Losers and Winners

Solemnity of All Saints 2021

Some of you may have been fans of the characters of the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schultz. Without a doubt, we have grown up enjoying, laughing with, sympathising and even hating the various individual comic personalities. My most endearing character is definitely Charlie Brown, the main male protagonist. The reason for this attraction is because Charlie Brown reminds me so much of myself growing up and even now, as an adult.

Personality-wise, he is gentle, insecure, and lovable. Charlie Brown possesses significant determination and hope, but frequently fails because of his insecurities, outside interferences, or plain bad luck. Although liked by his friends, he is often the subject of bullying, especially at the hands of Lucy van Pelt. Charlie is the proverbial Born Loser. He is described by his creator as “the one who suffers because he’s a caricature of the average person. Most of us are much more acquainted with losing than winning. Winning is great, but it isn’t funny.” We may laugh at Charlie’s bumbling expense, but as far as Charlie is concerned, losing isn’t funny either.

To be a Christian today often feels like being a loser. This is true, both as a matter of demographics and regarding the influence and respectability of traditional Christian values. There are fewer Christians even in traditionally predominantly “Christian” countries, and our neighbours think less of us because of our strange values and ideas. We are increasingly outsiders. And how we respond to this reality may be the defining question of our time.

The good news is that Christianity has always been a religion of losers. We have been persecuted, our beliefs have been ridiculed and rejected, our values have been maligned, sometimes driving us underground to practice our faith secretly. But though we may appear to be weak, powerless, failures, and losers in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of God we are victorious and winners! In this world we will have trouble; in this world we will lose; but take heart, Christ has overcome the world. And this is what the Saints in heaven declare in song and praise: “Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” These were the same figures who appeared to be defeated by anti-Christian forces, persecuted, tortured and martyred and yet, emerged victorious holding palms as trophies of their victory.

Nowhere is this truth more evident than in the Beatitudes. One could paraphrase the list of beatitudes as this: “Happy or Blessed are the losers!” This is what the paradoxical and counterintuitive values behind the Beatitudes seek to display. Our Lord and Saviour, just as the beatitudes would describe, had to experience poverty, pain, suffering, loss, persecution and death for the sake of righteousness in order to gain the victory and joyful blessedness of the resurrection and the gift of eternal life for all of us. This is the core of the Christian message - death before resurrection, loss before victory, last before first, poverty before riches. For in the Christian story, ‘success and failure’ is inverted.

Although we often describe the Saints in heaven as the Church Triumphant, those who have “run the race” and are crowned with glory in Heaven, it often doesn’t feel this way here on earth. Our earthly experiences of failure and loss make us doubt the promises of the beatitudes.

But if we take a deeper look at the promises which are proclaimed by the beatitudes, we begin to recognise the veracity of their claims even in this life without waiting for the next. The losers can discover something about themselves that winners cannot ever appreciate – that they are loved and wanted simply because of who they are, and not because of what they achieve. That despite it all, raw humanity is glorious and wonderful, entirely worthy of love. This is revealed precisely at the greatest point of dejection – our Lord’s death and resurrection. The resurrection is not just a magic trick at raising a dead body to life. That’s a neat and impressive trick. But it is so much more than that. It is a revelation that love is stronger than death, grace is stronger than sin, that human worth is not indexed to worldly success, but to one’s fidelity to the path laid out by Christ. The lives of the Saints are testimony to this. On this side of heaven, they may appear to be losers. But as the vision of St John in the first reading lifts the veil, we are given a glimpse of their true worth - they are winners and victors in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A successful Christian, if you can call him or her one, called to be a saint, ought to be hated rather than feted in this world. Yes, it does seem that the modernist forces seem to be attacking the Church from every angle, that orthodox Christian beliefs and values are aggressively under assault, yet this feast reminds us that we are not alone in our experience and that this epoch in history, is not that unique as the Church has always suffered derision, rejection, humiliation and condemnation from her inception. We often forget that until our Lord returns in glory as He brings judgment upon the earth, battles and wars will remain. So, no matter how peaceful we wish our lives could be, the truth is our lives, this side of heaven, will be tainted with conflict.

But despite the onslaught she experiences, not only from earthly enemies but also demonic forces, the vision described in the Book of the Apocalypse will be the final outcome. There, before the throne of the Lamb, we will know that we are conquerors, not losers and that failure will be redeemed by the victory won for us by the Lamb which was slain.

