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My Lord and My God!
An Easter Reflection
April 15,
2007
By Philip D. Ropp
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The solemnity of
Lent has drawn to a close and now we find ourselves celebrating the joy
of the
Easter season. Today, this season
stretches out before us, as we await the celebration of the Lord’s
Ascension on
May 17 and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on May 27.
A current
catch phrase among the
clergy is the proclamation to the faithful that we are an “Easter
people,” as
we have participated in a mystical way in the Resurrection of
Christ.
We are referred to as the “Risen Church,”
and informed that this is indeed cause for great celebration. We
are told to feel good about ourselves, yet
we do not seem to be told why this should be. Since
we have, to the best of my knowledge, assembled here
very much
encased in the flesh of our physical bodies, it seems that we might do
well to
examine such claims as these.
Too often in this modern day, in these
twenty-first century times when high technology has provided us with a
level of
creature comfort and an unbridled arrogance unprecedented in history,
mass
media preaches a new gospel of science as true savior, and has named
this
godless faith “secular humanism.” This
has spawned a generation of human beings so spiritually ignorant as to
believe
that true faith is merely another form of primitive superstition, and
so every
public expression of love for God results in howls of protest. So accepted is this scientific dogma of
secular humanism within modern society, that we shouldn’t wonder that
it has invaded
so many of our seminaries and institutions of higher learning and
turned out
far too many clergy and religious that believe that human reason is the
equivalent of Divine Revelation.
In my own experience with modern,
liberal Catholic higher education, I was taught that Jesus’ humanity
was more
important than his divinity. I was
taught that the Immaculate Conception was a false dogma and so Mary
and, in
turn, Jesus was born under the stain of original sin.
I was taught that physical liberation from
poverty and human suffering was the modern definition of salvation. I was taught that John Dominic Crossan, a
professor at DePaul
University,
was a
reputable and credible Catholic scholar. Crossan
claims that ‘early Christianity knew nothing about the passion of Jesus
beyond
the fact itself.’ He argues that Jesus was executed by the
Romans, not by
the leaders of the Jews, and that his body was probably eaten by dogs
that
scavenged beneath the cross. I
was taught agendas: feminist and liberationist, as if they were gospel
truth, and I was
taught that
the gospel truth was subject to endless conjecture and could be
reconfigured to
fit the agenda. And while feminism
and liberation theology were considered “unassailable,” the very
cross of
Christ and the central tenets of our faith would not be extended this
same
courtesy.
It is precisely this
attempt to adjust truth to fit a particular agenda
that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called the “dictatorship
of
relativism.” And while this expression
has garnered much attention when applied to the radical left within the
church,
it should be noted that there is another dictatorship of relativism
that
applies equally to the radical right.
Just
as deadly as
denying the true faith of Christ is the opposite effort exerted by
those that
believe they have the right and duty to define the practice of the
faith to the
last letter of the law. In so doing what
they prove is that the Pharisees are alive and well and practicing
their own
peculiar version of Catholicism – and it is every bit as destructive as
the
legalistic Judaism that cost Jesus his life. These
are the self proclaimed true believers that have
declared
themselves more Catholic than their priest, bishop and pope. They will not hesitate to declare that the
only correct Mass is the Latin, that confession for everyone must be
made
according to their own predetermined schedule, and that every detail of
the
liturgy must conform to their rigid understanding of the missal – which
most of
them have never read. And so the most
profound teaching of the Christian faith means nothing to them and the
Eucharist itself should be declared invalid if they deem that
Father’s chair
is slightly askew, his vestments not quite correct, or the gifts
presented in a
way they find unacceptable.
In
general, this
dictatorship of relativism rears its ugly head whenever we human beings
fail to
recognize the truth of our own fallen nature. It does not matter if
this is
done by denying the validity of sin the way the left does, or by
placing
oneself above sin as do those on the right. During
the twentieth century, the far left communism of
the
Marxist-Leninists and the extreme right fascism of the National
Socialists
combined to murder untold millions of innocent people.
The varying political philosophies of Joseph
Stalin and Adolph Hitler mattered not to the dead.
In like manner, neither the false religion of
the Catholic left nor the false dogmatism of the Catholic right has any
bearing
on souls that are lost when either obscures the true faith of Jesus
Christ.
