In today's
Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples about his upcoming death and
resurrection. But, they didn't
understand him. Instead, they argued
among themselves about who was the greatest.
It is amazing that they didn't focus on Jesus but on themselves. But, it's also so human. Instead of reflecting on this incredible
event which Jesus described to them, they just argued. Isn't this a typical human response sometimes
when we are facing challenging times?
We focus on ourselves and our needs.
Maybe we even run away from the problem.
In the book,
Heroic Leadership, the author describes four principles which guided the
Jesuits during their many difficult times. The last principle, which is the
most important one is: "When the opportunity presents itself, do something
heroic." As we heard in the Gospel,
the disciples weren't able to do something heroic. They didn't understand. And when Jesus was crucified, eleven out of
twelve weren't there for him.
Fortunately, after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, all of
them, except for Judas answered the call and performed many heroic acts. All of them, except for John, who was there
for Jesus at the foot of the cross, eventually died as martyrs.
What message
is there in this Gospel for us today as we see our Church dealing with scandal?
We are all
angered and frustrated by the abuse scandal and the reported actions of some of
our bishops. But, now is not the time to
abandon Christ and his Church. This is
the coward's way out. It is what the
devil wants us to do. Now is the time to
be at the foot of the cross. This is the
heroic action for each of us. We are
meant to pray, to persevere, and to stand strong. We are meant to accept any ridicule that we
may experience and to turn the other cheek.
These
scandals are clearly the work of the devil.
As we hear in the second reading: "Where jealousy and selfish
ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice." This describes the situation that we witness in
the scandals. Selfish ambition leading
to disorder and foul practice. Then,
James gives us the response to this evil saying: " But the wisdom from
above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gently compliant, full of mercy and
good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in
peace."
Are we at
peace with our Church in light of the abuse scandal? Have we turned to the Lord for his wisdom? Are we righteous in our own words and
actions?
We should be
spending more time praying for our church than we spend reading articles or
watching videos about the scandal. We
should put this scandal into the perspective of the long history of the
church. The church has faced scandal
many times before. The devil continues
to attack Jesus' Church, just like he
tempted Jesus in the desert. Like those previous scandals in the church, this one
will be painful and difficult, but Jesus' church will be purified and will emerge
stronger as a result of it. Jesus
promised us that when he said: "You are Peter and upon this rock I will
build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
The first
reading tells us: "The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he
is obnoxious to us, he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for
transgressions of the law." Many
people are using this scandal to attack the church. Some are suggesting that we fire all the
bishops and others that we allow priests
to marry. They are doing the work of the
evil one as they attempt to bring down the church, which is the source of truth
and a counterbalance to the many sins of our current culture.
Hopefully,
all of us, and especially our bishops, realize that our role, as baptized
Christians, is not to protect the status quo.
Our church is not some club or political organization which just needs a
housecleaning and few new rules. Our
church must be by its nature missionary.
And the mission of everyone who belongs to the church, including all of
us, is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ thru our words and
actions. We are meant to be missionary
disciples and to bring others to Christ as we are trying to do at our Welcome
weekends. If we do this, we will continue
to be hated by many in our culture. And
that's OK, Jesus and his apostles were hated also.
The first
reading tells us that God will take care of a just man. Do we trust in God? When we struggle in our lives or when we
witness the scandals in our Church, do we trust that God has our back?
The second reading tells us that Wisdom from
above is peaceable. Today, let us trust
God in all things and so that we can find eternal peace.
God bless.
