Today’s post is courtesy of my nephew, Tim. He is the son of my brother Bob, who was also
a very faithful Catholic. This is his Good Friday reflection. He has given me permission to use more of his
Spirit-filled gems in the future—with cite, of course.
Thanks, Tim.
Not only for your excellent meditation here, but for the example you set
for others in the defense of our faith.
What
is Truth?
What
an insightful question asked of Jesus by Pilate. Do we have a way to define
truth today? Jesus told Pilate, "For this I was born and for this I came
into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth
listens to my voice" (John 18:37). Lately it seems that we are not allowed
to speak or share a truth of faith. We are pressured to accept truth because we
don't want to be seen as narrow-minded...our pride gets in our way. This was
true of Pilate..."Pilate tried to release [Jesus], but the Jews cried out,
'If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar'" (John 19:12).
Truth
today becomes that of the majority who has decided a "feel good"
truth for themselves rather than on any moral precedent or standard. These
aren't wicked people to be shunned or to withhold love, mercy and forgiveness,
but their passions are disordered to themselves and their desires. For them,
this is the meaning of freedom...the right to do what I want, when I want, and
however I want. Morally speaking, this isn't a guaranteed right is it?—At least
not a right that doesn't also have consequences. For instance, I suppose you
are free to murder someone or steal someone's property, but you also face the
potential consequence of going to prison. Even if you don't get caught, there
would be this looming feeling wondering if one day you will be caught...that
kind of over-the-shoulder lookout isn't freedom.
Those
examples may be extreme to some people because they may tell themselves
"hey, my choices aren't injuring anyone." This is the comment I would
expect from someone who does not recognize the God who created him or her...the
God that knows, loves, and cares about every one of us even if we want nothing
to do with Him. Choosing not to believe in Him doesn't mean He ceases to exist
or isn't hurt by our actions. Man is the only creature with the ability to
reason beyond just what he needs...even monkeys can think of a way to use a
stick to dig out ants for food. Man's reasoning allows him to think beyond
survival...to think of the future...to think existentially. Man's reason allows
him to know God...not necessarily what God is thinking and doing, but to know
Him as the Father who desires relationship with His creation made in His image.
Yet
this idea of not hurting anyone is the façade that is used to pressure people
into taking on that Rodney King can't-we-all-get-along compassion they mistake
as Christ's message to "love one another". We ARE called to love one
another...that is the TRUTH, but there were also standards used to measure
truth...standards that Christ Himself told us were true. We were not called to
love and at the same time deny truth.
This
week I heard debates about what defines marriage, and Facebook was filled with
pretty little equal signs. One message I got was that people are free to have a
same sex relationship to share a mutual and consenting love, and if I don't
agree with that view then I am a bigot or have an archaic religious view not in
touch with today's world. The other message I have heard, and sadly from
"practicing Christians", is that marriage between same sex partners
should be allowed so they can give decision-making and property rights to their
partner the same as a married spouse might do. I hear the rhetoric and I
understand the concern, but don't we already have living wills that allow us to
give those rights to someone of our choosing? If not, why can't government be
persuaded to revise these rules of decision making and property? Some have
argued that hospitals will not allow a person to visit another in the hospital
if they are not family...does this seriously need to be a reason to re-define
marriage? Why can't hospitals adapt their rules?
I
am a Catholic Christian and my beliefs come from what God has revealed to me
about Himself through His son and His teaching...a real, historical figure
whose testimony has been recorded. Through my God-given reasoning, I have
greatly awakened my faith and developed a deeper relationship with Jesus. I
don't want to use the Genesis arguments stated by so many Christians...I'm sure
we've heard them. My reflection is on Christ's words of truth to all of us.
Jesus stated, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
Jesus DID NOT come with a message of "God created the world and saw it was
good, so since all is good, everything your heart desires is therefore good for
you". He spoke of many things that were contemptuous before God, and same-sex
relations was one of those things. He spoke of this sin in relation to the
behavior that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:15 &
11:24, Luke 10:12, and 2Peter 2:6). Now if Jesus Christ told me these are
intolerable sins, and Jesus is the Lord of my life, why on earth should I feel
pressure to accept this new paradigm of marriage from others in society?
Did
Jesus tell me to love people? Certainly He did. However, He did not tell me to
condone what He Himself considered sin--Hate the sin and love the sinner. Jesus
even tells the faithful not to so much as condone sin (i.e., vote for or
protest for) because we too then are guilty of that sin. There is much talk of
the hypocrisy of so-called Christians who say they believe one thing, yet act
contrary to those beliefs. As a result, they are not attracted to
Christianity...an evangelization moment is lost. By asking me to go against my
faith for the sake of keeping up with what the world has deemed no big deal,
these protestors are asking me to become the type of Christian people aren't
attracted to in the first place. I'm sickened by politicians debating FOR
issues of abortion and same sex marriage and purposely throw out the fact that
they are Catholic, like it's some sort of Church endorsement. Jesus spoke very
forcefully about those whose faith becomes weakened by sin and acts in support
of sin saying, "Whoever is not with me is against me" (Luke 11:23). This
should be a strong warning for all of us, myself included, that we need to seek
TRUTH so we can decide to be on the side of truth and not against it.
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