A while back I came upon a book that seems to be intended for young people but in reality contains wonderful meditations for all of us. Actually, we are all still young in our faith no matter what our age. Just as the Church is ever ancient ever new, so for me and for all of us, our faith is ever ancient and ever new. The book I’m referring to is George Weigel’s Letters to a Young Catholic. I bought a number of these books, about a dozen, and gave them to people I hoped would read each chapter and meditate on it, whether they were young adults, in the process of raising young adults, or full of the youth of our faith.
Jesus Christ is forever new.
George Weigel, by the way, is the author of numerous books, including Witness to Hope, the extensive biography of Blessed Pope John Paul II, and the recent follow-up to this, The End and the Beginning. Letters to a Young Catholic is far less extensive, easier to read, but, in some ways, far more challenging.
Each chapter of this book presents a particular place in Catholicism, such as the tomb of St. Peter, and then develops a particular topic that is fundamental to Catholicism, like Eucharistic devotion, Marian devotion, the meaning of suffering and death, etc.
In the light of today’s readings from scripture, I would like to present one of these topics as George Weigel presented it.
First of all, this Sunday’s readings. All three of this Sunday’s readings present an urgent call. Jonah tells the people of Nineveh that their sins have resulted in their suffering God’s wrath. They would listen and repent. St. Paul tells the Corinthians that time is running out. They need to embrace the Gospel before they have no more time. Jesus begins his preaching by proclaiming, “The time of fulfillment is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” He then calls his first disciples, Simon and Andrew, James and John.
There is an urgency in God’s call that has a profound effect not just upon the person called, but upon others.
This brings us to George Weigel’s book. Weigel’s tenth letter speaks about how vocations change lives. He speaks about Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. Two sentences caught my attention. The first is Faith demands consequences. The second is: a career is a job, an occupation you current have, but a vocation is something that you are.
First, faith demands consequences. Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko was a simple young priest of the Archdiocese of Warsaw. He had a frail voice and a weak physical makeup. He had not been a brilliant seminarian. His first assignment was to be a parochial vicar (assistant priest) at St. Stanislos Kosta Parish in Warsaw. In 1980 the 34 your old priest was also asked to minister to the steel workers at a Warsaw steel mill. This was at the time of the Solidarity Protests against communism throughout Poland, but particularly in Gdansk. In 1981 the Polish Communist government declared martial law against its own citizens. Shortly after this Fr. Popieluszko began saying a monthly Mass for the fatherland. At first hundreds, then thousands and then tens of thousands attended the Mass and packed the streets around the Church. Fr. Popieluszko relentlessly repeated the theme given by Blessed Pope John Paul II on his first visit to Poland: banish evil with good. He preached non violence. But he also preached the moral duty of resistence. He told the people that they had to take sides: good or evil, truth or falsehood, love or hatred. Michael Kaufmann of the New York Times wrote: “Here there was a man who was teaching that defiance of authority was an obligation of the heart, of religion, of humanity and of nationhood.”
The people heard, but so did their communist leaders. On October 19, 1984, Fr. Jerzy was kidnaped and murdered. He embodied the truth. He embodied his faith. And he died for the truth and for the faith. Within five years, the communist government fell at the hands of the overwhelming desire of the Polish people to worship when and how they saw fit. Fr. Popieluszko won. As you know, soon after the fall of communism in Poland, communism fell throughout Eastern Europe including what was then the Soviet Union.
Faith demands consequences. We cannot be people of faith if we do not speak out against immorality. We cannot be people of faith, if we allow our government to continue any immoral practice. Today we American Catholics remember the grim anniversary of Roe vs Wade, the decision of the Supreme Court to allow abortion. Many Americans have elevated this court decision to the level of one of the articles found in the Bill of Rights. The fact is that the majority of Americans are against abortion. Those who march and protest throughout the country do so because they are people of faith and people who deeply love their country. They cannot sit back and allow lies and evil and death to continue.