Getting it right

Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Our gospel passage begins with a question posed by a scribe, a scholarly expert of the Law: “which is the first of all the commandments?” His motives are unclear. Why would an expert of the Law seek knowledge from someone who has no formal training in the Law? Is he trying to test our Lord’s knowledge of the Law? Even if his motives are pure and his question is genuine, being a scholar, was he looking for an intellectual answer rather than some insight that would lead to personal spiritual growth?

But our Lord’s response is not just any theoretical answer which academics enjoy brandishing in public to show off their erudition. He is not just reciting some Jewish catechism from memory. If you have paid attention to the first reading you would realise that the first part of the answer given by the Lord is not novel nor ground breaking. In fact, His answer is surprising precisely because of its simplicity and notoriety. The Shema is an affirmation of God’s singularity and kingship, the foundation of Israel’s covenantal relationship with God and principle which underlies all the commandments. Thus, it is the centrepiece of the daily morning and evening prayers and is considered the most essential prayer in all of Judaism.

It is good to note that the Shema was not meant to be an ethical principle but rather a doctrinal one which asserted that there is but one God, who has created all things and who holds all things in existence by His goodness and power. His claim on us is therefore total, calling for a total response at every level of our being.

In prayer, the faithful Jew carries the text literally before his eyes (traditionally, it is recited with the hand placed over the eyes to block out all distractions), on his hands and on the doorposts of his house, so that he is always aware of the most important loyalty in life. It is a reminder that love of God must dominate all our actions and thoughts; it must be always in our minds and thoughts, and must be the guide of all our deeds and motivations.

The second part of our Lord’s answer is a quotation of Leviticus 19:18: “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” If the first part of our Lord’s answer came as no surprise to His listeners, this second part stands as something unique. Our Lord is the first one known to have explicitly combined these two commandments - the doctrinal is now inseparably tied to the ethical. Our love of God is concretised and expressed in our love for fellow human beings.

St Bede in his commentary on this text, wrote: “neither of these two kinds of love is expressed with full maturity without the other, because God cannot be loved apart from our neighbour, nor our neighbour apart from God… There is only one adequate confirmation of whole-hearted love of God - labouring steadily for the needy in your midst, exercising continuing care for them.”

Our Lord then concludes by stating that “there is no commandment greater than these.” The scribe then condescendingly expresses his approval of what the Lord had said, as if the Lord had given the correct answer to a riddle posed by the scribe. This is ironic since our Lord is in no need of this man’s approval nor is our Lord’s knowledge inferior to his. But our Lord seems to accept the affirmation of this scribe graciously as the latter repeats the formula again whilst adding at the end: “this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’”

Our Lord recognises the wisdom of this man and appears to praise him for his insight: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But these words are double edged. This man may not be far from the kingdom because of his knowledge and learning but he is still not in the kingdom. Thus, our Lord was challenging this scribe to go further than his scholarly knowledge.

Our Lord was helping the scribe to understand that the real answer lay not in any theoretical formulary but its real meaning could only be derived from living out the truth that was conveyed by that answer. Yes, many can give the correct answers to doctrinal questions of faith, but the greater challenge would be to live out that truth in a practical way, to put into practice what we profess with our lips - and what better way of putting into practice the faith we profess than to love our neighbour. Christianity is no mere theoretical or philosophical discipline but an ethical one. Knowledge of our faith will do us little good if we do not put into practice what we profess. Likewise, merely showing acts of kindness and doing good without finding its basis in our love for God in response to His love for us is not enough. In the absence of God, the Church will be nothing more than a non-governmental organisation.

Thus, at the heart of our Christian lives as a whole, we must seek to nurture this precious gift of faith: for as we seek to deepen our understanding of the mysteries of our salvation, so we come to perceive more fully the depth of God’s love for us, and thus are drawn, by His grace, to love Him with more and more of our mind, as of our heart. This love incorporates both the vertical and the horizontal - love of God and love of neighbour - as well as the practical and the intellectual – because we were made by God “to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him and be with Him in paradise forever. If like the scribe in today’s Gospel, we truly grasp the primacy of this, then our Lord’s words are also meant for us: ‘you are not far from the kingdom of God’. But, if we should go further than the scribe by putting this faith and love into practice, then we will be rewarded by another set of our Lord’s words, “yours is the kingdom of heaven.”

Proclaim, Praise, Shout!

