Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
Woody Allen: "I don't mind dying. I just don't want to be there when it happens."
Sister told us in our sixth grade classroom, as we studied the lives of the martyrs, "No one knows what they'll do if they face death for the sake of Christ." Will I defy the court's order to renounce my faith? Will I cling to the Lord? Or will I try to save my miserable skin?
Jesus tells us not to prepare your defense beforehand. The Holy Spirit will give you words. You will know what to say in that hour --- if you have been living in the Spirit until that hour.
One thing about dying: you can't fake it. You can't send a substitute; you can't hold on until it's over. Dying is not holding on. Dying is losing; it's failure; it's sleep without waking; a "Goodbye!" which is not a "So long."
Dying is very real. It challenges all our pretenses, our shoulds, woulds, coulds, might haves, and if onlys. Death doesn't care about your rights, entitlements, or privileges. It disregards your beliefs and opinions. It doesn't care -- period.
We use death at our peril, as the Catholic Church has warned us. Neither the individual nor the state should use death to manage their way out of predicaments. Abortion solves no problems; the evils it attempts to manage are aroused, not mollified, by killing. A society which uses capital punishment will suffer increased gun violence, suicide, terrorism and war, Killing one's enemies devalues life itself.
Nor should Christians be surprised if they are called to martyrdom by a culture of death. Their love of life and faith in God defy a violent society. We live in a society that plays at justice, pretends to mercy, fakes concern, and studies the bottom line. It's only value is power; it's deity never died on a cross.
Jesus urges us to breathe the Breath of God, to invoke the Holy Spirit daily, that we may know what to do each day, that we may know what to say when that hour comes.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.