It is the same for every issue. As Catholics we cannot allow our country to take advantage of the poor and the sick, to shore up its economy on the backs of poorer nations, or to promote our national interests with blood. We cannot sit back and be non committal to evil around us. Where and when we see evil, we have to react against it. Faith demands consequences, demands action.
Weigel’s second statement follow this: a vocation is something that you are. In the course of a lifetime, modern people hold many jobs. A young girl may begin as an aide in a day care. Then she may become an Early Childhood teacher. After a while, she may change professions and become a department manager in a store. Maybe, she may go into investing and become a financial consultant. People have many jobs, many careers. But this is not who they are, it is just something they are currently doing.
A vocation is something that we are. That same girl may become a wife and then a mother. Wife and mother are not jobs, they are who she is. They are vocations. Even when her children move out to begin independent lives, she is still a mother, their mother. Even if she and her husband break up, she is still a wife, his wife. The only exception to this would be if it can be shown that she never was a wife in a sacramental sense. Same thing for a man. Same thing for a priest. Priesthood is not a career that can be changed as some other man might change jobs. A person who is called to the priesthood is a priest forever, even if he no longer is in ministry.
When Jesus called Simon and Andrew, James and John, you and me, He did not call us to do something. He called us to be something. He called us to be disciples. Why do you train your children in the faith? Why do you guard against immorality in your home? Why do you worship God daily in your homes and weekly here in Church? We do what we do because this is who we are.
That is why we feel so disjointed when our human limitations take over and we give in to evil. We lose our sincerity, our integrity, when what we do is opposed to whom we are. But when we respond to that call of Christ within us to be Christian in all our actions, then our actions reflect our inner life, the life of Jesus Christ we have been called to embrace. Then we become whom He created us to be.
Weigel concludes that people who are determined to live the truth of whom they are, people who are determined to live vocationally, are the most dynamic force in history. Their lives don’t just become history, they become His Story, the story of God at work in the world. And that is what Catholicism is about. We want to change the world into God’s world. We are willing to do what we need to do to be whom we have been called to be.
The call of Faith, or vocation as Christians is urgent, just as the call to faith was urgent for the first disciples, for the people of Corinith, for the people of Ninevah. Faith has consequences. Faith is dynamic. Faith is counter cultural. Faith changes the world. Faith is manifested in the integrity of men and women who live who they are.
May we have the courage to be people of faith.
GOOD NEWS FOR YOU
We don’t know exactly how the disciples of John the Baptist reacted when they heard that he had been thrown into jail. We know, however, how Jesus reacted. He did not go into the desert nor did he retire to his relatives’ house in Nazareth. Actually, he started to visit the towns of Galilee proclaiming the Good News from God. For a change, that was really new and surprising.
Mark makes it doubly clear: “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe in God.” Jesus does not make any direct reference to John’s preaching or his being baptized by him in the Jordan. He speaks of God as something really new and good: Good News.
“The time has come.” The waiting period that Israel had lived for so long was over. The task entrusted to John the Baptist was accomplished. With Jesus a new era was beginning. God did not want to leave mankind alone to face so many problems, challenges and suffering. God wanted to invite us to build a better and more just world.
“The kingdom of God is close at hand.” In a most unusual language, certainly among all prophets, Jesus surprises everyone saying: The Kingdom of God and his justice is here to stay! Jesus describes God as someone who is Good, Just and friendly – and who wants to stay among us.
Hence, Jesus’ appearance among us became simple Good News and full of hope. There was really an alternative to the life those disciples had come to know. The injustice and slavery they had experienced under the power of Rome might have their days numbered. History might begin to write a new chapter.
“Repent.” Stop living as if nothing could ever change or get better. God is inviting everyone to join and collaborate. Hence Jesus says: “Believe me…Stop being afraid and follow me.” This change must begin with us and God is not going to force or use any kind of threat. He simply wants to stir up our consciences and hearts and make our lives more positive and worth living.