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

We’ve been taught since young, that shouting and yelling are rude and offensive. So, we’ve learnt measured speech, how to tone down and moderate the volume of our voice, speak in a hushed and muffled tone in public places, out of respect for others. We have been so good at this that we have forgotten that the essence of evangelisation, of proclaiming the Good News calls for the reverse. In the first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah tells the people to proclaim the good news of how God will rescue them in three imperative commands: “Proclaim! Praise! Shout!” Can you imagine if he told the people to do this: “Be quiet! Lower your volume! Whisper if you really have to say anything!” Thank God he didn’t. We wouldn’t be here today if Christians in past centuries had chosen to remain quiet.

Likewise, we see the example of the blind man Bartimaeus, in today’s gospel reading. He didn’t attempt to soften his voice when he wanted to get the Lord’s attention, thinking that politeness would win him an audience, No! He had the nerve to brazenly shout aloud, “Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!” Our Lord took no offence in this man’s yelling and impassioned speech but His disciples did. They immediately tried to silence him. They were not only indifferent to his blindness but now wish to render him mute too. Our Lord would not have any of this!

The attempts of the crowds to quieten Bartimaeus only stoked the hunger in his soul. He wanted mercy, and he wanted vision, and ultimately, he wanted Jesus. The one thing Bartimaeus needed was the one thing only Jesus could provide— salvation. In a way, even before his healing at the hands of the Lord, Bartimaeus was already displaying one of the key characteristics of a disciple - he is one who will not shut up in the face of discouragement. Instead, he understands that he must proclaim, praise and shout the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Good News of salvation which the Lord brings. Despite the opposition and the efforts of others to suppress his voice, Bartimaeus was not daunted. Nothing was going to deter him. Nothing was going to silence him. If we only have a modicum of his resilience and tenacity when it comes to preaching the gospel.

Another proof that this man is an example of a true disciple is found at the end of the story. Our Lord having healed him, sends him on his way, but instead, this enlightened man decides to follow our Lord on the Lord’s way. This episode takes place just before the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the beginning of Holy Week which would climax in the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. Where our Lord’s other disciples attempt to dissuade Him to take this path and each run off when the going gets tough, Bartimaeus chooses to follow the path of his master whom he has already proclaimed as “the Son of David.”

Many of us would find Bartimaeus’ yelling disturbing and irritating.  Why so much noise? We would prefer a quieter, civilised and highly sanitised method of conveying the same message, but perhaps it needs the shouting of Bartimaeus to break through the obtuse walls of modern society, who has chosen to be both blind and deaf to the message of the gospel. In fact, modern society seems to have erected an impenetrable wall to keep out the noise of the gospel and only the most fervent and impassioned proclamation of the gospel can penetrate this shell. The world can only hear the gospel, if we choose to be a nuisance.

We should be like St Paul, so emboldened by the gospel that we should never hesitate to proclaim it: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). The problem is that most Catholics actually do feel ashamed of proclaiming the Good News of Christ. They do so because of the following reasons:

First, many of us believe that we would be rude and offensive if we were to share our faith with others. We believe that silence about our faith is the most respectful way we interact with people who do not share the same beliefs as ours. We do not wish to foist our ideas or values on them.

Second, many are ashamed, not so much of the gospel but of their lack of knowledge and depth of knowledge concerning their own faith. So, the truth is not that we are ashamed or embarrassed by Christ or the gospel, but with our own inadequacy.

Third, we actually believe that not sharing our faith with others is actually taking the cue from our Lord’s example. Many are convinced that He only challenged the religious self-righteous crowd and pretty much left sinners and Gentiles to their own devices.

But the reason why we must not be afraid of speaking about our faith is because it is the most loving thing to do. Preaching the gospel does not mean we hold others in disdain or that we are contemptuous of their current situation. Preaching the gospel is not smirky arrogant expression of triumphalism, that we are better than them. No, preaching the gospel is because they, just like us, have the right to hear the truth, the truth about salvation, the truth that will set us free from the shackles of sin and addiction. To be quiet is not charity. On the contrary, it is the exact reverse - choosing not to proclaim, praise and shout the Good News reveals our lack of charity and our twisted penchant for self-preservation.

