Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 26, 2008 - Saturday in the Fifth Week of Easter
[Acts 16:1-10 and John 15:18-21]If the word hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
In all of the gospels, Jesus warns the disciples in his farewells to them that they can expect persecution for preaching about him. In the Gospel of John, this takes on a dualistic/adversarial tone: us versus them. To the Jewish establishment, preaching about Jesus as the Messiah created animosity. To the Romans, representing Jesus a "Lord" was a threat to the cult of the emperor and possibly could lead to public unrest. Persecution suited both these parties just fine. Jesus' farewell words are designed to help the disciples make sense of what the persecution meant. In our own time, we are not subject in our country to physical persecution for our faith. It still occurs in places like China and certain cultures where Islam (or another faith) is in the majority. In China, all religious groups are looked on with suspicion because they threaten a certain non-religious political structure. In the religious cultures, the fear of Christian faith leads to riots and violence. In our own land, the hostile reaction comes in the form of lawsuits or secular activities that exalt American patriotism to a level that is almost religious! Christianity is permitted to be part of the background or perhaps a formative current as in the expression "Judaeo-Christian values" but not part of the physical acting out of public life. There are inconsistencies in this that we can all point to: prayer permitted at legislative sessions but not in public schools! When Christian faith threatens the "secular" or "American" consensus, we can expect trouble. Federal regulations that require Catholic hospitals to perform certain procedures that are contrary to Catholic moral teaching are just one example. Catholics and other Christians need in this country to be aware of the often subtle anti-religious forces that find their way into legislation! The indirect and insidious approach can be just as harmful as outright violence. We can't say Jesus didn't warn us. AMEN
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