Building a Kingdom of Justice

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

            One of the great things about being Catholic, is that we have form prayers to say.  If you’re at a meal and you’re asked to pray, you can fall back on “Bless us, O Lord…”  If you can’t find the words because of joy or sorrow, you can always seem to get out, “Hail Mary, full of grace…”  Or maybe you’re trying to find the perfect prayer, so you use the one the Jesus taught us: “Our Father…”  The blessing is that when we can’t find our own words, we can use words that others have given us over the centuries.  But the difficulty is that sometimes when we say a prayer so often, we miss the words that are in the prayer, because it is so easy to rattle off the memorized formula.

            In the Our Father, for example, we pray, “thy kingdom come.”  If we go to Mass every Sunday and Holyday like we should, we pray that prayer at least 57 times a year.  My guess is we’ve said it many, many more times than that.  And yet, each time we say it, we are affirming that we want God’s kingdom to come.  Not the kingdom of the world.  Not even my own kingdom.  But God’s kingdom. 

            Today we celebrate Christ the King of the Universe.  Not just king of a part of the world.  Not just the king of one faith.  He is the King of the Universe, of all things, whether His kingship is acknowledged or not.  Whether we like it or not, Jesus’ kingdom will come.  Whether we mean it or not, Jesus’ kingdom will come.  But, our judgment will be much easier if our will is already approaching the will of our king, and if the words we speak in the Our Father do not merely come from our vocal chords, but from our heart. 

            In the end, there are only really two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the Evil One.  Dichotomies don’t usually hold true.  Life is rarely as simple as either A or B.  And yet, at the end of time, there will be those for Christ, or those against Him; those in Heaven or those in Hell.  Our life work, the sign that we are faithful citizens of the Kingdom of God, is that our will is lined up with, and really subjected to, the will of God.  The more we insist on our own will over and against God, the less we are true subjects of the King of Kings, at least beyond in name only.

            Jesus never forces us to be a part of His kingdom.  And His reign often doesn’t look very enticing.  In our Gospel, Jesus is reigning from the cross.  He is being sneered at and mocked.  This isn’t the way we’re used to seeing kings.  Yet the good thief, whom tradition names St. Dismas, recognizes Jesus and says, “‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”  And Jesus, the good King, offers salvation to St. Dismas that very day.  Jesus’ kingdom sometimes doesn’t look so appealing.  It is sometimes hidden in external failure.  It is clothed in meekness.  And it is never forced.  If we want to build our own kingdom that is against God, Jesus will let us, because He allows us to use the gift of free will that He gave us, so that His Kingdom is not forced on us, but welcomed with love.

To check ourselves, to examine the conscience, we can ask ourselves whether or not we want Jesus’ kingdom to come.  We can ask ourselves if the words of the Our Father ring true in our hearts, or are just empty words.  And we can see the beginning of that in how we respond to the teaching of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.  In particular, the parish council and Fr. Jerry are asking all of us to focus on the Church’s teaching (therefore, Jesus’ teaching) on social justice. 

That term is pretty loaded.  I don’t think I would shock anyone to say that this location in our one parish tends to be associated, accurately or inaccurately, with a particular political party.  And the other location in our one parish tends to be associated, again, accurately or inaccurately, with another political party.  Social justice tends to be associated more frequently with one political party.  But, as far as our faith goes, there is neither Democrat, nor Republican, Libertarian or Socialist.  Christ calls all of us to practice social justice. 

The Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Society ensures social justice when it respects the dignity and the rights of the person as the proper end of society itself.  Furthermore, society pursues social justice, which is linked to the common good and to the exercise of authority, when it provides the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain what is there due.”  In practice: how do I assist the poor?  How do I ensure that I do not value capital over the human person?  How do I show solidarity with those who have less than me?  How do I promote the dignity of work and encourage others to use their gifts for the benefit of the city, State, and country?  How do I defend the innocent, especially the baby in the womb and the elderly?  How do I defend the family as the building block of human society, and promote a culture that ensures that children have the best environment in which to develop: a loving father and mother?  How do I vote so as to promote the Gospel?  How do I work for peace?

In our parish we have people who work hard for social justice, on both sides of Burcham.  We have business leaders who leave extremely generous tips to waitresses who didn’t think they would be able to provide Christmas gifts for their children.  Our Food Bank at St. John feeds many people.  The Giving Trees, organized by the St. Vincent de Paul Societies, and that will soon be up, provide necessities and niceties for families in need.  Our school children have had the opportunity to work in soup kitchens.  Our right to life group marches in DC as a witness to our legislators to defend life in our laws.  There are so many other ways.  St. John Church & Student Center does not have a monopoly on social justice.  St. Thomas Aquinas does not have a monopoly on social justice.  We each do things well, and we each need to be challenged in the areas in which we can grow.  As one parish family, united in one Kingdom of Christ, we need to work together to work for social justice: not as one side of the faith, or the work of a political party, but as members of the Kingdom of God who are called to do our best to make this City of Man look more and more like the City of God.

