For many years in the past, I ran an RCIA program (which is now called OCIA). The goal of such a program is to work with adults who seek to become Catholic. One participant, who came from a multi-generational Mormon background, took a long time to discern whether or not he wanted to join the Catholic Church. He started the program, then left, then came back, and eventually he was received into the Catholic faith. At one point, he told me that he had been a Mormon missionary and he had learned all the tricks, as he put it, of getting someone to commit to something. He said, with great surprise, that I was not using any of those tricks in my program.
I told him that I took his words as a compliment. I would never want to trick anyone into believing the Catholic faith and joining the Catholic Church. We should continually invite, but we should never trick, manipulate, or coerce. Following Christ should always be a free choice. The same perspective on interacting with non-believers applies to all of us. However, as Catholics, we are very good about not tricking, manipulating, or coercing others to share our faith. But we are not so good about inviting others to Christ. Perhaps we are too shy or afraid or polite. Or we might think that it is not nice to try to change another person's life in some way. Perhaps, seeking to be nice, we have a live-and-let-live attitude, hoping to live in a world where everyone just goes about their business, encouraging each other in whatever life project they might be embarked upon. But there are two fundamental problems with that perspective.
One is that those who are diametrically opposed to our faith do not want to just live-and-let-live. They want to win over us. They want our faith, and the Catholic Church as a whole, gone from the world. As I like to say, you can't play for a draw with an opponent who wants to win. Another problem with a live-and-let-live approach is that it assumes that every path is equally good, and that, at the end of the day, every religion or ethical path, is a way to blessedness. However, both our faith and our experience teach otherwise.
In the Gospels, Christ states in no uncertain terms that he is the only source of salvation and that without him, humanity is on a course of self-destruction. His words are confirmed by the world around us. The more Christ has been pushed out of our society, the greater the dysfunction that has plagued Western Civilization. Family breakdown, crime, addiction, environmentally induced mental illness - all of these severe problems and more have been increasingly proliferating as faith in Christ has receded.
Our society needs Christ, and we need to be the ones who proclaim Christ to our world. In the First Reading for today, we see a glimpse into Jeremiah's struggle. Jeremiah was the prophet sent to the Kingdom of Judah to warn them that if they did not repent of their sins, if they did not stop their unjust behaviors, God would punish them by allowing the Babylonians to conquer them, including Jerusalem, the royal seat of the monarchy and the city of the Temple. The people did not heed Jeremiah's words. Instead, they hated and reviled him, accusing him of being a traitor to his nation.
Throughout his life, Jeremiah struggled greatly. He did not like his mission of having to deliver such stark truths to his contemporaries. But he persisted, even as they denounced him. In the end, he watched with grief as his prophetic words came true, as Jerusalem fell and the Temple itself was destroyed.
Our situation is similar to Jeremiah's. We too are to call upon our society to turn away from sin, from self-destructive behavior, which keeps plunging our country into more and more severe forms of dysfunction. At the same time, we are to proclaim the fullness of Christ's love to the world, that he is the only fulfillment of the human heart, that he is the only true solution to the problems of humanity.
As stated above, we should never try to trick, manipulate, or coerce others into accepting Christ. But we should never cease to invite others to Christ both with our words and actions, with the way we live our lives. We might be hated and reviled for our efforts, but we must remember that proclaiming Christ to others is a profound act of love. Since Christ is the answer to the longings of the human heart and Christ is our only true happiness, not sharing Christ with others is the utmost cruelty. We might think that we are just being nice when we don't speak of Christ to those who are of a different perspective - but in realty we would be showing a complete lack of love for them. Not sharing the true meaning and fulfillment of human life with someone is what a vengeful person would do to their worst enemy. Let us not show such utter lack of love for others.
As I have explored in previous reflections, proclaiming Christ to the world can be done in many ways: The way we talk, the way we make decisions, the way we dress and decorate our homes. The way we interact with others and engage with various situations. The kind of media and entertainment we consume and expose others to. The way we use social media. The way we act at home, at work, and in public in general. The sort of ministries we support or participate in. Our praying and fasting for others. All these and more are elements of proclaiming Christ. The key is to make it a goal in our lives to spread the love of Christ to those around us.
Prayer and fasting are especially important and powerful. Recently, the US bishops consecrated the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The power of that prayer should not be underestimated. We should follow suit by praying for our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus frequently. Also, let us consecrate our homes, our families, and our lives to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. An important part of such a consecration is to enthrone an image of the Sacred Heart in our homes, thereby declaring Christ to be the King of our lives. When we openly embrace Christ as our King, our whole lives will be oriented toward proclaiming his love to all.
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The readings for Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A are:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
Romans 5:12-15
Matthew 10:26-33
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Image Credit: Musée Boyadjian MRAH 20 11 2011 Ex-voto 04, from Wikipedia Commons.
