My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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The nitpickers are at it again. This time it's articles covering the launch of a new Italian film on Pope Francis called "Francesco"; only it's not about him but about the many troubles and issues in the world about which Pope Francis cares a great deal such as: "the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination". He cares about these issues because he cares about people; as well he should as Pope and as well we should, especially those of us who claim to be Christian.
The Mosaic Law was abundantly clear: such people must be stoned to death; however, not only the woman but also the man. Where was the man? If they caught her "in the very act of adultery" then there must have been a man. Why did they only bring the woman to Jesus? No doubt that the "one" who caught her in the act was the man himself, but on perceiving that one or more witnesses were about to catch them he decided to switch roles to that of accuser.
So what as Pope Francis big "crime" this time? It wasn't even anything recent that he said or did, but a remark he made over a year ago in an recorded interview which didn't get televised at the time. This time for the sake of the film "Francesco", since the issue of homosexual unions came up, they used that bit of recorded interview. Here's what he said: "Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God... You can't kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered."
There were times in the past when the Church was a lot heavier on the "accusing and condemning" side of things. At the Second Vatican Council, the Holy Spirit reminded the Church that Jesus came to bring the Good News that:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." John 3:14-21
Jesus never went around grabbing people by the scruff of the neck to yell into their faces: "Hey you! Don't you know what you're doing is wrong... it's against THE LAW! You're breaking one or more of the ten commandments; so STOP IT!" Jesus never does that... Satan is the one who goes around accusing everyone. Check out the Book of Job and you will find that it is Satan who does the accusing.
As if that wasn't bad enough, these Pharisees and Sadducees, Scribes and Lawyers made sure to impose the full weight of the Law on the people, especially on the poor and wretched whose hard lives made it impossible for them to keep the whole Law, and they refused to lift a finger to do anything to try to alleviate these burdens on God's people. Well their behaviour really stirred up in Jesus the wrath of God because He is a jealous God out of love and tenderness for his people, much like a mother springs to action whenever her children are threatened with harm.
Saul was a Pharisee just like the ones who had Jesus killed and he fully approved and supported the stoning of the Deacon Stephen, our first Christian martyr. Saul went on a rampage to wipe out all the Christians he could lay his hands on until Jesus stopped him in his tracks. Once Jesus appeared to Saint Paul and he realized the error of his way of thinking. From then on, Paul preached it is impossible for us to make ourselves just before God by attempting to keep the whole Law. The Good News that Jesus brought is that God offers to CONSIDER US JUST if only we are willing to believe in Jesus his Son and to admit our sinfulness and poverty and do our best to accept his grace to repent, to change our lives, to turn away from our sinful ways and try to live as children of God.
Pope Francis' many accusers just can't stand it when he makes statements like the one he said on a plane 3 or 4 years ago in answer to a question from a journalist about homosexual unions: "Who am I to judge?" That one really sticks in their craw because they want CONDEMNATIONS. Actually Pope Francis' stance in the face of homosexuals or anyone else who may or may not be in a state of sin is the correct stance we should all adopt. Only God has the competence and clarity of vision to judge justly and mercifully. Of course society must have laws and police and courts and judges for the sake of a minimum of law and order. Check out what Saint Paul wrote to the Romans about judging (Rm 2).
However, when it comes to sexual morality, it's not only sexual behaviours that God would take into consideration but also the lives that people are living. Let's put it this way. A married man who has violent sexual relations with his wife, in effect raping her every time, will be judged far more harshly that two men or two women who are in a long term civil union by which they care for each other with tenderness and do their best to live good lives and possibly raise their children.
Take another example. One day the religious leaders disputed with Jesus over what authority he was claiming by teaching the things He taught. He replied with a question of his own, but they refused to answer; so Jesus told them that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of heaven ahead of them. That really stuck in their craw.
Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him." Matthew 21:23-27, 31-32
Another dimension overlooked by Pope Francis' accusers is that our human society, humanity, isn't identical to the Kingdom of God. Our society is not a theocracy with God as King and everyone on Earth as subjects. Yes, we Christians believe that Jesus is in truth King of the Universe, but not all human beings know or accept that truth yet. Jesus is not the kind of King who goes around clobbering anyone who doesn't kneel down on sight. Remember how He behaved on the day He died? He went quietly, not shouting, not defending himself, quietly, like a Lamb to the slaughter. He loved even his accusers and tormentors and refused to raise his voice against them; letting them have as much time as possible to come to their senses on their own and realize what they had done.
Islamic countries that abide by Sharia Law from the Qu'ran are in effect theocracies, societies regulated by religious law. If you are caught stealing, they cut off your hand. If you do it again they cut off your foot, and so on. Perhaps Pope Francis' accusers would want him to do something along those lines and condemn all the people whose behaviours these accusers don't like. These are not the Lord's ways.
Those of us who claim to be Christians and try to follow Jesus and live as children of God live by a different set of "rules" which are actually more demanding. Jesus came to fulfill the Law by raising it to a higher standard: "Love one another as I have loved you." Are we ready to lay down our lives for those in homosexual households? Or for our enemies? Jesus did. He laid down his life for us, and we're all a pretty rough and tumble bunch of hard-hearted sinners. It's difficult to follow Jesus, in fact, it's humanly impossible; which is why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot save ourselves, but we can accept Jesus as our Saviour, confess our sins daily, and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and makes us every day a little more like Jesus, a little more like Pope Francis!
© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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