Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Homily for 17 Jan 2018

17 Jan 2018

There are many types of combat.  There’s the story of David and Goliath (or rather, David and all the whole Philistine army!); a story of physical combat.  And we also hear about Jesus and his more “philosophical combat” with the Pharisees.  And of the two we can probably relate a little more to this philosophical type of combat.

If you’ve ever tried to live your Catholic faith…around those who “were once Catholic,” or who are Catholic in name only, you know the type of “combat” Jesus was engaged in.  It can be a struggle, sadly, even against people we know very well: our friends, our neighbors.

The Pharisees weren’t Jesus’ enemies; they were fellow Jews.  And he loved them, and tried to show them the way.  But they rejected him…a fellow Jew.  And we shouldn’t expect anything less when we try to live (and share) our faith today.  It’s a sad thing to have to admit, but some of our hardest “customers” are fellow Catholics.

And we can relate to what Jesus felt.  He looked at the Pharisees “with anger,” and was “grieved at their hardness of heart.”  You know, it can be one of the most annoying and frustrating things to try to convince a fellow Catholic to practice his or her faith.  But that’s the “philosophical combat” we sometimes find ourselves in.

But in the midst of being “rejected” by fellow Catholics, our strength and our joy is always in the Lord.  That’s the “weapon” God has given us—both as an offense and a defense.  As Saint Paul says, let us be “protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation” (1 Thes 5:8). 

Faith, hope, and love may not seem like much of a weapon sometimes.  But, then again, neither was the slingshot David had.  But with humility before God and fidelity to Jesus, we needn’t worry.  God has already won the war.

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