It is good manners to refrain from yelling at others, whether publicly or privately, but it is never appropriate to remain quiet or couch the gospel in politically correct niceties. Do not be afraid to be labelled a nuisance. Our Lord was considered one too. In fact, calling attention to a sinking ship when everyone is sublimely enjoying themselves is not nuisance, but charity, and it takes courage to speak the life-saving Truth above the din and noise of lies and falsehoods that will sink us.

If preaching the Word is indeed a nuisance, let it be a positive nuisance - one that will shake us from our slumber, one that will move us to repentance, one that will ignite the fire of evangelical zeal within the hearts of our listeners. So don’t be silenced by detractors or choose to censor yourself - “Proclaim! Praise! Shout!” The world needs to hear the gospel! The world has a right to hear the gospel! “Proclaim! Praise! Shout!”

Sharing in the Lord's Suffering

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

This episode takes place immediately after our Lord had prophesied His death and resurrection for the third and last time. Instead of responding to this and seeking further clarification, the disciples respond once again in the most inept and tactless way. On the first occasion, St Peter tried to convince our Lord to change His mind on going to Jerusalem. In the second instance, we have them secretly discussing who will be the greatest. Now on this third occasion, we have the two brothers privately seeking places of honour, and the others feeling indignant because these two had obviously jumped the gun in trying to secure promotions before the others had a chance to do so. They were more concerned about their positions in our Lord’s future organisation, that they were oblivious to His words on His imminent suffering and death.

In wanting to secure the top positions in the Messiah’s future government, the two brothers and other disciples had once again misunderstood the nature of our Lord’s mission and their identity as His disciples. Our Lord then throws them a challenge - will they be willing to drink the cup which He has to drink or be baptised with the baptism with which our Lord must be baptised. What is the meaning of this cup and baptism?

Obviously, our Lord is not just referring to the drinking cup which intimate friends and family members sometimes share at a meal as a sign of fellowship, nor is He referring to the baptism He received at the River Jordan when He was baptised by St John. In both instances, He is speaking of a future event symbolised by both the cup and the baptism. Our Lord is asking His disciples, which includes all of us, if we are willing to be united with Him in His redemptive suffering. Both the Eucharistic cup of the Blood of Christ and the baptism by which Christians are to undergo, are a participation in the death of Christ. In contrast to the world’s standards which see a sharing in a great king’s perks and benefits as a sign of honour, to share in Christ’s death and suffering would be the greatest privilege and honour for Christians.

Our Lord reminds us that the values of His Kingdom will be in stark contrast with the values of the world, values which prioritises privilege, power, and riches: “This is not to happen among you.” In fact, the values of the Kingdom will be profoundly counter-cultural and counter-intuitive: “anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all.” There is no place for self-promotion, rivalry or domineering conduct among Christians.

Ultimately, we are to look to Christ as the model par-excellence for greatness in the Kingdom of God. This last line sums up our Lord’s messianic mission: “For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The words of our Lord are thus the fulfilment of the prophesy of Isaiah concerning the atoning suffering of the Servant which we had heard in the first reading. There is no way around this. This is the mission of the Suffering Servant. He has come to suffer for the atonement of sins. And it is clear in the gospel, that He did not only suffer, but came to die, “to give his life as a ransom for many.” God sent His Son to die on the cross for us and for our salvation. He could have redeemed us in another way that involved less agony for Jesus, but the suffering was a key part of the sacrifice. In the words of the theologian Jürgen Moltmann, “God not only participates in our suffering but also makes our suffering into His own, and takes our death into His life

The redemptive suffering of Christ which we are called to share, flies against common notions on suffering. Suffering is not an achievement trophy, like how athletes show us when they’ve put in the effort for a good workout. Neither is suffering a curse inflicted upon us by a cruel and sadistic God. Most certainly, suffering is not a mark of failure. By suffering for humanity, our Lord has transformed the curse into a blessing, into something redemptive.

But it isn’t only our Lord who suffers redemptively for us. He also invites us, by challenging us to share in the cup which He must drink and the baptism which He must undergo, to share in His work of redemption by uniting our suffering with His in an eternal offering of love. Seems like a crazy kind of love, right? But redemptive suffering is the most beautiful and perfect love. Offering up our suffering is a powerful way to become like Christ and love others, as He loves them. We are able to love this way because of grace. Redemptive suffering is a gift accorded to us because we are His friends. It is impossible for us to love this way on our own. It is only possible with God.

