Homily

I think it’s quite shocking to listen to the 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." Isn’t that a ridiculous thing to say? No surprise at the miracle? No sense of happiness that this poor woman has been cured? But 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? And why would there be enemies of a man who only does good?

If Jesus had enemies back then, among His own people, enemies from the leadership of the Jewish faith, 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 what we believe? 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, and no place in the culture that we share 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 those other issues?

It's plain to see that so very often our critics do not talk about the actual teachings of the Church, they are not interested in having a reasonable discussion about the moral views of our Faith. Instead they simply accuse us of hating other people, of standing in the way of the rights of other people and not allowing them the freedom to do as they see fit. This is an approach that’s not only easier, it’s more effective. 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. Indeed, if they would engage in conversation and discussion that alone might suggest that there are legitimate differences of opinion, and they are not even willing to admit that much.

Instead of discussing moral teaching they attack us as people, as people who hate other people, who have “phobias” about other people, as those 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 and giving up and thereby implicitly accepting the position of those who claim we have no legitimate moral standing because our teachings come from hated. And how do you ever have a rational discussion with someone who says they hate haters?

I asked earlier if we should be surprised by the continuing overthrow of Christian moral teaching, because I think many people are surprised by each successive new demand to accept some type of sin. We need to stop being surprised and caught off guard. We need to stop worrying about what our fellow citizens say about us, and even our own family members who may chide us and criticize us because we don’t want to fit in with what everybody else seems to think is perfectly fine. Like the synagogue leader they do not see the goodness of Christ and His teaching, His way of life. They have other things on their minds.

But we should not have other things on our minds. We who have put on Christ should have the mind of Christ, the law of Christ, the truth of Christ, and the love of Christ. This is what we must bear witness to, even in the face of media propaganda and internet hostility. The martyrs St. Catherine and Mercury whom we remember today, gave up their lives rather than deny Christ. Certainly, we can at the very least, suffer the accusations and name-calling of our opponents. At the very least we should be willing to suffer the criticism and bullying tactics of the crowd. We can take it! We’re charged with loving our neighbors and even our enemies.

People hated Jesus and accused Him of evil in the face of His absolute goodness and love. Let's not be afraid of being called "haters" unless we actually do hate other people. But we need to be clear for ourselves and stand ready, and not continually surprised and uncertain. Let us guide our life and judge our actions by the truth we find in the Word of God that we might not shrink away 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 whenever it is possible, because the end goal of our faith is nothing else but the fullness of life today and 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.