Genesis
3:9-15
2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1:1
Mark
3:20-35
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My friends, we’re back in
Ordinary time!
And this week our Gospel
reading is one that’s rarely heard.
Due to when Easter falls most
years, the 10th week in Ordinary Time usually gets missed, covered
up by Pentecost, Most Holy Trinity, or Corpus Christi.
This important reading
couldn’t come at a better time as we continue on our path to becoming the
ordinary, living saints Pope Francis is calling us all to become.
But to do this, we must
resist our seedier human instincts and heed Christ’s voice calling us to a
holier path.
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We live in a time of great
divide in our nation.
We were all reminded this
past week of another time of great divide in America: 1968.
50 years ago this week Bobby
Kennedy was assassinated moments after winning the California Democratic Presidential
Primary. Two months earlier that very same year we lost Martin Luther King Jr.
to an assassin’s bullet. Riots and
social unrest dominated news headlines then.
As a kid, I remember my dad
debating our next door neighbor on those hot summer nights in ‘68. The two rarely
saw eye-to-eye and their arguments could be heard all over our small neighborhood.
But my dad and our neighbor were still great friends and would always tip a few
beers while debating the news of the day.
How is it that we’ve lost
our ability to engage in civil discourse and debate without it getting personal,
hurtful or hateful? This is even a problem in our families today. I’m sure most
of you know what I’m talking about -- especially in this time of great
political division.
Social media is exacerbating
our polarization.
It’s always a best practice
to be open to hearing the viewpoints of others. I had one of those
opportunities shortly after ordination. A friend wanted to talk to me about my Central
American pilgrimage with Maryknoll. This person was concerned and wanted to see
me in person to talk about it.
When we met, he told me, “You
know, Maryknoll is socialist!”
I’ll admit to being taken aback by his
assertion. Perhaps there were others who thought I was “out of my mind” for
going on such a trip.
After listening to his
perspective, I shared with him my own experience with Maryknoll. The Maryknoll
Fathers and Brothers I met on pilgrimage were all over the political spectrum (some
liberal, some conservative, some in between).
Then, my friend told me
about a website where he gets most of his news about the Catholic Church. He encouraged me to
visit this site if I wanted to know the truth. I was unfamiliar with this
website and promised to take a look.
What I saw shocked me. The
host focused his hate-filled rants on Catholics he deems not to be in lock step
with the faith. He’s quick to label others as heretics.
Satan’s voice always
condemns, confuses and breeds hate. God’s
voice always encourages, enlightens and engenders loves.
Fast forward a few years,
and this same host has been condemned by several of America’s Bishops for
fomenting hate and division, and he now stands accused of not being in lock
step with the full breadth, depth and beauty of our Catholic faith.
In fact, in 2015 the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia (under the direction of Archbishop Charles Chaput)
put out this warning: “XXXXXX XXXXXX (has) proven once again that they are not interested in presenting information
in any useful way…. The sole desire of … XXXXXX XXXXXX is to create division,
confusion and conflict within the Church. Actions of that nature run contrary
to Christian tradition. Their reports are not to be taken seriously.”
I’ve always seen the various
tribes in our Catholic Church as colors in a mosaic. Some have a passion for
tradition. Some have a passion for sacred liturgy. Some have a passion for the
charisms of the Holy Spirit. Some have a passion for Catholic Social Teachings
and social justice. All of these tribes in our Catholic faith reflect their own
unique color and together form a mosaic that makes up the face of Christ.
Catholic journalist John L.
Allen wrote about these many different tribes in the Catholic faith in his book
“The Future Church,” saying “Diversity is wealth, but division is
impoverishment.”
We may not always see eye to
eye in our Church family. We may not
always see eye to eye in our own families. We may not always see eye to eye in our
circle of friends. But we all called to keep our eyes firmly affixed to Christ
and imitate what he did to build up the Kingdom. That’s how we become holy.
This is what Jesus is
teaching us today. Jesus is seen by his
family as “out of his mind.” The religious
Scribes are demonizing His actions. But “Jesus has the ability to overcome evil
without becoming like it.”
As Seattle’s new Auxiliary
Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg says in his book on Mark’s Gospel: “Evil destroys
communion and is made evident in division.”
Isn’t
it true -- that all of us can sometimes misinterpret the good actions of others
by attributing evil motivations?
Bishop
Daniel says “(Today’s) passage cautions us to interpret good actions with a principle
of charity that seeks to give others the benefit of the doubt rather than
rashly concluding sinister motives.”
Pope
Francis cautioned against the destructive power of demonizing others in our
Catholic faith, especially with what is found online and in social media today.
In his latest Apostolic Exhortation
“Rejoice and Be Glad” or Gaudete Et Exultate, the Holy Father had this
important message for us all, “Christians
too can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and
the various forums of digital communication. Even in Catholic media, limits can
be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace, and all ethical
standards and respect for the good name of others can be abandoned. The result
is a dangerous dichotomy, since things can be said there that would be
unacceptable in public discourse, and people look to compensate for their own
discontent by lashing out at others. It is striking that at times, in claiming
to uphold the other commandments, they completely ignore the eighth, which
forbids bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others. Here we
see how the unguarded tongue, set on fire by hell, sets all things ablaze (cf.
James 3:6)” (§ 115).
As a priest friend reminded me this week, “Jesus' ministry was of love,
healing, compassion, reconciliation. His opponents were of anger, division,
jealousy and exclusion.”
Whichever
path we choose will either draw us closer to, or distance us from the will of
God in our lives.
Just as Adam turned his back
on God, and even pointed a finger of blame for his sinning on his partner Eve,
may we not be tricked by the serpent into fomenting hate and division in our
communities by demonizing each other.
May we be guided by the Holy
Spirit to forgive those who demonize us and our motives. And may this
forgiveness become the cornerstones that build up the Kingdom of God.
May Jesus, our true eternal
brother, guide our hearts, guide our lips, guide our online actions as we
strive together to become ordinary, living saints in a troubled and divided
world.
