Luke combines two short yet interesting parables in today’s Gospel, the mustard seed and the useless servant. With a bit of irony, Jesus is asking the apostles to respond to his love by proclaiming the Kingdom of God for that task will never be done.
We too must proclaim God’s kingdom and love to our fellow citizens. Some don’t realize how much God loves them! So they downplay or even ignore God. Many feel that religion is on the decline in the United States but not so. The US Census shows that only 15% of the country claims to be atheist, agnostic or irreligious yet they are impacting our society with their values. We who are committed to the Kingdom of God need to stand up for our faith for there is a deep malaise in our society.
Headlines often remind us that life is not respected in our country. We have witnessed random acts of terrorism such as the bombings in Boston and mass shootings in places we would least expect. More than a million unborn babies have been killed by abortion each year. No wonder, Pope Francis is urging us, “Open your heart to life!”
Our country’s heart isn’t open to life. The right tomake a choice has taken precedence over the morality of choice. Many people feel that abortion is an acceptable option because the right to choose is more important than the morality of abortion itself.They argue that the Church created the notion that abortion is immoral and that the Church doesn’t have the right to impose its beliefs on others.
The trouble with their argument is that the right to life is based on natural law, not church law, which recognizes, for example, that murder and incest are wrong. Even the Preamble to the Declaration ofIndependence was based on natural law, stating that all peoples have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But do they? What about the unborn, the terminally ill or those on death row?
Our government’s determination to promote and fund abortion has crippled the fabric of our society. Abortion results in the emotional destruction of countless women who allow the life within them to be destroyed because they were told that this is the best thing for them to do. They can’t think about a child now without being immersed in pain. If you are one, then I urge you to contact Project Rachel for help to be reminded that God loves you dearly.
The issue of abortion goes to the core of our being. We cannot be people of faith, placing our trust in God, unless we respect all life, at whatever age, in whatever circumstance.
An elderly lady in good health for her age, told her pastor about an experience she recently had. She went for a routine doctor’s visit. He asked her, “How much longer do you wish to live?” She said, “What kind of question is that?” and stormed out of the doctor’s office, never to return. She did not want a doctor whose quality of care would be determined by the age of the patient yet that doctor was voicing the mindset of a society that does not respect life.
There is power in people who are willing to accept being rejected by the so-called mainstream of society for the sake of standing up for all life, whether that life is about to be born or about to come to its natural conclusion or anywhere in between for God has given them the faith they need.
The apostles implored Jesus to increase their faith. The late Fr. Andrew Greeley once said, “There is no such thing as a little faith any more than there is a little pregnancy. Faith is an overwhelming power no matter how weak it may seem.” Yet, faith can be lost; it is a gift and thus can be refused. In his letter to Timothy, St. Paul uses a dramatic image of a disaster at sea by saying, “Some have made a shipwreck of their faith by rejecting conscience.”
We need to confront the weakening of conscience in modern society by educating our own. Too many people fail to distinguish between good and evil when dealing with the value of human life. Many who once had their conscience formed by the Ten Commandments, Christ’s moral teachings, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit are now swayed by amoral confusion that leads them to support choices and policies that desecrate life.
We aren’t living our faith if we do nothing about the suffering in our midst. There is much we can do to help protect the vulnerable from abuse and death.Helping even one vulnerable person in need will make a difference. Doing so is not an option for we will only be doing what we were obliged to do.
The irony is that lasting happiness in this life is found in giving of oneself generously to others, loving gratuitously and seeking nothing in return.. Those who love need no other reward beyond the happiness they feel in knowing they have brought comfort to another person.