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This morning’s
reading from the Book of Revelations relates a vision in which the Lord
Jesus reminds his disciples that he is going to return soon and reward
each as his conduct deserves.
Perhaps some of us
may
hear in those words a warning, or even, a threat along the lines of
“Man, you’d better get your act together pretty soon or else you’re
going to get exactly what you deserve!”
For me, such an
interpretation is akin to the babysitter who once said to me, “You’d
better get to bed right now because your parents are coming home soon!”
Or, like my Mom, who frequently would say, “If you don’t get your chores
done right now, Mister, boy are you going to get it when your Dad comes
home!”
Those statements
don’t sound like the language that the Lord Jesus would use to describe
his return and the reward he intends to give each of us for our
conduct. No, they sound more like threats and punishment.
I bring this up
today because the reading from the Acts of the Apostles is an account of
Stephen’s martyrdom and because Jesus’ prayer in the gospel states:
I pray for those who will believe in me through my disciples’
words that all may be one as You, Father, are in me and I in you…
I will continue to reveal Your name so that your love for me
may live in them, and I may live in them.
The important point
is that the Lord Jesus returns and reveals himself by living in his
disciples and, through them, rewards each for his conduct.
This revelation takes place not in some distant and unknown future, but
right here and now, and the “reward”—as the Lord Jesus called it—is
already given, each according to his conduct.
Take the account of
Stephen’s martyrdom, for instance.
Stephen, a
Jewish-Christian who quite likely spoke Greek, was one of seven deacons
chosen by the early Christian community of Jerusalem to care
for the widows’ needs. Otherwise, these women would have been neglected
in the daily distribution of food. By election, Stephen was made
Director of the ancient Christian equivalent of a “Meals on Wheels”
program.
It was earlier in the Acts
of the Apostles, however, the author tells us why Stephen was chosen for
this diaconal ministry. Namely, Stephen was “filled with
faith” and the “Holy Spirit.” Surely, Stephen preached the gospel to
his Jewish contemporaries. But, be careful you don’t think “preached”
denotes Stephen uttering “pious posies” to make the Jewish people “feel
good all over.” Perhaps the phrase “got into their face” would be a
more appropriate way to describe Stephen’s preaching and the adverse reaction
many Jews had to it.
Notice carefully
exactly what we are told then happened:
·
the
people in the crowd cover their ears;
·
they rush
against Stephen;
·
they have
Stephen arrested and put on trial before the Sanhedrin on the charge of
blasphemy;
·
the
judges impose a death sentence; and,
·
just
before Stephen expires, he prays that God will forgive his executioners
and receive his spirit, echoing Jesus’ very words as he expired on the
Cross.
The key point I
would like to make is not that Stephen’s martyrdom parallels that of
Jesus upon the Cross, as important as that is. The key point I
want to stress today is that the
Lord Jesus returned to the Jewish community in the person of Stephen
through his care for the widows and his bold proclamation of the
gospel. Had Stephen not possessed love of neighbor, the widows would not
have been cared for in their need. Moreover, if Stephen had not
possessed love God, the Word of God would not have been preached to the
Jews. This is the reward—freely given—each according to his conduct...care
in one’s need and hearing the Word of God.
Yes, there were those who listened and converted. There were also
those who
listened and didn’t convert. Then, there were those who didn’t
listen at all and turned away, grew angry, and sought to have Stephen
expunged from their midst. Only those who listened and
converted received the reward promised by the Lord Jesus.
Like Stephen, all of us are also called to exhibit love of neighbor
by caring for others in their need and exhibit love of God by
proclaiming the Word of God boldly to the people around us, as Pope
Benedict XVI reminded Catholic politicians on May 9th who assert they
cannot allow their religious beliefs to interfere with their votes about public policy.
“The death of an innocent, of a newly born baby is inconceivable,” the
Pope noted. “It is not something arbitrary and the Church expresses
value for life and for the individual character of life from the moment
of conception.”
Well, that’s nothing new!
But, what is new is that the Revised Code of Canon Law stipulates that when anyone, politician or
not, supports public policies that are contrary to Church teaching, they inflict
an “automatic excommunication” upon themselves. Technically, the Church
doesn’t have to do a thing.
