Reflection
Peter Maurin, who, along with Dorothy Day, founded the Catholic Worker Movement, wrote:
Catholic scholars have taken the dynamite of the church, have wrapped it up in nice phraseology, placed it in a hermetic container and sat on the lid. It is about time to blow the lid off, so the Catholic Church may again become the dominant social dynamic force.
Despite decades of proclamations, encyclicals, and homilies by church leaders, the impact of Catholic Social Doctrine has had a difficult time awakening people in the pews. Perhaps, as Maurin said, it has been ignored or sealed in our hermetic psyches as not applicable to daily life.
This moment in U.S. history may be when we stop sitting on our dynamite. A pope and the three active American cardinals, as well as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have condemn the treatment of refugees and immigrants, the archbishop of the diocese of the Armed Forces proclaimed soldiers and sailors may disobey an immoral order, the Pope condemned the invasion of another country by the United States, 100 clergy are arrested in Minnesota while protesting the actions of ICE.
Something is radically changing. The lid on the church’s powerful social teachings, rooted in the commands of Jesus, is being blown off.
Today’s Gospel tells the story of a political flashpoint not unlike today. A prophet spoke up. It cost him his life.
A little context is helpful. John called out Herod for marrying his brother’s wife in a culture where marriage was for building and consolidating dynasties and alliances among the elite. Herod’s first marriage cemented a tie with one of the great kingdoms of the Near East, Nabatea. When the king married a second time, his first wife, the Nabatean princess fled, militarily exposing Jews in Herod’s kingdom. But it also set up a rift between Herod and his many Jewish subjects. The Jews considered their rulers legitimate only if they recognized Jewish law, which Herod did not do in marrying his brother’s wife.
The prophet John shamed Herod publicly, offending Herod’s vindictive second wife. John risked his life by speaking against evil. Jesus followed John’s pattern by speaking against authorities. Like John, he was arrested, put in prison, executed, and buried.
A Passionist priest reminded me recently that the Jewish mob, incited by their frightened faith leaders, yelled, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” They may well have believed that killing Jesus on a tree would somehow be good for all Jews. Those at the king’s birthday party might have cheered the beheading of the great prophet, perhaps seeking Herod’s favor for their personal gain. Sound familiar? In both cases, people failed to take public stands against evil.
In our day, evil seems to be ascending. The innocent are being terrorized, put in prison, and killed. Might makes right is the dominant moral code, not the words of Jesus.
One church leader in New Hampshire said recently that if we take our faith seriously during this moment in history, we may well expect martyrdom.
He even encouraged his priests to ensure their wills were in order.
Will we be like the birthday party-goers who never spoke against Herod? Will be part of the mob that yelled “Crucify him! Crucify him!” thinking an evil act will, in some distorted way, lead to something good?
It is time for prayer. Time to listen to the Spirit at work in us. Then, following our prayer, to act.
The words of today’s psalm are reassuring:
God’s way is unerring;
The promise of the Lord is fire-tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
We must use the church’s dynamite, God’s way, to resist evil. That’s why God gave it to us.
