From the Pastor:
The gospel passage for this Sunday is shorter than normal. It is only five verses from the Gospel of Mark, and the last verse is as follows: When Jesus “saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He began to teach them many things.” From this we are reminded that God is “inwardly moved” with “compassion” for us when we act contrary to our earthly and eternal good.
As our nation continues to process through the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, we need to look deeper than politics and popular opinion. The news media, which is obsessed with drama more than facts, is not helping our polarized situation. Their doing so fuels the fires of discord and division. Violence toward politicians is not a recent problem, but what is are the increasing levels of bitterness and hatred in society. It’s an epidemic of its own.
There have always been evil and mentally unstable people, however their mindset is being adopted by more and more people. Surveys over the past few years reveal an increasing number of Americans believe it is morally permissible to kill (murder) politicians and elected officials for various reasons. Depending on the reason, anywhere from 10% to 25% are of this thinking! What??? How did we get to this point?? This is the truly disturbing news that isn’t reported on and discussed as it should be. Without God’s teachings and commandments we become the “sheep without a shepherd” in today’s gospel.
Many people have told me of how they wish Jesus was one of the choices for president. The hope is that Jesus would set us on the correct path and lead our nation to where it needs to go. We want to say everything would be better with Jesus as president, but as we think more about this, we realize that would not be the case. Jesus already entered into the world as the leader of every nation. He is the Messiah. The message we would hear from the White House would be the same He gave in Samaria and Galilee.
The civil landscape did not change overnight when Jesus entered the darkness (literally) of our world. Everything wasn’t somehow different in the morning with His physical presence in a village or even someone’s house. Jesus spoke directly to the hearts and minds of people, but many rejected Him as He stood in their midst. Whether their rejection was polite or blatant, the effect was still the same. Selfishness and pride are more destructive than most people realize and more present in their lives than they realize.
Politics and government programs, as necessary as they are, are not going to solve the problems of our society by themselves. Changing the direction of any democratic nation requires changing the soul of the nation, which is the minds and hearts of its citizens. That is where we need greater focus of our energy and resources.
It might seem overwhelming, but Christians have almost always been the underdog. God’s grace and His commandments enable us to provide a Godly example. Jesus tells us that our prayer and penance can break through people’s hardness of heart. So we do have hope, regardless of who is elected. Christ gave us the path forward. It is not as glamorous, but have no doubt about its effectiveness.
Prayerfully,
Fr. Miller