7th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
It's
not enough that we do good and avoid evil. Not enough that we cannot
achieve good ends by evil means. Not enough that we show up at Mass
and drop an envelope in the plate. We must do more. A lot more. Jesus
commands, “. . .be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” Why must we be perfect? Even the pagans feed their
children, pay their taxes, and pray to their gods. When we do the
same, how are we any different? When we love only those who love us,
or do favors only for those who favor us, we're no different than our
pagan neighbors. So, what are we testifying to when our witness to
the world is indistinguishable from the daily lives of those who do
not follow Christ? Our holiness has been a priority for God from the
beginning. He gives Moses a message to deliver to His people, “Be
holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” He demands that we be
better; He demands our best: “Bear no hatred for your brother or
sister; seek no revenge; cherish no grudge; love your neighbor as you
love yourself.” Our Lord sets a high bar for us to clear in our
run toward holiness. When we consider our thoughts, words, and deeds,
how we will witness in the world, we must ask ourselves, “Do not
the pagans think, say, and do the same?”
Do
we think, speak, and act like our pagan neighbors? Recent surveys
show that Catholics think and act almost exactly like their
non-Catholic neighbors on the hot-button issues of the day:
contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, and co-habitation before
marriage. On hot-button issues internal to the Church – like
obligatory clerical celibacy and the impossibility of ordaining women
to the priesthood – Catholic attitudes differ very little from
non-Catholics. Unfortunately, what this means is that on these
issues, Catholics agree with their pagan neighbors. Now, we could say
that these issues aren't indicative of our identity as Catholics;
that is, disagreeing with the Church on three or four hot-button
questions doesn't put us among the pagans. We are not rejecting God,
Christ, or the Church just b/c we think contraception is OK, or that
two guys in love should be able to marry. God tells Moses to
prophesy, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” Jesus
says, “. ..be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Can “be holy” and “be perfect” simply mean “be like your
pagan neighbors.” Is holiness and spiritual perfection simply a
matter of imitating those who do not follow Christ?
If
our holiness is a matter of mimicking our neighbors, then we need to
ignore God's admonition to Moses. You need to hate your brother and
sister. Seek revenge. Cherish grudges. Refuse help to the poor and
sick. Worship whatever god makes you feel good. That's what the
pagans of Moses' day did. That's what the Romans did in Jesus' day.
Both Moses and Jesus understood holiness to mean something like
“setting yourself apart from the pagans.” Maybe in the 21st
century, holiness means something like “don't imitate the
collective suicidal impulses of those who are ruled by the world.”
That's not all that holiness means for us, of course, but it's a
start. Jesus starts with the Mosaic Law and then proceeds to fulfill
that Law by revealing its soul. “You
have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate
your enemy.' [that's the Mosaic Law] But
I say to you, love your enemies.” [That's the Law of Love]. The
soul of the Law is love. And we begin our run towards holiness by
setting ourselves apart in Christ, by consecrating ourselves in his
sacrifice. We cannot achieve the holiness God wills for us by
imitating the fads and fashions of our pagan neighbors.
So,
how do we set ourselves apart from the world short of fleeing to a
monastery in Montana? How do we live and move in our pagan culture
and at the same time resist its influence? Paul gives us a few hints
in his letter to the Corinthians. He writes, “Do you not know that
you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
Did you know this? As baptized and confirmed followers of Christ, you
are walking, talking temples of the Holy Spirit! Each one of us is a
sacred location, a holy place and person housing the living spirit of
the living God. In virtue of our baptism in Christ and our
confirmation in the Spirit, we are – each one of us – a priest, a
prophet, and a king, vowed to sacrifice, witness, and serve. And when
we sacrifice, witness, and serve, we do so with the power and
blessing of the Spirit Who dwells within us. As followers of Christ,
we are not allowed to run and hide in the face of opposition or
oppression, nor are we allowed to collapse under the pressure of our
pagan culture. We are charged with being Christ – priest, prophet,
and king – in the world, among the world. Sacrificing for,
witnessing to, and serving the least among us.
Jesus
says that we are to be salt and leaven, the ingredients that nourish
his Word and bring it to harvest. We cannot be salt and leaven and at
the same time imitate the impulsive suicidal behavior of our secular
culture. This isn't a political observation, or a talking-point in
the on-going culture war. This is about our holiness, our growth
toward the perfect that Christ expects of us. To achieve this
holiness we must be in the world but not of it; meaning, we cannot
run or hide from evil nor can we make friends with evil in exchange
for just being left alone. Jesus teaches us not to resist evil, “turn
the other cheek.” This isn't surrender or cooperation; it's a
steadfast refusal to fight evil on its own terms. Return evil for
evil? Jesus asks, “Do not the pagans do the same?” Kill unwanted
children? “Do not the pagans do the same?” Reject the gift of
life b/c another life might be expensive, inconvenient, or a
disruption? “Do not the pagans do the same?” Believe that natural
law can be altered by courts or legislatures? “Do not the pagans
do the same?” To be holy and to witness to holiness for the sake of
others, our yes to Christ must mean Yes! Our no to the world must
mean NO! But that NO! does not mean that we enclose ourselves in
self-righteousness, or prissy aloofness, or a self-satisfied
certainty. It means that we mourn for the world and seek its rescue
in Christ.
As
we rapidly approach Lent, it seems fitting to repeat Paul's warning
to the corrupt church in Corinth: “Let no one deceive himself. If
any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become
a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness in the eyes of God. . .” Take that warning with this
assurance: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Christ fulfilled the Law by
revealing the soul of the Law: divine love. He shows us the power of
sacrificial love from the Cross, defeating sin and death by rising
from the tomb, and bringing us all to the way of perfection. You are
a living temple of the living God and your run toward holiness begins
by following Christ. Not the dominant culture. Not your pagan
neighbors. Not a political party. Christ. Follow Christ. And become a
fool in the eyes of the world.
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