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The Encounter with Christ; Preface on Roe v. Wade and Abortion

Homily
Sunday, January 21, 2007, 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

I wish to discuss today what living faith in God is, for it is one thing to have faith in God, it is another to be impressed by the truth of his reality, his mercy, to truly encounter Jesus Christ as a living Person.

But before I get into that, I cannot put aside that today is the 34^th anniversary of the horrifying and tragic decision of Roe vs. Wade in the USA, by which millions upon millions of babies have been killed by their own mothers, and millions upon millions of women – and men, we’re often ready to forget – have to contend with the pain of their decision for abortion for the rest of their lives.

With greater trust in God, families will see their babies as blessings and not curses. With greater trust in God, post-abortive women can find hope for love and salvation. With greater trust in God, post-abortive fathers can find mercy and power where before there was only desolation. With greater trust in God, the whole pro-life movement can be victorious, making the Gospel of Life triumph over the culture of death.

May God spare America and the whole world from the scourge of abortion, and the many sins against life, against marriage, and against children. And may the souls who have fallen feel invited to God’s mercy, not only to repent and confess, but to become effective apostles of life. I’m very happy to remind everyone that we have recently formed a tiny pro-life committee in this parish, three zealous souls whose hearts burn with love for babies, mercy and love for women, and zeal to address the real problems. Please pray that God may bless this small task force with holiness of life, clarity of what God’s will is, zeal to keep working and persevere for the long haul, and joy in the midst of whatever obstacles may confront them. And may all of you feel invited to join this task force, or to collaborate later with all the initiatives where they will need volunteer help.

Now, since I have given a couple homilies on the topic of abortion in the last couple weeks, I feel a pressing need to discuss an important point regarding the person of our Lord Jesus Christ which arises in today’s scriptures, and the following reflection is meant to bolster the faith, hope and charity of all here present.

Jesus sat down in the synagogue, and told all those present that he was the Messiah. They had just read from Isaiah a passage foretelling the workings of the Messiah, and Jesus told them to their faces, that this passage was fulfilled in their midst: right here, right now. Put yourself in their shoes, and see the carpenter’s son telling you to your face, “I am the Messiah, the one all the prophets foretold, and your salvation is at hand because of me.”

For some, pride would resist faith – who are you to tell me you are my savior, as if you were better than me. For others, short-sighted secularism would resist faith – who are you to say you can fight off the Romans. For all there was a challenge.

I compare this situation to today in a perhaps unusual way. Let’s look at the whole world as if it were the synagogue. The Church is in the midst of the world saying, “I am the bride of Christ, his mystical body; and Jesus Christ is Lord.” God is in the world through the Church, most amazingly through the Holy Eucharist, and he says to the world, “I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the One Savior of all men, I will give you glad tidings, I will proclaim liberty to you, I am the Word of the Father which will set you free.” And instead of rejoicing to hear such good news, the world wants to get up en masse and through God and his Church off the side of the cliff. They say, moved by pride and secularism, “Who is the Catholic Church to make such claims?” And so many hate the Church.

Why should the Jews that day in the Synagogue believe that Jesus was telling them the truth? And why should the world believe the witness of the Church today? Why? Not because of his miracles, for as of yet, he had not done any in the Gospel of Luke. He only gave a promise, nothing more, and had no miracles to corroborate his claims. So, why believe? Why should the world believe? Why should you believe?

There are many ways to answer this question; I wish to focus on one, perhaps the most important. And it is the power of the encounter with Christ. Do you not remember those parts of scriptures, where people encountered Christ, and were overwhelmed? He told Zebedees sons, “Follow me,” and at that they dropped their nets. He sat down to teach on a mountain (Mt 5), and crowds gathered to hear him. People pushed and shoved to get close enough to him to even touch his garment. He consoled the widow of Naim, yet shook the world of the rich young man who did not follow Christ’s call.

There is something about the person and physiognomy of Jesus Christ which was completely unique and powerful. No one could meet him and stay even close to the same. No actor can replicate his beauty or power on the screen, no song can lift us high enough to the contemplation of his face, no fire can impress upon us the power of his love.

The world does not need social action for salvation; the world needs to be overwhelmed by this encounter with Christ, and then from this all forms of charity to neighbor will flow in the most natural and powerful way. An example of this is Mother Theresa and the Missionaries of Charity. The Missionaries’ lives are filled with hours of prayer every day, during which they gather up divine love as one would gather apples from an abundant orchard, and then all day they go about distributing the divine love they harvested in prayer.

This type of interior live requires a living faith. It is a faith based on the teachings of the Church, the creed and all that goes with it. When we really apprehend the content of the Creed, and we penetrate its inner truth and reality, it opens our mind to what we are dealing with: that God the Son was sent by the Father, that became man, dwelt among us, died for our sins, he rose from the dead, and sent us his Spirit. By penetrating this inner mystery, our minds, our intellects, go from knowing affirmations (the articles of the creed) to knowing the Presence, being truly aware of God.

Let us exercise this type of living faith here at Mass, and continue it all week long. We can start with the Holy Eucharist, and employ our faith to really take awareness of the Presence. God is with us, and the Sacrifice of salvation is before my eyes, only veiled by the forms of bread and wine. Let me adore God who is on the altar. At communion, let me remember that this on my tongue is a Person, God the Son, the Word through whom the stars were built. Let me contemplate the Divine Mercy who now comes into my body and soul, and refresh myself not with fresh waters, but with the living waters that flowed from his side upon the cross.

After such an encounter with Christ, an encounter which can only be done by supernatural faith, then when people ask you, “Why do you believe the Catholic Church, why believe in God?” The answer will just come right out: I believe in God, because I have met him.