Word to the Wise
Friday, November 5, 2010 - Friday in the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
[Philippians 3:17 - 4:1 and Luke 16:1-8]But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.
"Secession" is a word that we hear occasionally in this country when some citizens in a state get angry with the national government and raise the banner of withdrawal from the American republic. Secession was actually tried by the states of the confederacy and led to the War Between the States with all its tragic consequences, some of which are still having an impact. If we view the possibility of secession with considerable distress, we might find ourselves on the side of the Roman republic in dealing with those Christians who refused to recognize the total rule of the Roman empire and Caesar, who was at that time considered a divine figure! Indeed, the principal argument used by those who had Jesus arrested was that he was an enemy of the Roman empire - a "king" seeking to replace Caesar! In short, he was accused of advocating "secession!" St. Paul's words, quoted above, would amount to treason! He was a Roman citizen and was preaching that there was someone more powerful than Caesar! Jesus' power to transform us to be like him is more than a future event. He has the power to do that in our own lives now. If we refuse to accept the power of secularism that tries to "relativize" and "privatize" religion, we stand in "secession" to the prevailing cultural ethos of our land! We proclaim that there is a greater citizenship! The earliest Catholics in the American republic were accused precisely of "divided loyalties" in that they owed "allegiance" to Pope and President! Violent anti-Catholic riots took place in major cities! The same question was raised when John F. Kennedy ran for president! But what St. Paul is saying transcends the "Church/State" issue in our land. He is saying that no human power is greater than God. Our first citizenship is our faith in Christ. AMEN
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