Not in Kansas Anymore

Enjoying the ride of happiness and hostility

04/15/2023

Mk 16:9-15 When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

In the past 2,000 years, sometimes the Church and secular society walked happily hand-in-hand, but at other times we came to fisticuffs and fights. Sometimes it was a happy marriage, at other times it was a bitter divorce. For example, shortly after Emperor Constantine signed the Edict of Milan in 313, Christianity gradually became the official religion of the Roman Empire. But in the preceding three hundred years Christians were social pariahs and common criminals and persecuted.

In the Middle Ages the Church and society were again friendly, building churches and monasteries and Catholic universities with public funds. But after the Protestant Reformation in 1517, Catholics started to suffer persecution in countries controlled by Protestant monarchs. And by the way, Catholics were not always the victims; we did our fair share of torturing and killing those who professed Protestantism. It was sometimes a happy marriage, sometimes a bitter divorce.

We see the first hints of this happiness and hostility in the Scripture readings today. Indeed, we see hints of everything in the Bible. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus helps the apostles to overcome their fear and trepidation and joyfully proclaim the gospel. And they are often met with warmly receptive crowds and eager converts. But in the Acts of the Apostles, they also meet official opposition from the Jewish leaders, who forbid them to preach and teach in the name of Jesus. In other words, the Church and culture are often swinging back and forth from a happy marriage to a bitter divorce, from happiness to hostility.

My friends, have you experienced this happiness and hostility in your faith life, in your journey with Jesus? Perhaps last Sunday (Easter) your whole family happily dressed up and went to Mass. But this coming Sunday, if you suggest they go to Mass again, you will get long looks and maybe even be rejected and rebuffed.

The late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago is reported to have said: “I will die in my bed. My successor will die in prison. His successor will die in his blood.” In other words, the Catholic Church and secular society in Chicago may be getting along swimmingly today, but soon that amicable relationship will become fisticuffs; a happy marriage will become a bitter divorce.

Folks, I would submit to you that in a sense, this pendulum swing is inevitable. Why is that? Well, one of my favorite Scripture passages is Hb 13:14, which reminds us: “Here we have no lasting city, but we await the one that is to come.” That is, our true and permanent home is not Fort Smith, or Arkansas, or even the United States – they are not “lasting.” Rather, our home is the heavenly Jerusalem. And so when our relationship with secular society changes from happiness to hostility, we are reminded of Hb 13:14. We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Another reason happiness becomes hostility is that our moral teaching is very disagreeable to modern minds. No abortion, no women priests, lenient and humane immigration laws, celibacy for priests, no capital punishment, no contraception, no remarriage without an annulment, no cohabitation before marriage. All these teachings, and many, many others, sound like nails on the chalkboard to modern ears.

And what the result? Friends become foes. In other words, as long as we keep quiet about the disagreeable and only emphasize the agreeable, we can all just be friends and get along. But as Peter, the first pope, said in Acts 4 this morning: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard." That was true in the first century and it remains true in every century.

So, what should we do about this rollercoaster relationship of Church and society? Well, I think we should just enjoy the ride – it is the inherent dynamic of being IN the world but not OF the world. And as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, everything else will be okay. Like Agent Smith said to Neo in the movie, “The Matrix” – “Do you hear that Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!