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Friday, November 15, 2019
11.17.19
Giving Testimony in a Secular Age
I have to admit that at times I can be tempted by a certain negativism that wonders if maybe in the not too distant future the church could once again come under open attack. Usually a good night’s sleep quickly dispels such fears for me. This is not to dismiss often more subtle forms of persecution in our own age and even the open persecution of Christians in some parts of the world today. But the prospect of a direct, widespread, much less systematic persecution seems unlikely. The late Cardinal George of Chicago once said, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.” This was often misquoted and taken out of context by some in the church who took it as a prophetic statement. Clarifying these words in a later interview the Cardinal said that he was simply “trying to express in overly dramatic fashion what the complete secularization of society could bring,” and “to force people to think outside the usual categories that limit and sometimes poison both private and public discourse.” He also insisted that the entire quote should be used which concluded, “His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” Even with the clarification, I can see why these statements caused a stir. In the Gospel for this next to last Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jesus seems to be pushing a similar button. He speaks about a time when “all that you see here - the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone,” and he further warns his followers that they will be seized, persecuted, led to prisons and before kings and governors. Of course, much of this seemed to come true in short order with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 AD and successive persecutions of the “followers of the way,” as the early Christians were known. But Jesus adds that all this “will lead to your giving testimony.” We don’t have a clarifying interview from Jesus about these statements to know exactly what he meant, but read in the larger context he seems to be telling his disciples that whatever may come to pass, they are to rely on the Holy Spirit and give witness to their faith by their lives. What, we may ask, is the best way to “give testimony” in our own time? I would propose that it is by an unflinching love, rooted in the truth and goodness of God, creation and humanity. At this point, I expect (many years from now, please God) to die in my bed. But whatever may come, above all I pray that I will give testimony to the one who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. --Fr. Thom
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I have to admit that at times I can be tempted by a certain negativism that wonders if maybe in the not too distant future the church could once again come under open attack. Usually a good night’s sleep quickly dispels such fears for me. This is not to dismiss often more subtle forms of persecution in our own age and even the open persecution of Christians in some parts of the world today. But the prospect of a direct, widespread, much less systematic persecution seems unlikely. The late Cardinal George of Chicago once said, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.” This was often misquoted and taken out of context by some in the church who took it as a prophetic statement. Clarifying these words in a later interview the Cardinal said that he was simply “trying to express in overly dramatic fashion what the complete secularization of society could bring,” and “to force people to think outside the usual categories that limit and sometimes poison both private and public discourse.” He also insisted that the entire quote should be used which concluded, “His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” Even with the clarification, I can see why these statements caused a stir. In the Gospel for this next to last Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jesus seems to be pushing a similar button. He speaks about a time when “all that you see here - the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone,” and he further warns his followers that they will be seized, persecuted, led to prisons and before kings and governors. Of course, much of this seemed to come true in short order with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 AD and successive persecutions of the “followers of the way,” as the early Christians were known. But Jesus adds that all this “will lead to your giving testimony.” We don’t have a clarifying interview from Jesus about these statements to know exactly what he meant, but read in the larger context he seems to be telling his disciples that whatever may come to pass, they are to rely on the Holy Spirit and give witness to their faith by their lives. What, we may ask, is the best way to “give testimony” in our own time? I would propose that it is by an unflinching love, rooted in the truth and goodness of God, creation and humanity. At this point, I expect (many years from now, please God) to die in my bed. But whatever may come, above all I pray that I will give testimony to the one who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. --Fr. Thom 