One of the most profound witnesses of redemptive suffering was Pope Saint John Paul II. Karol Wojtyla, as a young man and even during the early years of his pontificate, was a picture of health, vigour and vitality. However, in 1981, he suffered an assassination attempt in Rome. In the early 90s, however, a series of health problems began to take their toll. Describing the Holy Father in the fall of 1998, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stated: “The pain is written on his face. His figure is bent, and he needs to support himself on his pastoral staff. He leans on the cross, on the crucifix....” Despite the visible pain, he carried his suffering in a prophetic manner. His courage and perseverance in carrying out his activities as pope, despite his physical afflictions, was a heart-lifting example for all of us.

 In 1984, he published the apostolic letter “On the Christian Meaning of Suffering.” When confronted with suffering, most of us desperately seek answers to the question ‘Why’? Why me? Why now? The pope responds by telling us, that Christ does not really give us an answer to such questions, but rather a lived example. When we approach Christ with our questions about the reason for suffering, says the pope, we cannot help noticing that the one to whom we put the questions “is himself suffering and wishes to answer...from the Cross, from the heart of his own suffering.... “Christ does not explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering,” he points out, “but before all else he says: ‘Follow me!’ Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world... Gradually, as the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him” (#26).

Many who suffer the infirmities of aging and illness may ask the poignant question, ‘What can I possibly do in my present condition?’ Old age and illness both seem to be impediments to all the things a person hopes to achieve in his or her life. But the Lord and the witness of the Saints remind us, especially those of you who are leaning on the cross of Christ, that your suffering need not be futile nor meaningless. Do not waste your sufferings by complaining about them or grow bitter as a result of them. For in courageously bearing with your sickness, your pain, your troubles, in continuing to show love despite your fatigue, you reveal and proclaim the profound mystery of Christ’s presence even in the midst of suffering. Through your suffering, you make visible and audible the Suffering Christ from the cross who invites us: “Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?”

On our knees

Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

The rich young man comes before our Lord as a student seeking direction from a teacher, hoping to be enlightened as to how he can inherit eternal life. But as he comes before the Lord, he falls on his knees and addresses the Lord as “Good Master,” without realising that his words and action are revealing more than what he is willing to admit. Our Lord then says to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Our Lord is not repudiating the attribute of good for Himself in some act of humility, but inviting the man to reflect more deeply on what he had just said and the premise of his potential relationship with the Lord.

Yes, our Lord is not just a good teacher. He is the source and foundation of all goodness. He is God! Pope Francis reminds us that those who wish to understand the mystery of God must first get down on their "knees", in an act of humility, otherwise "they will not understand anything." If we should seek knowledge and wisdom from Him, we should do so on our knees, which is to say that it must be done in prayer, with a heart open to conversion, and with a willingness to grow in faith, and not just in knowledge.

Where there is no relationship with God, there can be no true understanding of Christ or His teachings. Christ is not a puzzle to be solved in a merely intellectual way, nor a textbook to be studied from cover to cover to comprehend His ways. One may have vast encyclopaedic knowledge of the Lord, one may accomplish great deeds of kindness and charity in His name, but without true conversion that leads to assimilating the life of Christ into oneself, our relationship with Christ remains superficial and spiritually barren. Faith, conversion, and holiness, then, all go hand-in-hand with one another. A faith without conversion is a dead faith, a shell of its true form, and is incapable of attaining its proper end of sanctification and divine life, which begins even now here on earth in Baptism and the life of sanctifying grace.

Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote: ““The person who prays begins to see; praying and seeing go together because – as Richard of St. Victor says – ‘Love is the faculty of seeing’. . . All real progress in theological understanding has its origin in the eye of love and in its faculty of beholding.” There can be no genuine understanding of the faith without the love of God and faithful adherence to His Word.

This was the issue with the rich young man. He sought the secret to eternal life as an intellectual pursuit but lacked the love for the Lord, to see and grasp the meaning of His words. This man seemed to have the knowledge and he may even be “doing” the right thing by practising what he believed, but he lacked the love for Christ to allow him to make the ultimate sacrifice which our Lord had challenged him to do: “There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Once again, we see the irony of this man’s actions. The one thing he “lacks,” is that he lacks nothing; the one thing which is holding him back from spiritual progress is the thing that he possesses, or rather the things which “possess” him. If Christ, the source of eternal life, was wholly sufficient for this man, there was no need for him to cling to any other material possessions or earthly securities. Walking away tells us that there were far more important things than eternal life.

