Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Memorial Day, 2011

I do not ask that you take them out of the world

but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.

There are two kinds of solution: “short-term” and “long-term.” The latter involve high costs, deep planning, and major commitments from many people; the former are quick, easy and wrong, but we choose them anyway.

Very often people question God’s ways of doing things. Why does God permit this awfulness to continue?

In today’s gospel we hear Jesus electing to leave his frightened, defenseless band of disciples in the world. For the foreseeable future they face threats on every side and eventual martyrdom. Wouldn’t it be easier to…? Isn’t there a shorter solution to the problem of evil?

As the story goes, God tried the easier path when he wiped out the entire human race except Noah and his family. The parable addresses the very question of “Why doesn’t God kill all the wicked?” He tried it once only to discover the sole surviving good man carried the seeds of evil within his heart.

The effective way to protect his disciples is to “consecrate them in the truth,” and Jesus will do that by his passion and death. This effective way will not be quick and easy; it will continue over centuries and many generations of disciples. It will entail heartache, disappointments, scandals, bloodshed, and occasional catastrophes. Along the way even good people will make dreadful mistakes. Holy wars like the Crusades and ill-begotten attempts to purge out evil like the Inquisition will scar their memories for centuries. It will be political as well as personal; that is to say, it will never be straightforward and simple. We will often wonder if God is still with us. Are we still on the right path?

In the end, our faith teaches us, Jesus’ method will be effective and satisfying. Because no one can be saved in isolation, his consecration must save the disciples and the world in which they live. Practicing faith, relying more and more on the providential goodness of God, they will be transformed from the deepest core of their being into vessels of light. There will be no residual evil as there was in Noah’s heart. The end result – which we call heaven or paradise and realists regard as absurdly improbable – will prove that it was all worthwhile. All things will be well; and all manner of things will be well.