The
driving force
behind both of these manifestations of the dictatorship of relativism
within
the church is the secular humanism that propels modern western culture
towards
the oblivion of a world devoid of any meaningful relationship to God. By definition, secular humanism places
humanity
at the center of its own universe. It
seeks to create a world without meaningful religion, and serves to push
God
from his throne so that he might be replaced by those among us most
wicked and capable
of seizing the reigns of worldly wealth and power.
This is the simple reality that lurks behind
the wars and rumors of wars and all the rhetoric concerning the earth
and its environs. It all comes down to controlling people and money. This is that worldly power that the Book of
Revelation calls “Mystery Babylon” and secular humanism is its state
religion. For the full realization of
Mystery Babylon upon the earth, secular humanism must displace the true
faith
of Jesus Christ. To displace the true
faith of Jesus Christ, secular humanism is promoted within his church
under the
guise of the dictatorship of relativism. And
so the Catholic left embraces the religion of secular
humanism in
the form of feminism, gay rights, and the redistribution of earthly
wealth and
tries to sell sin as Christian salvation. The
Catholic right counters with a reactionary legalism
that seeks to
reverse the Council of Trent (let alone Vatican II) and return the
church to
the days of the Inquisition.
And
so, as Stealers Wheel once sang, “Here I am, stuck in the middle with
you.” And as long as we understand who we
are and
where we are, it is not a bad place to be. We
can be Easter people. We
can
claim the honor of the Risen
Church. But we are required to understand exactly
what this means if the joy of the empty tomb is to truly be ours. There is no compromise with sin, as the left
would have us believe. There is no
amount of ritual that substitutes for true faith as the right would
have us
think. This Lenten journey that we have
taken with Our Lord can be likened to the little scroll the angel gave
to Saint John.
It began sweet as honey
in our
mouths, but on
the way to the Cross it has turned bitter in our stomachs.
At
the Cross we,
too, like the apostles are sifted like wheat. And
we find that we are weighed in the balance and found
wanting. We find that we identify all too
easily with
the weakness exhibited by the crowds and in the disciples.
We
have participated in the irreverence of those that claimed to believe
in him
and acclaimed him Lord when he entered into the Holy City,
yet stood shoulder to shoulder as one and cried for his blood when even
Pilate
found no guilt in him. We have, like Judas, betrayed him.
We have, like Peter, denied him.
And,
like the rest, we scattered from him
when the religious parties of his native faith chose to put him to
death for
speaking the unvarnished truth to them. We
have stood by the side of the Via Dolorosa as the
crowds jeered and
mocked, yet we did not offer him our veil to wipe his precious bloody
face, but
instead chose to stand mute and hide behind it. We
have followed him to the Cross and offered up to him
only the bitter
gall of our indifference when he cried out to us, “I thirst.” For as we have failed to care for the least
among us, so we have neglected him when he was most in need.
Yet in
spite of whom we are and
what we have done, Jesus comes to us behind the closed and locked door
of our
hardened hearts and stands among us in the midst of our fear and
unbelief. Like Thomas, we have deemed what
we have
heard about him too fantastic and just too good to be true. And while those on the left would claim that
this Jesus has merely set an example for us and cannot save us, and
while
those on the right would claim that his salvation is contingent upon
the rules
and rites of men, it is up to us to set the true example for them by
placing a
finger in the nailprint of his hand and thrusting a hand into his side. Let us then with Thomas, exclaim in wonder,
“My Lord and my God!”
If we are truly an Easter people, then
it is because we have seen and believed. If
we are truly the Risen
Church
it is because we
have participated in a mystical way in the Resurrection of Christ. We have come to believe because we have
seen. Let us now live our Easter faith
in such a way that those that have not seen might yet believe and so be
blessed
through us.
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April 15, 2007
Acts
5:12-16
Many signs and wonders were done among the people
at the hands of the apostles.
They were all together in Solomon’s portico.
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord,
great numbers of men and women, were added to them.
Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets
and laid them on cots and mats
so that when Peter came by,
at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.
A large number of people from the towns
in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered,
bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits,
and they were all cured.
Ps
118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his
love is
everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his
love is
everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his
love is
everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his
love is
everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Rev
1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
I, John, your brother, who share with you
the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus,
found myself on the island called Patmos
because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus.
I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day
and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said,
“Write on a scroll what you see.”
Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me,
and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands
and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,
wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.
When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.
He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last, the one who lives.
Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.
I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.
Write down, therefore, what you have seen,
and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.”
Jn
20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
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