But where the man lacks the love for the Lord, which is required for him to move forward, our Lord does not cease in loving Him. The evangelist tells us that the Lord “looked steadily at him and loved him.” It is this gaze of divine love that would have captivated the man’s heart and moved him to surrender all his earthly attachments - if he had seen it. But sadly, preoccupied with his own thoughts, he seems to not have noticed our Lord’s loving gaze. He had eyes only for his possessions, his ambitions and what he risked losing.

Our Lord’s disciples were no better. They condescendingly regard themselves as superior to this rich young man by boasting that they had given up everything, unlike this man who had been unwilling to part with his possessions. They failed to see that they are as equally mistaken as this sincere seeker of truth. The pursuit of eternal life can never be done on the basis of one’s own efforts, rather it is a gift given to those who acknowledge their own neediness. If you recall, our Lord had used the example of children to illustrate this point. And here, our Lord addresses His disciples once again as “children.” Children have no accomplishments with which to earn God’s favour, no status that makes them worthy. In their dependency, they exemplify the only disposition that makes entrance into the Kingdom possible: simply to receive it as a pure, unmerited gift. That is why the possessions of the rich young man and the sacrifices made by the Lord’s disciples are incapable of buying them a place in heaven.

The short parable of the camel and the eye of a needle can be understood in this phrase, “how hard it is…,” which our Lord uses twice. The way of following Christ would always appear hard and even impossible when we place more trust in our own status, knowledge, wealth and abilities as substitutes for trust in God alone. But remember: “For men ….it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.” The Kingdom of God, the gift of eternal life, is something utterly beyond human achievement. It cannot be earned, it cannot be claimed as a right, it cannot be bought or bartered for a price, it does not come as a reward for good behaviour. It depends solely on the goodness of God, who freely offers it as a gift. Nothing we are capable of giving up or enduring for the Lord’s sake or “for the sake of the gospel” is worthy of comparison with the eternal life that we will gain in the end. So, there is no need to congratulate yourself if you think that you’ve put in more prayer, more donations, more service than the average person. Never keep a record of what you have done for God. But always remember what He has done for you, something which you can never hope of repaying.

Thus, what is required of us is not just being ambitious of acquiring knowledge or special graces, as if these were brownie points to be accumulated, nor do we need to prove our sincerity by the largesse of our sacrifices and contributions. Rather, what is needed is the humble child-like faith of a disciple who understands that he can only fall at the feet of the One who is the source of all goodness, on whom he depends for everything, including his or her salvation. We are called to come before the Lord “on our knees”, to gaze upon Him in loving adoration, knowing that He loves us back in such a degree that we could never hope to grasp or comprehend or repay.

Love is sacrificial

Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Today’s gospel proclaims three eternal truths which do not sit well with modern sensibilities. In fact, they may even seem archaic, regressive and inhumane. But the fact that it is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who speaks it, assures us of their revelatory and eternally relevant character. So rather than suppress or sanitise these truths for fear that they may offend someone or another, it is good to remember this saying which has been commonly but falsely, attributed to St Augustine: “truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”

These three simple truths are as follows:

God made humanity male and female.

God intended marriage to be a permanent commitment for life.

God is the author of life and He is unapologetically pro-life.

Having explained that Moses’ permission for couples to divorce was a mere concession due to the unteachability of the people, our Lord then declares that “from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.” This statement should be so obvious, that it shouldn’t require restating or explaining, and yet, in today’s modern gender-bending society, making such a statement could get you “cancelled” for being intolerant and disrespectful to an entire spectrum of make-believe sexual identities.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church boldly teaches: “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.” (No. 2333) God is the only One who has the power and authority to define us, and He did so at creation by making us into His “image and likeness”, and it would be arrogance to think that we can redefine ourselves by changing our pronouns or performing mutilating surgery on ourselves so that we can make ourselves into our own skewed image and likeness.

The second truth which our Lord pronounces speaks of the permanence and indissolubility of marriage: “what God has united, man must not divide.” Many modern people believe that such a demand is both harsh and inhumane. Why force two persons, who no longer have feelings for each other, to remain bonded for life? Isn’t this cruel? Would this be condemning them to a life-sentence of misery? The permanence of marriage would seem cruel if we merely view marriage through the lenses of a human contract. With the recognition of human frailty and the unpredictability of future events, all contracts contain exit clauses allowing the parties to part ways. But not marriage!

