SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Perhaps you caught an article in last week’s (Feb 7, 2008) Catholic Miscellany by my good friend Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, parochial vicar at St. Mary’s in Aiken.  In it, Fr. Kirby tells of an encounter between himself and one of his dear friends, who had begun to look into Asian religious practices.

As the conversation went on, Fr. Kirby relates that he began to realize that her interest was not merely a cultural one, but that she was investing a good bit of conviction in religions other than Christianity.  “Towards the end of our conversation,” writes Fr. Kirby, “I asked her, ‘Don’t you realize that when you declare Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior, you also acknowledge all other claims of divinity to be false?’  She thought such a claim was arrogant and narrow-minded.” 

A touchy subject: the Church does indeed uphold the dignity and freedom of every person, no matter what the person’s religious belief may be.  Furthermore, the Church acknowledges that good elements are present in most religions.  Finally, the Church teaches that,

            “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.” (LG 16) 

But all of that is a very long way from saying, “all religions are the same,” or “one’s as good as another,” because the dignity of a person is bound up in their personhood, not in their beliefs.  After all, those who do not believe anything have dignity as well. The good elements present in other religions are considered as preparation to receive the Gospel of Christ, not as a substitute for it.  Finally, doing God’s will according to the dictates of conscience means living in accordance with natural law, and doing that may mean acting in contravention of what is considered acceptable or moral in a non-Christian religion.  For example, does anyone think that driving jetliners into skyscrapers is the will of God?  I certainly hope not, but it is considered morally acceptable in Islam.

Fr. Kirby’s friend thought his assertion was arrogant and narrow-minded.  But the thing is, it’s not Fr. Kirby’s assertion.  It is the assertion of Jesus Christ, of God himself. 

In the New Testament, God the Father speaks but twice: once at the Lord’s baptism and once at the Lord’s Transfiguration, which we heard in today’s gospel.  At Jesus’ baptism, the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  At Jesus’ Transfiguration, the Father says again, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Then He adds, “Listen to him.”

“Listen to him.”  Not “listen to him; he’s one swell teacher among many swell teachers,” but, “This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”

Jesus tells Thomas at the Last Supper, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14: 6)

Peter, present to witness the Transfigured glory of the Lord, later stands before the Sanhedrin, following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and proclaims, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4: 12) 

Those are weighty words, perhaps uncomfortable words, but they are not arrogant words, because they are the words of God, the words of Christ himself.  Even Peter’s words before the Sanhedrin are the words of God, for Christ tells the Apostles, “When they hand you over, do not worry about what you are to say.  You will be given at that moment what you are to say.  For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you.” (Mt 10: 19) 

Assenting to the fact that Christ is the way, the only way, to the Father is not arrogant.  Being someone who claims to be Christian and ignores that, that is arrogant, because that is calling Jesus a liar.

There’s a lot of weird stuff roaming around the world today: New Age philosophy, spiritualism, the occult, Wicca, and cults, like Scientology.  We live in a society in which our cultural elites all try to tell us, constantly, that it’s all the same -- and that it’s just as good as Christianity.  And people, especially younger people, are buying it.

At the same time, however, the popularity of such stuff demonstrates that there is present in our society a real spiritual hunger and longing.  The materialist outlook of the post-Enlightenment Western world has been truly, deeply, and existentially experienced as empty, devoid of meaning, and unable to satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.  Naturally so, because only God can meet that deepest need and desire within us.  He made us for Himself. 

As Catholics, we (you and I) have to be ready at all times to witness fearlessly, like Peter before the Sanhedrin, to the Truth: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the way, the truth, and the life.

Some of them, not all of them, listened to Peter.  Some of them will also listen to us.