Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 429

For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.
Therefore, whoever disregards this,
disregards not a human being but God,
who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

In today’s reading Saint Paul earnestly asks and exhorts us, “This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality….”

Historically, religion has been a public affair. Especially the Roman rulers didn’t really care about the personal lives of their subjects, neither their prayer life nor their sexual adventures, so long as they observed the forms of public worship. Reverence for the Roman gods was reverence for the Roman emperor which, like the American flag, gave millions of people a common identity. If no one actually believed in, or hoped in, or loved the gods, that was no matter. So long as they made no public display of allegiance to gods alien to Rome, everybody got along fine.

Many Americans swear by the same allegiance when they say their religion makes no difference. Whether you’re Catholic or Protestant, Jewish or Muslim or Hare Krishna; it doesn’t matter so long as you agree to the rule of law and the American constitution. Even if you attend no church, it makes no difference.

Hearing that creedal statement devoutly recited, I wonder, as a priest if they realize they are insulting my vows as a Franciscan, celibate and priest. If I make no apparent objection have I agreed that my traditions, beliefs and religious (celibate) way of life are pointless? Their unthinking rudeness is almost comical, like a sleepy child who says in the hearing of his parents’ guests, “When are they going home?”

Saint Paul exhorts the Christians who hear his letter read to the assembled congregation. He does not address citizens of any particular nation. Our Christian way of life is holiness, which includes refraining from immorality.

This is why abortion is abhorrent to us. Americans may have no objection but we don’t even like to think that a child might be born outside of wedlock. How could an infant not be welcomed and wanted? The child’s conception should only occur between a husband and wife who are devoted to one another and to their marriage. Our babies have not only a right to be born; they have a right to a father and mother who are dedicated to their marriage and will make every necessary sacrifice for the sake of the child. Where could abortion fit in this picture?

Given our experience of family life, which is never easy even when it is filled with grace, we know the State has a deep interest in the well-being of children. Surely they want every child to have a mother and a father. But we live in a fallen world and other interests sometimes preclude a child’s rights.

God has called some people, by way of the Church and its sacraments, not to impurity but to holiness. We cannot live as others live. We may be a light shining light in darkness, an inspiration, and salt of the earth; or we may be a thorn in their flesh, gadflies, and an embarrassment; but we must be faithful to our calling and our God.