From our first reading today …
(The death of David)
When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: “I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn, and the LORD may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he said, ‘If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of your line on the throne of Israel.’”
David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
A strong message about endurance in the face of opposition.
Today on the Church’s liturgical calendar, we honor the memory of Japanese martyrs St. Paul Miki and Martyrs, a group of native Japanese evangelizers and missionaries put to death in Japan in 1597, simply for their beliefs. At that time, religious tensions had led to a period of persecution during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret.
According to the Catholic News Agency, three of the best-known martyrs of Nagasaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto, and James Kisai. Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits: Miki was training for the priesthood, while Kisai was a lay brother and John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order. Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group’s month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners.
“The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,” he announced. “I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.”
This scripture and the message delivered by David today made me think about my own life and what God has asked me to do to help bring about His kingdom of heaven and earth here to my friends, neighbors and community.
Shouldn’t we all – by virtue of our baptism – be concerned about this?
This is a tricky proposition. Many times, we face opposition or pushback when we make decisions in our lives to try to help build a society that lays the foundation for the possibility that God will be able to reach out to those who do not know Him, or those who know Him in a certain way, but are open to knowing Him in another way.
In my community, there is a vast mixing bowl of people who call Carmel, Indiana home. It’s truly a wonderful thing, all the diversity …
We have an uplifting mix of cultural and religious backgrounds in our suburban “edge city” of more than 100,000 – from Catholics to Protestants, Evangelicals, Non- Denominationals, Jews, Muslims, Hindus … and a variety of churches based on culture, including Koreans, Chinese, Greek and Egyptian.
A melting pot.
I should clarify, a human-defined melting pot … for God sees us in a different way, not by the way we label ourselves, or how we label each other.
Never forget that.
I work in a variety of ways to further the gradual creation of a community that is welcoming to all people … and is respectful of our differences … constantly growing and changing (because, after all, we are all constantly growing and changing). A community that will one day serve as an example of the kind of place where anyone searching for a peaceful place to explore their faith and their own journey to heaven can feel safe and comfortable.
Isn’t that what we are all about?
Think of your own family.
Do you have a son or daughter who has strayed away from the faith? Of course you do … it’s the way things have been going for more than 2,000 years.
Do you write them off and hope they burn for eternity? Of course not!
Instead, you try to find ways to let them know that God loves them … God respects their questions and concerns … he understands the times when they HATE him … he understands when we struggle to show love for Him and for our neighbors … in short, he understands when we need to be carried in the sand until we are able to learn the truth about our lives and our mission.
So, we do little things.
We adjust our schedules and our expectations. We might change our menus to include foods that are more appropriate for certain cultures and backgrounds. We might adjust our prayers to reflect our commonly held belief of a single God, rather than something that some might consider a little more divisive (for now, at least … until they have a better understanding about the Trinity).
Heck … you might even buy a book and learn about the backgrounds, teachings, traditions and current debates and discussions about a particular faith, so that we can better understand where someone may be coming from spiritually before they come physically to our table.
In other words, we stop judging.
I repeat … stop judging.
We need to stop condemning an entire culture, an entire faith, an entire people based on what we think we know about them (or what we read about them in the media).
Instead, we should try to mimic what God might do.
Be open to differences. Be respectful of cultures that are different from our own. Give the same respect to others that you would expect for yourself.
Love as you want to be loved.
It’s really not that difficult, although I see over and over again the tendency to stand behind a certain conviction in order to judge others as not worthy.
In a mixed-up world where opinions are formed by reading Tweets and Facebook posts, perhaps it is time to spend a little more time exploring what others do and think and believe.
Whether it is religion or politics or simply common courtesy within a community … isn’t it time we stop painting one another into a corner, from which it’s difficult to escape?
Isn’t it time to stop vilifying and trashing one another just because we happen to disagree with something they believe in?
Whatever happened to that old notion … “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
I pray that we never stop searching for that delicate balance of having a strong conviction in our faith, but also having compassion, empathy and – especially – patience, for those who are not quite there yet.
Stop being so brutally judgmental …
Stop driving away your friends and neighbors … your co-workers and others.
Be humble. Be confident, but not overbearing.
And just know that no matter what you do, you will always have critics who will try to diminish what you do by poking holes where possible.
We will always have enemies …and critics.
Don’t let them stop you from doing what you know David, Jesus, and others would want.
Be a vessel for the Gospel.
Be the hands, feet, voice and heart of Christ.
But above all things …
Be … NOT … AFRAID.