Will we cooperate with the grace of God, without which we cannot build the City of God, that city that only Christ can truly complete?  Will we be members of Christ’s Kingdom?  Or will we rather build our kingdom?  May our hearts and our actions reflect the words we say today: thy kingdom come.

How to be a Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family

            A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure to visit Lansing Catholic High School and talk with the sophomores in Theology class.  Part of the class was spent talking about how I had discerned that the Lord was calling me to be a priest.  The other part of the class was answering prepared questions that they had penned anonymously.  One of the many great questions they asked was why marriage and family isn’t talked about more.  And so, here we are, at the feast of the Holy Family, the day after Christmas, when we get to focus on family life, including marriage.

            Having a holy family, based upon the example of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is often thought of as impossible.  After all, Jesus is fully God and fully man, Mary was conceived without original sin, and Joseph kept getting these dreams from God to tell him what to do to care for the Blessed Mother and the Christ Child. 

Statues of the Holy Family in Flight to Egypt,
in Bethlehem, the West Bank

            But what made the Holy Family holy?  It was that, in every circumstance, they were obedient to the will of the Lord.  They were always ready to say “yes” to God, even if it meant leaving home and family to go to Egypt, so that Jesus would be protected from King Herod’s murderous decree.

            The life the Holy Family led was not easy!  Following the will of God included challenges, real and monumental challenges. But still, despite the trials and tribulations, they were resolute in saying “yes” to God.

            Things have not gotten any easier for families in the two millennia since Christ walked the earth.  Too many mothers feel forced to kill their unborn child because there is no support from the father of the child or from the mother’s family; marriage as it was created by God, between a man and a woman for life, seems to be under constant attack from the secular culture in the name of a false view of compassion and diversity; too many children do not have enough to eat or drink because of underemployment and unemployment; families, especially in our own State, have had to leave their homes and families in search or a stable job in other States.

            How hard it is to say “yes” to God these days! To choose life in a culture of death; to take seriously the call of every husband and wife, not just to be open to life and have children, but to raise them and form them in the faith, starting with the life of faith lived out at home, but also including trying to make sure that children receive the best education and religious formation possible; to stand up for the indissolubility of the marital bond between a man and a woman.  While many of the challenges are different now then they were in first-century Palestine, striving for holiness as a family, striving to say “yes” to the will of God in all circumstances, is no easier.

            In the midst of these trials, and many others that I have not named, the Church stands behind you!  While we need priests to bring the sacramental life to the People of God, most especially the Eucharist, we also need families to fill the culture with the Gospel; to preach Christ crucified and raised from the dead; to pass on the faith to their children.  From these holy families will come holy priests, and more holy families to continue to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight His paths.

            How does the Church stand behind you?  First and foremost through the Sacraments which give you the grace to be holy families.  It is impossible to be a holy family without the grace, the inner life, the love, of God in you.  And so we stand ready to impart that grace to you through the Sacraments.  We also stand with you to help you through the tough times, whether they are financial or emotional.  Through the work of so many great services that the Church offers, we can help you to choose life, even if no one else wants to support you in that choice; to find a way to provide for your children; to talk problems out and find counseling for the times when families are struggling to simply be civil in dialogue; to give your children the full benefit of a quality academic and religious formation, especially in our Catholic schools, so that they can become, not only good citizens of the City of Man, to quote St. Augustine, but more importantly good citizens of the City of God. 

            I could spend hours talking about all the ways that we as a parish community help each other out to be holy families.  Our St. Vincent de Paul Society works tirelessly, not only to provide clothes, but also to help with utility payments, and other basic necessities, especially after one or two members of the household have lost their jobs and are coming up a little short to keep a roof over their heads. 

            Our students do great work with Alternative Spring Break, and so many members of the permanent community here help them in many ways, to provide basic necessities for the underprivileged members of our nation and in other countries.

            Our Right to Life committee works hard to make sure that new mothers and fathers know that there are people who will support them in bringing their child to term and providing for the needs of the family during pregnancies.

            Our school children provided a vast amount of presents to families that otherwise would have gone without this year, spreading their own blessings out to those who are struggling.  And our pastor, teachers, and family members of the school are very generous in ensuring that, if a child of our parish wants to attend our great school, and receive the quality education and formation which it provides, money will not be the issue that prevents that desire from becoming a reality.

            The Holy Family had challenges in living a holy life, and families today have challenges in living a holy life.  But the basic ingredient in the Holy Family’s life, and in any family’s life that wants to be holy, is saying “yes” to God: in the big things and in the small, seemingly insignificant things.  But remember, you are never alone.  We as a Church: the saints in heaven like Mary and Joseph, and those still struggling here on earth to make it heaven, are behind you 100% so that you can say “yes” to God.