a job. The
small, apparently harmless nod of approval to someone else's favorite
sin. The failure to forgive, to love, to show mercy. That hesitation
to offer hospitality. All of these can and will open a door to
serving the Enemy. BUT if you maintain a constant vigilance in your
service to Christ, you will look at these temptations and see them
for what they are: pathetic
attempts to get you to switch masters.
We have been entrusted with a huge responsibility – one, big,
divinely assisted task. Teach, preach, and live out the Good News of
Christ Jesus. This task requires us to think with the mind of Christ;
to work with the heart of Christ; to pray with the soul of Christ;
and to sustain ourselves in the good graces of God by being His hands
and feet in the world. The Enemy will not relent just b/c we pass a
law or win a court case. He's not going to stop just b/c we say we're
Catholic. He's not interested in our arguments or our evidence. He
wants our service. B/c he knows
that we cannot serve two masters.
If
we are busy serving him, we 're too busy to serve Christ.
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