Fr. JC Maximilian

["Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" by Rembrandt van Rijn]     [Jiang Zongxiu, possible martyr, 2004]

“Terror on every side!”  So cried the Prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading.  The word “terror” has become a fixed part of our modern vocabulary; even if it is an unwelcomed one.  Terror has become a too common tool in the arsenal of people who want to make strong political statements.  This became especially real for many of us after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  The fear that arises from terrorism comes not only from the gravity of the act itself, but also from its unpredictability.  This kind of fear can paralyze us; preventing us from both thinking and acting according to our Christian values.

This kind of fear and intimidation was not a stranger to the Prophet Jeremiah.  He never thought of himself as being well suited for a career as a prophet.  Yet he knew that God had called him to be “a prophet to the nations” from before his birth.  Jeremiah warned his people that God’s judgment was upon them because they had sinned against the covenant they had with God.  Despite the threats and plotting made against him, Jeremiah insisted that the crimes that the people were committing against each other were really crimes against God.  He condemned the military pacts that the king made with neighboring countries, saying that instead Israel should rely on God.  He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and thus was labeled a traitor.  He was publicly punished, then was exiled to Egypt, and, according to tradition, was murdered by his fellow Israelites in exile.  Why did Jeremiah not give in to the intimidation and fear?  He tells us, “The Lord is with me.”  Despite his reservations, despite his anxieties, despite his frustrations, Jeremiah placed all his trust in God, and he offered up all his sufferings for God’s greater glory.

Today’s Gospel reading wants to drive this point home.  This passage comes in the middle of Jesus’ instructions to the Apostles as He is preparing to send them on their first missionary journey.  Three times does Jesus tell them not to be afraid.  Jesus does not want fear and intimidation to paralyze the Apostles.  He wants them “proclaim on the housetops” the Good News of God’s Kingdom.    He reminds them not to be afraid of those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, because eternal life in heaven is more important that the passing life of this world.  And the reason that they can have this courage is because His power, His life, is with them.  “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

The terror and intimidation did not end with Jeremiah, nor with Jesus and the Apostles.  The early Church faced much terror, intimidation and persecution, but it did not end there either.

In 1902 a young Italian girl refused to be intimidated by a man who threatened to kill her because she refused his sexual advances, and he did kill her.  Her courageous witness to Christ, in whom she placed all her trust, had a profound impact on so many people, including her murderer who later turned away from his sinful life, and once out of prison devoted his life to humble service.  In 1950 Pope Pius XII declared that young Italian girl, St. Maria Goretti, and her mother and Alexander Serenelli, the man who murdered her, were present at her canonization.

During the Second World War, a sickly, bookish Polish priest refused to be intimidated by the Nazis, and offered his life in exchange for a fellow prisoner.  St. Maximilian Kolbe was canonized as a martyr of charity.

In June, 2004, a 34 year-old Chinese woman went, with her mother-in-law, to the neighborhood market place where they began to hand out Bibles and talk to people about Jesus Christ.  They were arrested by the Chinese police, interrogated through the night, and condemned the next day.  Sentenced to 15 days in prison for “suspected spreading of rumor and disturbing the social order,” Mrs. Jiang Zongxiu never got to serve that sentence.  The police said that she died, while in custody, of natural causes.  Yet secret sources inside the prison where she was held smuggled out the news that she had really been beaten to death during her interrogation.  All for witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Faithfully following Christ and fulfilling our mission as Christians does not guarantee a suffering-free life here on earth - not even in our modern, enlightened world.  But it does guarantee a meaningful life here, and a very warm, everlasting welcome hereafter.

We too are called to be witnesses of the Gospel.  Few of us will face the terror, intimidation, and persecution that the examples above faced in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, yet how often are we afraid to tell people about our relationship with Jesus?  How often are we afraid to “rock the boat” when family, friends, groups we belong to, are espousing actions and opinions contrary to our Christian values, so we say nothing?  How often do we take the Lord’s Holy Name in vain when things are not going our way and we are frustrated?

Let me leave you with some words from Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, Spe Salvi:

“I would like to add here another brief comment with some relevance for everyday living. There used to be a form of devotion-perhaps less practised today but quite widespread not long ago-that included the idea of “offering up” the minor daily hardships that continually strike at us like irritating “jabs”, thereby giving them a meaning. Of course, there were some exaggerations and perhaps unhealthy applications of this devotion, but we need to ask ourselves whether there may not after all have been something essential and helpful contained within it. What does it mean to offer something up? Those who did so were convinced that they could insert these little annoyances into Christ’s great “com-passion” so that they somehow became part of the treasury of compassion so greatly needed by the human race. In this way, even the small inconveniences of daily life could acquire meaning and contribute to the economy of good and of human love. Maybe we should consider whether it might be judicious to revive this practice ourselves” (Spe Salvi, 40).