These
difficult days of the pandemic, economic crisis, demands for racial justice,
environmental threats and divisive political hyperbole are putting all of us to
severe tests, maybe more so those of us who call ourselves Christian. We may be moving close to despair, becoming
weary, tense, angry and be tempted to verbal or even physical violence within
our families and social circles.
For whatever
His plan is, God has placed us here, now.
God will provide what we need to endure and grow close to one another
and to Him. A few Scripture readings may
be of help.
Ezekiel
defines the role of the prophet as the one who warns the house of Israel of
pending disaster (Ezekiel 33: 7-9). As
the People of God, we have a prophetic role in 2020. We’re to call out hatred, divisions, lies and
vindictive distortions that have to stop or we face our own demise as a people.
Saint Paul
offers the alternate way that applies just as much to us, now, as it did to the
divided community of Christians living in Rome to whom a letter was addressed
nearly 2,000 years ago. “Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”
(Romans 13: 8-10)
In a world
of revenge, lies, power and demonizing, we Christians are the prophetic
counterforce. We respond with mercy,
truth, collaboration, kindness, and gentleness.
Nothing is more countercultural at this moment in history.
We, as
followers of Christ, are made for this time. Following the guidelines of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew
18: 15-20), we confront evil, but the way we do it is with diplomacy and in the
context of the community of love. Should
the sinners refuse us, defy us, or ignore us, they place themselves outside our
circle of love and forgiveness, to their own peril.
We don’t
ignore or minimize injustice, deceit, or the manipulation of truth. But the way we confront it is always as
important as the of goal of conversion of hearts. This marks us as different in a world where
the oppressed attempt to destroy the oppressor. Our way is modeled by Martin Luther King, Jr.,
St. Oscar Romero, St. Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Pope Francis who are
themselves models of Jesus Christ.
As we
confront evil together, we’re assured that, rooted in individual and communal
prayer, Jesus is there: “For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Can any statement of Jesus be more reassuring
during our moment in history?
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