Do Not Be Afraid

“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

So much for peace.

Any ideas who said it?  Come on Christians.  It’s in the Bible.

That passage is in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel According to Luke.  The speaker is Jesus Christ Himself.

Seriously.  So much for peace among family members.

That particular gospel reading comes up every three years in the Lectionary rotation.  It just so happens that it was the Gospel two Sundays ago, in the midst of the latest round of angst American Christians are experiencing as the fallen away, and the never catechized by anyone in any tradition are caterwauling – again – about how Christians are trying to insert their values and beliefs into everything from entertainment to how we do our jobs.

(Psst: that’s what non-Christians do as well.)

There was hand-wringing as Tim Tebow, an avowed Christian who makes no secret of it, lost his spot on a third NFL team.  The reports are he can’t cut it at the pro level, is really the issue at hand as to why he’s not holding a job.  His Christianity had nothing to do with it.  Besides, the NFL guys thank their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the time.  Tebow’s brand would not have made a difference to anyone not working for ESPN.

There is now disbelief as the non-Christian of our fellow Americans are hyperventilating over a piece of fiction e-novel titled, Christian Nation by Frederic C. Rich, that hypothetically describes what would happen if a President Palin were to impose an Evangelical Christian society on Americans.  Despite the fact that Sarah Palin is smart enough to know better than that, the anti sorts are making such a prospect sound apocalyptic.  (As a Catholic, if a strict Evangelical society were to resemble John Calvin’s Geneva in the 16th century, yeah, that would cause more people to fall away than create converts.)  Living as a Christian has to be a choice, not a compulsion.  Any Christian worth his or her salt should understand that.  The antis don’t and don’t want to.

Pepsi put the Pledge of Allegiance on their soda cans sans the words “Under God” so as to not offend anyone.  There is some sort of a boycott under way because, well, believers in God are offended.  Just for point of reference, President Eisenhower inserted the words, so they haven’t always been there.

New York and Holly-weird are wringing their hands as Duck Dynasty has the highest ratings of any non-scripted cable show on TV.  Why?  Because they won’t tone down the Christianity and praying at the table.  That isn’t all that the coasts and the elitist sorts object to when it comes to that show, but it’s what gets the headlines.  Yes, we all have an Uncle Si in our family, and as one author put it, rather than hiding them in the attic, the people of the south have them in the living room.  Or, in Uncle Si’s case, the swamp.  (And seriously, where is he getting all the feather boas?)  (Oh, and to the ladies who object to the bossiness of the Robertson women – you’re kidding, right?  My grandmother made them look tame – and she was a daily Mass goer.)

Christ came to us not to create this huge, lovey dovey, everyone believes in Him utopia, but to send His followers out in the world and challenge others not simply to believe, but to lead by example of humility and, to an extent simplicity (this is a rough one).  As non-worldly as that is, there is going to be persecution from those who do not want to make the sacrifice, and from those who see it as a challenge their authority.

That’s reality – and that is what Christians have faced for almost 2,000 years.

It is also true that piety grows during times of persecution.  In THIS country, the persecution is picking up in some places and not others all without bullets or fire, but in other parts of the world, like Uganda where the missionary who spoke at my parish yesterday is from, churches where very pious people worship are being bombed.  People are being killed for being Christian.  That’s called martyrdom, and we haven’t reached that point in the United States.

On other words, we really don’t have that much to complain about.  Due to federal law making the destruction of any place of worship a capital crime, we are not likely to see such actions here.  And that the most popular cable television show has a pronounced Christian bent is a sign of progress. And no, the work is not done.  It will never be.

Yes, the men who founded this country were overwhelmingly Christian.  And, yes, they are likely to be appalled at the decidedly non-Christian bent of the left so prominently part of public life.  But, at the same time, they knew that Christian vigilance can never wane.  Don’t let it die, but don’t force it, either.

So, I leave my fellow Christians with another couple Bible passages that remind us of what Christ asks:

From Chapter Six of the Gospel According to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Douay-Rheims translation:

[1] Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. [2] Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. [3] But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. [4] That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. [5] And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

[1] Your justice: that is, works of justice; viz., fasting, prayer, and almsdeeds; which ought to be performed not out of ostentation, or a view to please men, but solely to please God.

[6] But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. [7] And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard. [8]Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. [9] Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. [10]Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[11] Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen. [14] For if you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. [15] But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.

[11] Supersubstantial bread: In St. Luke the same word is rendered daily bread. It is understood of the bread of life, which we receive in the Blessed Sacrament.

[13] Lead us not into temptation: That is, suffer us not to be overcome by temptation.

[16] And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. [17] But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face; [18] That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee. [19] Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. [20] But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.

Yesterday’s Gospel Reading, from the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel According to Luke:

He told a parable to those who had been invited,
noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then he said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

(Could this be why Catholics serially sit in the back of church??????)

In the Scriptures that Catholics use, included are seven books we know as the Deutero-Canonicals, or the Helenistic Hebrew canon.  A reading from my favorite of them, Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus came up yesterday.  From the third chapter:

My child, conduct your affairs with humility,
and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.
Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,
and you will find favor with God.
What is too sublime for you, seek not,
into things beyond your strength search not.
The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs,
and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.
Water quenches a flaming fire,
and alms atone for sins.

The Douay-Rheims, an older translation, is a little more detailed, especially with the missing verses put back in:

[17] And in justice thou shalt be built up, and in the day of affliction thou shalt be remembered: and thy sins shall melt away as the ice in the fair warm weather. [18] Of what an evil fame is he that forsaketh his father: and he is cursed of God that angereth his mother. [19] My son, do thy works in meekness, and thou shalt be beloved above the glory of men. [20] The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God:

[21] For great is the power of God alone, and he is honoured by the humble. [22] Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious. [23] For it is not necessary for thee to see with thy eyes those things that are hid. [24] In unnecessary matters be not over curious, and in many of his works thou shalt not be inquisitive. [25] For many things are shewn to thee above the understanding of men.

[26] And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity. [27] A hard heart shall fear evil at the last: and he that loveth danger shall perish in it. [28] A heart that goeth two ways shall not have success, and the perverse of heart shall be scandalized therein. [29] A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner will add sin to sin. [30] The congregation of the proud shall not be healed: for the plant of wickedness shall take root in them, and it shall not be perceived.

[31] The heart of the wise is understood in wisdom, and a good ear will hear wisdom with all desire.[32] A wise heart, and which hath understanding, will abstain from sins, and in the works of justice shall have success. [33] Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins: [34] And God provideth for him that sheweth favour: he remembereth him afterwards, and in the time of his fall he shall find a sure stay.