“Believe the Good News.” Take it seriously. Wake up from your indifference and take charge of your own lives. This world can become a better place to live. The Gospel should be a liberating force, and things can really change. Hope must become the first outcome of our faith.
What are we doing to make Jesus’ call more appealing? How come we have forgotten all he told us so forcefully? Why are we wasting so much time and energy in things that have nothing to do with God’s kingdom and justice? Why are we so complacent when we see God’s marvellous project of peace and justice being annihilated by men?
COME AFTER ME
Alter John the Baptist had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee and began to “proclaim the Good News from God.” According to Mark, Jesus really did not teach his disciples any doctrine that they had to learn and later pass on to other people. Jesus was already living and practicing what he will share with them.
Mark summarizes his message like this: “The time has come:” there is no time to look back. “The kingdom of God is close at hand;” and he wants to build a more humane world. “Repent and believe the Good News.” This new project of God is the best news they could hear.
Having made this solemn introduction, the first task that Jesus had was to build a team of collaborators who could carry out his project. “As he was walking by the sea of Galilee,” Jesus became an itinerant prophet in search of followers who could embrace his own dream: spend their lives showing the way to the kingdom of God. Jesus did not want to be a rabbi teaching from his cathedra, making disciples and form a religious school. Being a Christian does not mean learning doctrines, but going after Jesus and his life project.
Jesus is always first in showing the way. He went closer to where they were, looked at those four fishermen, and invited them to come and start a new life with him. Without Christ’s invitation, there cannot be a new Christian disciple. True followers really must feel Jesus’ presence and hear his personal call. For if it is not Jesus himself, who could give a new orientation to our lives?
Yet, the decisive factor will always be, hearing that call from within, “Follow me.” That is not just for a day. Answering such call means surrendering our complete trust in Jesus, offering our personal commitment to him, having faith in his project, identifying ourselves with his program, adopting his attitudes and, by so doing, attracting more people to his project.
A good slogan for a Christian community today could be: Go, and follow Jesus. Let us put Jesus in front of everyone. We should invite him every Sunday as our leader. We should recreate that early enthusiasm of the new disciples, ensuring that we are all in touch with Jesus. In that way, our Christian communities would soon be transformed. And soon we would see a new Church.
The Kingdom of God is near
So much has been written about what constitutes the essence of Christianity. The fact, however, is that we will never come to understand what Christianity is by studying or reading about theological theories. First of all, we have to capture what was Jesus’ objective: His life’s goal, and what really moved Him, heart and soul, to
act the way He did.
Nobody really doubts that Mark’s gospel has put it very well in today’s Reading: “The kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believethe Good News.” Jesus’ objective was to introduce in the world what He called “the Kingdom of God:” a well-structured society, just and open for all, as God would have planned.
When world accepts God as ruler, humanity enjoys justice, solidarity, compassion, brotherhood and peace. Such was Christ’s true passion. And that was the reason why He was persecuted, tortured and executed. “The Kingdom of God” was everything for Him.
The conclusion, therefore, is evident: the impetus, engine, objective, reason and ultimate purpose of Christianity is “the Kingdom of God;” that and nothing else. The only criterion to measure every Christian’s identity, the truth of any spirituality or the value of anything the Church undertakes, will always be the “kingdom of God.”
The only way to look at life as Jesus did, the only way to judge things as Jesus did, and the only manner of acting as He spoke and preached, is to conduct our lives towards making our world more humane and just. Unfortunately, many Christians have never heard about such kingdom of God. And many of us theologians have had to learn about such Kingdom of God little by little late in our lives.
One of the truly serious heresies that have found their way into our Christianity is that of making our Church something “absolute.” Namely, using the Church as something central, a reality next to which everything else is secondary; using the Church as a substitute for the Kingdom of God; working for the Church and worrying about her problems, and forgetting that there is a suffering world which is struggling for a more just way of life.
It is not easy to focus our Christianity towards the Kingdom of God; but, if we work with that in mind, our faith will be transformed, and it will become more creative and, certainly, more evangelical and more Christian.