LIGHT A FIRE, NOT A FLICKER ON THE EARTH

 

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.

(Luke 12:51)

 

The great American historian and philosopher William James Durant (1885-1975) proposed the criterion of embarrassment when sifting the Gospels into two piles:  historically authentic and inauthentic sayings about Jesus:

 

Despite the prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, they record many incidents that mere inventors would have concealed—the competition of the apostles for high places in the Kingdom, their flight after Jesus' arrest, Peter's denial, the failure of Christ to work miracles in Galilee, the references of some auditors to his possible insanity, his early uncertainty as to his mission, his confessions of ignorance as to the future, his moments of bitterness, his despairing cry on the cross; no one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them.

(Christ and Caesar, The Story of Civilization)

 

After all our talk about unity and peace Our Lord’s words definitely meet Durant’s criterion.  His words are authentic historically, theologically and prophetically and fully consistent with divine revelation.

 

A SIGN OF CONTRADICTION

 

St. Simeon saw the infant Jesus as sign of contradiction.  As disciples born again in Christ and members of His Church we, too, are called to be a contradiction and an antidote to the worldliness that is scouring our land:

 

Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:34)

 

THE STONE OF STUMBLING

 

We are to be stones upon which the high and mighty stumble, not stepping stones to be tread upon.  When we are weak, wishy-washy, compromise with the world, the flesh and the Devil and tolerate and even accommodate every wickedness among us, we become doormats.  And by standing for nothing, we train people to wipe their muddy feet on us.

 

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

(1 PETER 2:7-8)

 

THE STUMBLING BLOCK

 

 

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)

 

The Church is a sign of contradiction in the world.  It is often demanded of the Church today (both by non-Catholics and Catholics) that she ought to strive to fit in more, be kinder and gentler than in the past, and that her essential mission is to affirm and make sure we feel good about ourselves.  [This is consistent with the old myth of ruler-wielding nuns and harsh Christian brothers.  Lord, in Your mercy, hear our cry:  Raise up godly women and men to counsel and lead Your Church in holiness and truth!]

 

Perhaps—it is suggested—were she more appealing and less “alienating” then her membership would increase.  Numbers are no sign of health—it may be an illusion, a thin veneer over hidden rot.  And when the Church solemnly and unequivocally speaks on moral questions she is often criticized for being too harsh, judgmental and intolerant, afflicted with phobias or out of touch with modern realities.

 

Critics of the Church’s Apostolic and Biblical teachings accuse her of being on the wrong side of history.  Remember:  They mocked Noah…until the rains came.  The Church is not here to create consensus, but to call for a division of the question:

 

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)

 

 

It is not The Church’s role to be with the times, but to be with her Lord at all times.  She is both Bride of Christ and Body of Christ (for in this holy Marriage she and her Spouse are one, as Our Lady is both mother and spouse of God).

 

Simeon looked to Jesus and saw that He would be a sign of contradiction to many. Jesus would not be the affirmer in chief; rather as One who spoke the truth with authority and feared no man, He would stand out clearly and announce that truth without compromise in and out of season.  He would be a sign of contradiction to the world and its ways.

 

Many loved Our Lord and some hated Him, but no one could remain neutral.  He forced the division of the question; He insisted that we choose, and offered no alternative:  tertium non datur, no third way is given.

 

Christ said to His Church:

 

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me. (John 15:18-21)

 

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:26)

 

That the world—that is to say those who are opposed to every higher authority but themselves—hates us is not necessarily due to the fact that we have done anything wrong. It is often a sign that we have done something precisely right for it is often our destiny, as the Body of Christ, to be a sign of contradiction and to suffer for the sins of many.  We must announce the Gospel to people who are often and increasingly unreceptive, hostile and stridently opposed to Christ and Christians.  St. Paul admonished Timothy to preach the Gospel, whether in season or out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).  The Gospel is definitely out of season, out of fashion these days, and many people hate us for what we say and stand for, because we stand in their way.  But we can do no other, for if we are faithful, we must speak.  Pope Paul VI said it so well in his much maligned but absolutely prophetic warning, the encyclical Humanae Vitae:

 

It is to be anticipated that perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching. There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a "sign of contradiction."  She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical.

Since the Church did not make either of these laws, she cannot be their arbiter—only their guardian and interpreter. It could never be right for her to declare lawful what is in fact unlawful, since that, by its very nature, is always opposed to the true good of man.

(Humanae Vitae, 18)

 

We in the Church must obey Our Lord and do our duty with courage. Simeon spoke of it clearly in the beginning as he held the infant Christ (and thus the infant Church). And then, looking at Mary, who also represents the Church as mother and bride, said:  You yourself a sword will pierce.  So the Church as Body of Christ and The Church as Bride and Mother cannot evade or ignore the fact that she is called to be a sign of contradiction.

 

People don’t like to be contradicted; therefore, the Church’s faithful will suffer for her proclamation.  Fear not:  you are blessed to be considered worthy to suffer for the sake of The Name:

 

Blessed are you when they shall insult you and shall persecute you, and lying shall say all kinds of evil against you on account of Me. (Matthew 5:11)

 

Simply pray and accept the fact that the Church is a sign of contradiction and that we must continue to address ourselves humbly but firmly to the conscience of a world that seems determined on immoral self-destruction.  To this world our announcement of the Truth of Gospel must be courageous, clear, consistent, constant and quite often a sign of contradiction.  This is our high and upward calling for which Christ is unashamed to call us brethren before the world and before God.

 

‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’ And looking about at those who sat around Him, Jesus said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.’ (Mark 3:33-35)

 

 

God forbid that He should be ashamed of His Church, His very Body.  AMEN.