Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
“They took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.” John 8:59
Back in the 1950s, on his popular television show, Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen had this to say in response to todays’ Gospel and the attempted stoning of Jesus:
To quote him here….
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world. In other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be that if Christ is in any one of the churches, he must still be scorned as he was when he was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world!
Look for the Church…
- which is accused of being behind the times, as our Lord was accused of being ignorant. ● which is sneered at as inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because he came from Nazareth.
- which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils.
- which, in seasons of bigotry, opponents say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God.
- which the world rejects because it claims it has the truth, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called himself the truth.
- which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected.
- which, amid the confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ and respect its voice as the very voice of its founder.”
Sheen said this prior to the Second Vatican Council which opened wide the door to ecumanism.
We no longer view Protestants as “systematics” and “heretics” but as “separated brethren.” Instead of “the one true Church,” we define ourselves as “holding the fullness of divine revelation” and the separated churches as “sharing in that revelation.” That’s a far cry from what (now “Venerable”) Bishop Sheen, eloquent as he was, had to say seven decades ago.
But in truth, some of the scorn and anger that people have towards our Church we brought upon ourselves, decades of coverups and revelations have shown.
Nevertheless, what he wrote in conjunction with today’s drama from John’s Gospel, is still filled with truth. The Church, if it is to be the Church, must emulate Christ in all things. And this must include persecution and rejection. We must be a Church that “does not get along with the world.”
What form does that take in our Family of Parishes?
—Timothy J. Cronin