The bond of marriage is a divinely instituted reality (“what God has united”), not a matter of human convention, and when that bond is created in the life of two Christians, it simply cannot be broken. This bond, is intended by God to symbolise the love of Christ for His Church. Pope Emeritus Benedict wrote: “Marriage is not simply about the relationship of two people to God, it is also a reality of the Church, a sacrament, and it is not for the individuals concerned to decide on its validity, but rather for the Church, into which the individuals are incorporated by faith and baptism.” If we understand anything about the relationship between Christ and His Church, we would understand that it cannot be broken by any power in the universe…A spouse can no more become an ex-spouse than a father can become an ex-father.

The third truth naturally flows from the first two truths: if marriage is a union between a man and a woman and their bond is marked by indissoluble permanence, having children and starting a family would not just be a theological but a logical conclusion. And so, our Lord declares, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” When God gave man and woman the ability to have sexual intercourse, He tied it with the ability to procreate. This is the reason why same-sex “marriages” cannot be real marriages and why the Church teaches against the use of contraception. Contraception not only breaks the ties between the sexual act and procreation, but also impedes our share in God’s creative love.  Cut off from God, man can never experience true lasting joy.

Love, real love, is sacrificial. If love entails sacrifice, then children would always be regarded as a blessing, the fruit of that love. But this is not what the world tells us. Our culture often teaches us that children are more of a burden than a gift—that families impede our freedom and diminish our finances.  We live in a world where large families are the objects of spectacle and derision, instead of the ordinary consequence of a loving marriage entrusted to God’s providence. Although it may seem, to selfish immature parents, that children bring to an end the romantic phase of their marriage and their personal autonomy, children are actually the gift needed to allow the couple’s love to grow and flourish, to embrace others beyond the two.

Today, the world has no qualms celebrating marriages, civil unions and what they claim to be same-sex marriages. Couples, families spend a life-time’s savings, even prepared to take up loans to fund extravagant celebrations. But the openness to children is rarely celebrated, rarely understood, and rarely supported.  To many, the Church’s teachings on life seem oppressive or old-fashioned.  Many believe that the Church asks too great a sacrifice. But sacrifice is at the heart of love. Love which is not willing to make sacrifices is counterfeit.

Many Catholics today complain and demand that the Catholic Church should change in order that they may feel “more welcomed,” and it is unfortunate, that many well-intentioned pastors also believe that the only way they can be compassionate and pastoral is by affirming their delusions. But Pope Francis warned of those he called “alternativists,” those who, in the Pope’s words, say to themselves, “I’ll enter the Church, but with this idea, with this ideology.” They propose conditions “and their membership in the Church is thereby partial.” They too “have one foot outside the Church; they’re renting the Church” but don’t really experience it… They seek an alternative, because they don’t share the common experience of the Church.”

So, what is needed is not for the Church to change her teachings. She cannot change them. She has no authority to do so because it is our Lord’s teachings. Rather, it is we, who need to change, to die to ourselves, our selfish, self-centred and self-absorbed ways, so that we may conform ourselves more and more to Christ, who shows us the true meaning of love by dying on the cross for us. We are called to continue to proclaim the truth, beauty and goodness of the complementarity of sexes, fidelity of marriage and sanctity of life in a culture which eagerly confuses genders, promotes divorce and engenders a culture of death by promoting abortion.

To all married couples and those who are planning to get married or start a family, do not let fear, anxiety or worry get in the way of you loving each other sacrificially and being open to the children you may receive from God. Do not put a cap on what He wishes to give you. Let Him be the judge of that. Entrust yourselves to the Lord who will provide for all your needs.

In His Name

Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Who was this itinerant exorcist in today’s passage? We have little information about him apart from what is said about him in John’s complaint: this man is “not one of us,” which means he is not part of the Lord’s band of disciples, or at least, a part of His inner circle, the Twelve. But John at least admits that this man is driving out demons in the Lord’s name.

Apparently, John’s criterion for legitimate ministry is acting under the disciples’ authority, they are the gatekeepers, instead of the Lord. He fails to recognise that their authority and power and that of this perceived “rival” comes from the Lord, who is the source and the foundation of their authority and power. His protest echoes the objection of Joshua in the first reading, who grumbled to Moses that Eldad and Medad were not part of the group to whom Moses imparted his spirit, yet they too received the gift of prophecy.

