Just two weeks ago (February 27th, , 2021), while debating the Equality Act, congressman Gregg Steube said: “I am going to start with the truth: In Deuteronomy 22:5 it says: ‘A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear woman’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.’ He pointed out that this is not just referring to clothing but to changing your sexual identity, because in doing so, you are telling God that He didn’t know what He was doing when He created us. He got it wrong.
In response to what he said, another congressman, Jerry
Nadler, replied,
“What any religious tradition ascribes as God’s will, is no
concern of this congress.” “God’s will is no concern of this congress.”
Thankfully those remarks immediately received strong
criticism and it was pointed out that on the very wall of congress are written
the words, ‘In God we trust.’
On Thursday last (Mar 11, 2021), I read that the department
of education in the State of California has now introduced to the school
curriculum, an option where they encourage the children to do chants to one of
the Aztec gods, Tezkatlipoka, as a way of building community among the
children. Now the children are being encouraged to do these chants to a pagan god, but
God forbid you should try to say a Christian prayer, because that is forbidden.
This is what is happening in our country right now.
The United States is unique in that it is the only country
apart from Israel, that was built specifically on biblical principles, so its
history is very similar to that of the people of Israel. The Scriptures show us
that when the people of Israel were faithful to God’s word, God blessed the land and it flourished. But when the people rejected God, God’s blessing was lifted from
the land, just as God said He would do and then it went into decline, morally,
economically and in its military power. Eventually when the people were in dire
straits, they repented, prayed for God’s mercy and turned to him once more. But
it seems we are slow learners, just like the people of Israel, and we do the
same thing again and again.
What we are seeing at this time, is the rejection of God’s
word by many people; not by all, but by many and often by people in office,
which affects the whole country. The first reading today talks directly about
this:
In those days all the princes of
Judah, the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity… they mocked
the messengers of God, despised his warning and scoffed at his prophets, until
the anger of the Lord against his people was so inflamed, that there was no
remedy.
The Scriptures—the word of God—leave us in no doubt as to
what God’s will is for us. His will for us is life and happiness. In the Gospel
are the wonderful words: ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.’ God has created
us for happiness, which Jesus said repeatedly. ‘Every hair on your head has
been counted’ (Matt 10:30). ‘Do not be afraid. You are worth more than hundreds
of sparrows’ (Luke 12:6-7).
We are living in a time when the division between those who are
faithful to God and those who are not, is getting wider and wider. It is a time
of choice. We must choose whose side we are on. If we are on God’s side and we
want God’s blessing on our families and our land, then we must choose God’s
word and be faithful to all that God asks us to do. It is getting harder to do
that because we are meeting more and more opposition to being faithful to God,
but we shouldn’t be afraid of that, because it has always been that way. There
is no room for sitting on the fence. We must choose whose side we are on.
I gave a ride to a man once, who was a musician. He made is living mainly from playing on the streets. He told me he knew 350 songs by heart, which was pretty impressive. When he realized I was a priest he began to ask me questions. He said he wasn't very religious. He preferred to just stay out of it. I asked him what he thought would happen when he dies and comes before God. He said he would just plead ignorance! Perhaps you could get away with that before a judge on earth, but I seriously doubt that we will when we come before the all-knowing, all-seeing One. God does not accept people who just want to stay out of it, or sit on the fence.
In the book of Revelation, God speaks to one of the churches
and says:
“I know your deeds. You are neither
cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other. So because you are
lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth. You
say,” “I am rich. I have grown wealthy and need nothing.” “But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind…”
The Lord is not afraid to show us when we are going wrong,
but it is always because He loves us and wants to bring us back to where we
will find happiness, but there is no room for being indifferent. We must choose
whose side we are on and if you want to hold on to your faith, you are going to
have to take it seriously, as there will be more and more pressure to abandon
it for more ‘enlightened’ ways.
There is a line in Scripture, a favorite of mine, which says,
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Joshua: 24:15). Recently
someone had those lines made into a sign for me and it is in my house inside
the door. This is who I belong to and I will not be ashamed of it and I will
not be coerced, or pressured into compromising what God tells me I need to do.
For many of you it is more difficult than for me, because
often the people you work with, or live with, can be opposed to what you
believe and are not afraid to say it to your face and that is hard. But that is
also why we continually turn to the Lord for his strength, so that we may be
faithful. Almost every day I pray for the grace to persevere and be faithful.
And God has given us all the help we need to be faithful. Above all He has
given us the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, to give us the strength we
need to be faithful, the healing gift of confession for every time we fall and
the Scriptures which give us wisdom for every situation we could meet.
For the first 300 years of the Church, the Christians were
persecuted. 300 years! But they persevered and although thankfully at this time
we are not living with bloody persecution, our faith is really being attacked.
As always, God’s message is one of hope. All He asks is that
we keep coming back to him and when we do, He always assures us of his mercy.
People’s faith inspires me. Your faith inspires me and every
priest I know will say the same. When people come to me in and outside of
confession, I see so many people wanting to do what is right in the sight of
the Lord and it is really inspiring. Your faith gives me strength. Coming
together to pray encourages all of us, which is one of the reasons we do come
together to pray. So don’t be disheartened when you hear of different places
actively turning away from God. All that matters is that we are as faithful as
we can be, even when we meet opposition. Jesus said that following him would
cause division, so it is normal, but if we take our faith seriously and try to
live it seriously, we have nothing to fear. That is why the Lord said:
‘Enter through the narrow gate,
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life and
only a few find it.’ (7:13-14)
May God grant us the grace to be faithful.
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