By
their freely-willed choice,
people incur this excommunication upon themselves. The logic is
simple: Roman Catholic politicians who vote to legalize abortion
automatically excommunicate themselves, that is, they have freely and of
their own will “excluded
themselves from Communion.”
Contrary to what some might think, it isn’t up to a priest, bishop,
or pope to take it upon himself to deny such people Holy Communion.
No, it’s quite the opposite! Those who support public policies
that are contrary to Church teaching ought to be honest enough with themselves to
say, “I couldn’t possibly walk up the aisle and receive Holy Communion
disagreeing with Church teaching the way I do.” Furthermore, if
those who support public policies that are contrary to Church teaching truly do
believe the Church is erroneous and wrong, why are they participating in
the liturgical life of an erroneous and wrong—“false”—Church anyway?
Why aren’t they enrolling as members in and participating actively in a
non-Roman Catholic faith community that preaches from the pulpit what
these people believe and want to hear? There is a smorgasbord of
pro-choice Protestant sects, fellowships, and denominations to choose
from in this regard.
Like the Jewish people to whom Stephen was preaching, this is not
the message is Roman Catholic politicians, including Representatives
Nancy Pelosi, Rosa De Lauro, Patrick Kennedy, and Joe Baca as well as
Senators John F. Kerry, Susan Collins, and Ted Kennedy, want to hear.
Then, too, there’s Rudy Giuliani, who challenged the Vatican over
the issue of abortion when he was Mayor of New York City. But,
this time, he declined to fire back at Pope Benedict XVI. As the
Associated Press account stated: “First of
all, I do not get into debates with the Pope,” a smiling Giuliani told
reporters in Huntsville, Alabama. “That is not a good idea, and not just
because I am a Catholic.” The pro-choice Republican presidential
candidate said that were he elected President, he certainly wouldn’t be
taking his cues from the Pope and he would defy Benedict and any other
Catholic prelate who demand that pro-choice Catholic politicians be
denied Holy Communion. “Issues like that, for me, are between me and my
confessor,” Giuliani said.
Sorry, but that’s not what Stephen’s example teaches. He didn’t
tell the Jewish people what they wanted to hear. No, Stephen told them
what the Word of God teaches and did so filled with faith and the Holy
Spirit. The Lord Jesus returned to the Jewish people living in
Jerusalem in the person of Stephen and rewarded
each according to his conduct. Those who listened and changed received
the reward of faith, eternal life. Those who listened and did not
change or didn’t listen at all received no reward at all.
I’ve often heard politics defined as “the art of the possible.” I’ve also
heard politics defined as “negotiating a middle ground.” Both
definitions point to the same truth: politics isn’t about “yes” or
“no,”
“right”
or
“wrong,”
“hot” or
“cold.” Instead, politics is about
“maybe,”
“just okay,” and
“lukewarm.” Unfortunately, my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, that is
not what faith is about. Faith is about the
“truth,”
“what’s right,” and it allows for no
“grand
compromise.” They’re called the Ten “Commandments” because these aren’t
“Requests” that God offered in the hope that His creatures will
accept them because they are
“reasonable” to His creatures. No, the Ten Commandments are to be obeyed! Should any
one of us be surprised that many of our fellow citizens (and many of our fellow
Roman Catholics, too) are absolutely adamant that Church teaching should
not be preached in the public square?
For some
inexplicable reason—and in almost every generation—people don’t want to
hear the Word of God preached in its unvarnished splendor, the “Splendor
of Truth” Pope John Paul II called it. Take, as a prime example, this morning’s
reading from the Acts of the Apostles. How did the Jewish community (as
an image of other Christian communities throughout the ages) respond to
the coming of the Lord Jesus in the person of Stephen? They:
·
became
enraged;
·
had
Stephen lynched;
·
put
Stephen on trial and condemned him to death;
·
then,
they took Stephen to a cliff, stripped him, and threw him over; and,
·
what
little life was left in him was extinguished as the people dropped large
boulders on Stephen from atop the cliff—all the while taking frenzied
delight that they were doing what they believe was God’s will!
How do people get
themselves into these situations, where they choose to be blind and deaf
to the truth of God’s Word and allow themselves to perpetrate evil as if it were good?
