Homily

It is pretty amazing listening to those words spoken by the chief of the synagogue: "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the Sabbath day." Right in front of his eyes he has seen a miraculous healing and that is his response to it, "Don't come here for miracles on the Sabbath. Get your miraculous healings on the other days of the week." It's obvious here that the ruler of this synagogue has no love and that's why he makes this ridiculous statement. He's not alone. When Jesus speaks the truth about the goodness of freeing this woman from her illness, Luke tells us "...all of His adversaries were humiliated...." These adversaries are only a part of the growing group of Jesus' enemies who are already plotting His death.

Let's pause to think about that for a moment. Jesus has a fair number of enemies. And why do they hate him? Is it for His miracles, His healings and His teachings that they hate Him? Is it because He is good? What is it that so irritated these people that they plotted to get rid of Jesus? Now take a moment for this: if Jesus were living today, walking and preaching in America, would He have enemies? Why would there be enemies of a man who only does good?

Should we then be surprised that we, who strive to follow Christ, who bear witness to Him, should we be surprised that there are people who oppose us and even hate us? Should we be surprised when some people call us ignorant, uncaring, fanatical, unreasonable, and out of touch with modern times? Is it unexpected that we might be labeled as hateful, oppressive, demeaning and judgmental? Does it shock us to hear people say that our faith, its teachings, its values and its Savior have no place in the public life of our country, no place in the culture that we share, and should even be kept quiet when we're dealing with our neighbors? More importantly, do we find ourselves trying to fit in with these critics, trying to find a comfortable spot somewhere on the sidelines so we won't be noticed, so that we won't be pointed out as people who are on the wrong side of this thing, or that thing or the other things.

You will notice that so very often the critics do not engage the actual teachings of the Church, they do not care to have a reasonable discussion about the Faith. They accuse us of hating other people, of standing in the way of the rights of other people and not allowing them the freedom they desire and ought to have. Our critics usually avoid talking about the morality of actions, because that is an area where it is not so easy for them to win. Instead they attack us as people, as people who hate other people, who lack compassion, understanding and decency. It's pretty effective: It is easy to see that if you want to win, you will not fare as well by saying, "We understand your moral argument but we disagree with it." It is much easier to simply declare, "You hate these people; and that's why you oppose what they want." Who wants to be considered a hater? Who wants to be charged with hating other human beings? And the more people who shout that opposition to this or that activity is a form of hatred, the more we see Christians giving in, giving up and accepting the position of those who claim we have no legitimate moral position because it comes from hate. And who wants to be considered a hater? And how do you ever have a rational discussion with someone who says they hate haters?

I think, in my opinion, Christians, and the Church in our country have played a defensive role for much too long a time, out of fear that we will be seen as haters of humanity. We do need to defend the truth but much more than that. As St. Paul says today in Ephesians Chapter 5, "... walk then, as children of light for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth." Today some of the chiefs in the marketplace tell us, "There is one day a week appointed for religion. Come on that day if you want to practice your faith. (But don't forget most stores offer extended hours and there are seven days for your shopping convenience until the Holiday's Day.)"

St. Paul tells us to watch how we live so that we will live as wise people making the most of the present opportunity. And that opportunity is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ by what we say and how we live.

People hated Jesus and accused Him of evil because He did good. Let's not be afraid of being called "haters" unless we actually do hate other people. Better we should read the letter to the Ephesians and guide our life and judge our actions by the truth we find in the Word of God that we might not shrink from criticism, but rather be strengthened in faith, our faith in Jesus Christ. May we talk about it, think about it, read about it, practice it, walk in it, sing in it, cry with it and rejoice in it, teach it to our children and explain it to our neighbors because the end goal of our faith is nothing else but eternal life in Jesus Christ—and may we carry along with us as many souls as we can by our prayer, our example and God's grace.