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June 24, 2017Age and experience have so much to offer us. Time and good choices can mean that we are more prudent, better savers and we are less likely to get frustrated over the little stuff. But it can also mean that our priorities can invert. We can also take for granted that which is truly important.
Jeremiah and fear
The prophet Jeremiah is very forthright about his fears. Jeremiah felt he was too young to be called to be a prophet. Who was going to listen to him anyway? He struggled with doubts about the worth of what he was doing and many rejected him, some violently. He blamed God for his problems. As a prophet he called out the powers that be for their selfishness, greed and lack of care for the people and there was a huge backlash. It would have been a lot easier for him to just go with the flow. At first they just mocked him, then they arrested Jeremiah and finally threw him into a cistern and threatened to kill him. Jeremiah gave voice to his fears.
"I hear the whisperings of many: 'Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him! ' All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. 'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him. ' But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion…” Jer. 20
Jeremiah could have been one more lost voice is a sea of lost voices. In the midst of Jeremiah’s anxiety, however, he felt a sense of a power greater than what he feared, even losing his own life. He began to feel the opposite of fear, that is, peace. But not the way that the world gives peace.
Fear and the peace that Jesus gives
In the Gospel of John Jesus contrasts two kinds of peace: a peace that he leaves us and a peace that the world can give us. He also taught about peace in the Gospel of Matthew.
“Jesus said to the Twelve: "Fear no one…And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna… all the hairs of your head are counted.” Mt. 10
What is the difference? The peace that the world can give to us is not a negative or a bad peace. Financial security, good health and loving relationships are all good things. They are real and it is good, but they are also fragile and inadequate
Peace is fragile if rooted in things that can go away
Financial downturns, chest pains, a visit to the doctor and bad choices by those we love all threaten the peace that we can know in this life. To find real peace, we must go beyond our fears rooted in the perishable. Only God is eternal and the peace that God offers is rooted in a safe and eternal place. We have to prioritize our fears. That requires that we look at the world upside down. St. Jose Sanchez del Rio is an example.
Peace and Priorities: St. Jose Sanchez del Rio
St. Jose Sanchez del Rio was canonized by Pope Francis last year. In 1928, he was a fourteen-year-old caught up in the Cristero Revolt in Mexico. Many think of Mexico as a very Catholic country. It is true that many Mexicans are devout Catholics. Others have violently attacked Christians. The history of the conflict is complicated, but the President of Mexico, Plutarco Calles, shut down all the Catholic churches in Mexico. Priests were forced to leave and many fled to Arizona and other border states. Catholics were attacked when they attended mass and priests who didn’t leave were tortured, shot and hung. Some Mexican Catholics took up arms against the government. The Cristero war was very violent on both sides. Jose volunteered in order to join his two older brothers fighting with the rebels. He was captured during a battle after he gave his horse to his general. Two of his boyhood friends witnessed him tortured, cut with machetes and finally executed by government soldiers when he refused to deny Christ. The details of the story are gruesome. Before he died he traced a cross in the dirt next to his grave and kissed it. It would have been so easy for him and other Catholics to escape with their lives if only they would accept the new Mexican order. St. Jose had prioritized his fears in a different order than normal.
We live in a time of martyrs. There is a huge divide in the world. Violence, intimidation and the abusive use of power characterizes the divide just as in Jeremiah’s time. Catholics in this country and others have spoken out like Jeremiah against the abuse of power and how it affects the unborn, the immigrant and the weak. There will always be a backlash when abuse of power is challenged. Jesus’ words about fear were directed to his disciples who were facing the violence of the Roman Empire. They still resonate today.
The movie For the Greater Glory tells the story of the Cristeros and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio. It is available generally on online movie platforms. Also. St. Jose Sanchez del Rio's image appears in our mural of the Assumption in the parish chapel.