Although the disciples found fault with this man casting out demons in the Lord’s name because he wasn’t a part of their elite group, our Lord saw nothing wrong with his actions. In fact, our Lord reprimands them and orders them to not stop this man in his ministry: “You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of me.” He is directing His disciples to take an expansive, rather than a restrictive approach toward others who are acting in His name. And the reason is because “anyone who is not against us is for us.” The criterion for acceptance of the ministry of this person is that it is not in opposition to the Lord’s ministry and that of His disciples. But the converse is also true: “whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). In the end, there is no neutral ground in relation to Christ: sooner or later everyone (whether consciously or unconsciously) chooses either to be on His side or to oppose Him.

Some people, including Catholics, take our Lord’s words as justification for religious indifferentism. Religious indifferentism is the heretical belief that all religions have equal value and are equal paths to salvation. This popular notion is so ingrained in our psyche that anyone who makes counter claims concerning the uniqueness of the Catholic Faith or that Jesus is the sole and universal saviour of mankind, would be deemed heretical. In fact, this pernicious belief is quite likely the most widespread heresy of our present age. Though many would never admit that they are proponents of a heresy, we see it hidden in so many common sayings: “You have your beliefs and I have mine;” “It doesn’t matter which religion you belong to. It’s all the same.” So, was our Lord’s words to His disciples in support of this way of thinking?

The key phrase to understand the context of our Lord’s words is “in my Name” or “in Jesus’ name.” This man was not doing it by his own authority. He was not claiming that his ability to exorcise and heal, came from his own resources or from some other deity. His actions pointed back to the Lord. If demons are cast out and people are healed, it is the Lord Jesus’ doing, not his. Our Lord’s words are not meant to give a stamp of approval to religious indifferentism. In fact, it is the very antithesis of religious indifferentism. That if anyone is saved, he or she is saved by Jesus and Jesus alone, no one else can take credit for it. To do something in the Lord’s name is to acknowledge the bankruptcy of our own resources and the adequacy of His grace.

Our Lord had just taught His followers that the criteria needed to become His disciple calls for self-renunciation and sacrifice. They are to reject worldly glory, resist the temptation of making a name for themselves because ultimately, what a disciple does, he does it “in the name” of the Lord. The fact that they felt envious and threatened by this perceived rival to their privileged authority, reveals their true motives. They were selfishly possessive of God’s grace, and rather than rejoicing that others had a share in it, they felt jealous and saw them as rivals. The disciples were doing good works for self-glory. They were doing it to make a name for themselves. Rather than acting in our Lord’s name, they were acting in their own.

Our Lord continues teaching them by saying: “If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.” In a way, this serves as a parallel to last week’s last verse, which spoke of hospitality shown to a child is equivalent to hospitality shown to Christ and the One who sent Christ. In both sayings, what is highlighted is the generosity of God toward all and the great value of simple, humble acts of service and hospitality, regardless of whether such acts are done by persons inside or outside the Church. Note once again, that what is being promoted is not religious indifferentism but that all acts of kindness towards a disciple because of his association with Christ, will be rewarded.

The last part of today’s passage, provides a balanced perspective to our Christian vision of discipleship. If the first part of today’s passage accentuated the need for broad mindedness and inclusiveness regarding the good deeds of others, this last part reminds us that sin should never be tolerated. Goodness and kindness by others can and should always be celebrated, but sin is never to be encouraged. If God can reward someone for his or her good deeds, He will not hesitate to punish someone for their evil deeds. So, our Lord uses a series of hyperbolic analogies, from drowning to bodily mutilation, to emphasis the gravity of sin. These examples may appear barbaric by modern standards, but they are used precisely to illustrate God’s complete abhorrence of sin, whether it be directed to another or to oneself.

The opening and the concluding section of today’s passage reveals to us the nature of God - He is both merciful and just – one does not exclude the other. There is no contradiction. God welcomes and rewards acts of goodness wherever He finds it, and not just among those who claim to know Him or act in His name. As goodness can never be a companion to evil, so too God will not tolerate evil and sin within us. These have deep implications in our own spiritual lives - we too must welcome and celebrate the goodness done by others if in the end it is done for the sake of God who will see to their reward, but we must be constantly on guard against the scandal of evil and sin, and be prepared to take all necessary steps to remove them through sincere repentance, or be prepared to “be thrown into hell where their worm does not die nor their fire go out”.