Tossed Caesar Salad
The gentleman coming out of Mass one summer Sunday morning marched right over to me, and I could tell he was determined to get to me before anyone else. Such a scenario is usually never good.
“Father, I’m sensing with a lot of you younger priests that you’re mixing politics and religion in your sermons lately. Stay in your lane, Padre.”
I remember standing there, somewhat taken aback and – because it’s my nature, quite frankly – almost ready to apologize to him. My mind is racing at this point: What did I say to upset him? Did I come right out and speak-out against our political leaders or civil laws?
I very clearly remember saying in response: “I’m sorry you feel that way.” He walked away at that point.
Looking back, I’m sorry I apologized.
Here’s why: Jesus never apologized, not when it came to speaking truth to power.
This was the One who called Herod a “fox” for his deceitful ways; the One who knew that it was the same political machine that was responsible for beheading his cousin and forerunner, John the Baptizer. He would intimately know the countless stories of kings and judges throughout the centuries who betrayed the Hebrew people on their journey. And lest we forget, politics was partially responsible for putting Christ on the Cross.
So, yes, Jesus spoke the Truth to corrupt and sinful power, and as Our Savior, so His Bride the Church.
Shame on us if we fail to do so; shame on us if we back down from proclaiming the Gospel Truth to the world in which we live.
Jesus Christ did not come to save us so that we could live in a bubble where faith and religion only matter inside a Church building or synagogue. That’s not what it means to live faith authentically.
Christ came so that every part of Him – his peace, mercy and forgiving love – is woven into the world around us; that this Kingdom in which we reside as tenant farmers becomes fully His. After all, it is He – Creator God – who gave us all of this in the first place.
So how dare we separate faith from the world? How dare we “stay in our lane?”
Jesus makes it clear in today’s Gospel, and it is also evident in the first reading with pagan King Cyrus saving the Jewish people: Faith must have a place at the table. Without it, we live in utter chaos.
Here is where I pause to let one ponder the state of our current world and culture.
I know the argument, of course. We all do: “Father, look at all the wars and troubles begun over religion. You can’t tell me that religious faith should be taken seriously in the world of government. Separation of Church and state is our bedrock, and I can’t force my Christian (or other religious) beliefs on others.”