Homily for January 1, 2023
Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and the Memory of St.
Basil the Great
Slaves and Prisoners to Empty, Seductive Philosophies
Homily
As we hear today, St. Paul wrote the Colossians, telling them to
"See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world, and not according to Christ."If I had to pick the number one empty, seductive philosophy that is capturing people today, I'd call it "Self-focused Materialism" or, to use a longer title I'd call it the philosophy of "It's All About Me, As I Understand It, For Myself."
A poll taken by George Barna's Cultural Resource Center in September 2021 gave the following results from Americans who claimed to be Christian.
- 64% of American Christians believe that all religious faiths are of equal value. Muslims hold that the sins of revolting against a ruler, theft, adultery, slander and drinking alcohol can be punished by penalties that include the amputation of hands and feet and flogging. According to Islamic belief if you are Muslim and convert to another faith, the penalty is death. Obviously they don't share the opinion of 64% of American Christians that all religious faiths are of equal value.
- 66% of American Christians said that having faith is more important than the faith you practice. Mormons believe that God the Father was once a man who became a god, and that he has a flesh and blood body. He also has a wife and together they make spirit babies, which have lives with the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Later these spirits are then sent to earth and given human bodies and that is why we are here. And they believe there are many, many gods in existence, not just one. Then there is Santeria, which uses animal sacrifices. Eating the sacrificed animal is considered a sharing with the Orisha, who only consumes the animal's blood, while the worshippers eat the meat. That's great for barbecue, but it seems to me that these differences from Judeo-Christian belief are actually important.
- 57% of the Christians polled believe in karma. I suspect they mean “karma” not in the strictest Hindu and Buddhist understanding, but more in the sense of you get what you earn. If you do good, good things will happen to you. If you do bad, bad things will happen to you. Hmmm…so what would we say about Jesus on the cross? Or the Christian martyrs in the Colosseum? Was that karma coming to the Lord and His saints?
Today, more and more, people will join a church not
because of what it teaches, but because of how they
feel about attending there. They may have been
Lutherans but now go to the Baptist church because
it has a great program for kids. They may have been
Catholic but now attend a "mega-church" on the other
side of town because they love the music there. And
they may change again, because they are not so
interested in what any church teaches as the truth.
And, in fact, they are not really interested in the
truth itself. They're more interested in how a
church makes them feel, because they have their own
beliefs that they will continue to hold on to
despite what may be preached or taught to them. Who
can know better than they what is right or wrong for
them? But, if you don't like what is preached here,
find another church that agrees with you, because
who can actually teach you anything you don't want
to hear? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Saints
Ignatius, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian,
John Chrysostom, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, St.
Teresa of Ávila, and even Pope Benedict the
XVI—great minds and great souls and great teachers
of Christ's truth, but who cares what they have to
say because I decide for myself what I think is
right or wrong.
It's not at all uncommon today to hear people say, "I'm Catholic, but" and they start to list the articles of Catholic faith they do not believe in. Isn't that fascinating? They say they are Catholic but then define that membership in the Church by stating what Catholic teachings they will not accept!! Imagine someone saying, "I'm a huge Ducks football fan, but I don't like going to their games, I don't watch them on TV, or listen to them on the radio, and I hate their coach, which is why I don't even know how many games they've won or lost this year. Go Ducks!!!" You'd think they were crazy to call themselves fans, right? But people have no problem identifying themselves as Catholics even though they reject the teachings of the Church. So we see the so-called Catholic president of our country advancing abortion at every opportunity and, most sadly of all, the Archbishop of Washington D.C. will not tell him to repent.
It's a pervasive idea that is found everywhere today: you don't need to positively and completely embrace the faith of the Church. For 2,000 years holy men and women have held these moral principles as a part of the truth revealed by God, but today for many people, if they don't "feel right" about some moral truth, they reject it on their own authority. For many centuries some of the most brilliant Christian thinkers have held to this position or that teaching, but now if someone isn't "feeling it" they will refuse to accept it on the basis of their own brilliant intellectual and spiritual powers. People are much more interested in "10 Tips for Looking Younger" than they are in the 10 Commandments given by God. If they don't find it interesting or entertaining, how important can it be? If an article pops up on an internet news feed, “Can You Name the 10 Commandments?” how many people do you think will click on that quiz to find out?
It is a very dangerous thing when people no longer care much about the meaning or purpose of their life in this world, when they no longer consider it to be an important question. It is a dangerous thing when people do not accept that there is any need to embrace a well-established moral/ethical code that is comprehensive and relies on an authority that comes from outside of themselves, and is greater than themselves, even an authority that is Almighty God. We see the results of this all around us in our society today. It's illegal for teens to buy cigarettes because it's bad for their health. Fair enough. But in Oregon teens can get abortions and powerful hormones and hormone blockers without parental consent and the law allows it because “honor your father and your mother” has little place in our society today, and since so many families are tragically split up and divided, the role of father and mother in the life of children becomes more and more difficult for them to understand.
Comedians used to joke about “Catholic guilt”, but I think there is no guilt stronger than the one that enlightened society tries to place upon people today who do not follow the new morality, which they insist is the ultimate in human freedom and compassion. Because they say so. And you may indeed be smart enough to cast off the teachings of Christ, but you are not smart enough to dare to disobey them.
Once again, St. Paul instructs us:
"See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world, and not according to Christ."St. Paul is talking about spiritual powers that pagans thought controlled the world. Today modern Americans do not believe in spiritual powers that control the world. Instead, we have the internet. I surely do believe that a tremendous number of American put greater faith in what they read on the internet, whether it is this thing, or the exact opposite thing, it doesn't matter. They put more faith in those ideas and positions than they do in the Word of God. And they will read about them for hours on end, as their Bible collects dust.
And so, dear friends, let us guard against becoming slaves and prisoners to empty, seductive philosophies that begin in pagan thoughts. Quite the opposite: let us be sure that we truly embrace the truth of Christ, Who at His circumcision shed His blood for the first time as He begins His work of salvation for us. Because I can tell you for sure, no one on the internet will do that for you.