Here’s
a factoid: Roman Catholics make up the largest religious group in the
current Congress, with more than 150 members in the House and Senate.
Think about the difference they could make in the halls of Congress and
the nation’s public policy arena as well if they were to preach the Word
of God in its unvarnished splendor and do so filled
with faith and the Holy Spirit, just as Stephen did! Well, quite likely:
·
people
would become enraged;
·
they’d
have these Roman Catholic politicians lynched by the “drive by” media;
·
they put
these Roman Catholic politicians on trial and condemned to death which,
in the political world, means not being re-elected;
·
then,
they would take these Roman Catholic politicians to a cliff, strip them
of their pretenses, throw them over; and,
·
what
little life was left in them would be extinguished as their opponents
would throw everything they could at these Roman Catholic
politicians—all the while taking frenzied delight that they were acting
in accord with what they believe is enshrined in the nation’s founding
documents!
In sum, if Stephen’s experience is to prove instructive in this
regard, there’d be
wholesale insurrection and those Roman Catholic politicians would have
to suffer for their faith.
But, let’s not just
focus upon all of those Roman Catholic politicians. There are many, many
teenagers today who gripe and complain because they don’t want their
parents preaching gospel values to them. Then, there are all of
those parents who live in fear of preaching the Word of God to their
teenagers, no “if’s,” “and’s,” or “but’s” about it. Consider, too,
those spouses in troubled
marriages who don’t want priests and bishops to teach that divorce is
wrong. I personally know of parents who not only “approve” of
their son or daughter living together with a mate prior to marriage, but
also who throw “housewarming” and “welcome your new neighbors to the
neighborhood” parties to celebrate what used to be called “living in
sin.” Many otherwise reasonable adults cry out, “Religion has no place in politics” or, for that matter, “in the bedroom.”
It’s almost as if these people believe that if the Lord Jesus simply would not return, that is, if
the Church militant would just “shut up,” then everyone would be
happy.
The scene of
Stephen’s martyrdom shows us how easy it is for very faithful and pious
people to allow evil to enter into and to take control of their lives to
the point that it becomes virtually impossible to see the Lord return
and to hear the Lord teach. The power of evil so contorts their senses
as well as their sensibilities that people freely and willingly
perpetrate evil, all the while insisting that what they are doing is not
only reasonable but also is in conformity with God’s will.
Do you see how
they are contorting the truth? Do you see their lack of faith?
Do you understand their fear in preaching the Word of God in its
unvarnished splendor?
The evangelist’s
interest isn’t that we think about Stephen as we consider his heroic
witness, because it really is the Lord Jesus returning in the person of
Stephen and rewarding each according to his conduct. Furthermore, the
evangelist’s interest isn’t that we apply Stephen’s courage in teaching
the faith to Catholic politicians. Yes, that is helpful if we are to
appreciate better the substantive point the evangelist is trying to
make. More importantly, the evangelist’s primary interest is that:
·
we see
ourselves in the crowd;
·
we
recognize how we allow evil to take control of our lives; and,
·
how we
persecute the Lord Jesus as he returns and rewards us for our conduct.
Perhaps many of our
lives are littered by the carnage left in the wake of our freely-willed
evil when the Lord Jesus returned to us! In this way, then, the
evangelist is really challenging us to open our eyes and our ears to see
the Lord Jesus as he returns and to listen and take to heart the Word of
God before we:
·
cover our
ears;
·
bring
false charges;
·
make
false accusations;
·
hurl
insults; and, ultimately,
·
hurl
large boulders at Jesus’ disciples in the vain attempt to drive the
truth they speak—the Word of God—out of our lives.
“If I only knew then
what I know now!” How often have you found yourself saying (or
thinking) that?
“I pray for those
who will believe in me through my disciples’ words,”
Jesus prayed. “I will continue to reveal Your name so that Your love
for me may live in them and I may live in them.”
Let us be attentive
for the return of the Lord Jesus. And let us be prepared to
receive the reward he has promised by opening our eyes to the Lord Jesus
and our ears to the Word of God, being revealed through his disciples in
this day and age.
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HOMILY
