Oct
29
A Clouded Mind
October 29, 2007 |
What can cloud a person’s mind so much that they say and believe utter nonsense?
For me, I’m sitting here still trying to digest the Bengals’ loss to the Steelers - yet again (we haven’t beaten the Steelers at home since 2002 - jeez!). Do I believe the utter nonsense that my Bengals will ever be consistently good? Is my mind still clouded by the “glory years” of the ’80s (i.e. 2 Super Bowl appearances) and the unrealized promise given us in the early years of the Marvin Lewis era? Probably, but I’m trying not to dwell on all of that.
Instead, I turn to today’s gospel (Luke 13: 10-17), which has the rather ridiculous story of the Jewish leaders going after Christ for healing a disabled woman on the Sabbath.
The leaders were so intent on nailing Christ for something, anything, that they found themselves in the position of attacking Christ for healing a woman who had severely suffered for eighteen years (”bent over, completely incapable of standing erect”).
Christ did away with this silliness and left the leaders once again looking cold-hearted and out-of-touch.
So what’s the modern take on this story?
Today, the Catholic Church does great things all around the world, especially in the U.S. We are on the right side of the front lines of almost every human tragedy in our world. We are Christ’s face of service, mercy and forgiveness to millions of those who have nowhere else to turn.
Yet, we are attacked, questioned, suspected. Films like The DaVinci Code and The Last Temptation of Christ come out and too many non-Catholics (and Catholics) eat it up, believing every word.
Yes, we have folks in our day and age who would relate to the leaders in Luke 13 - trying so hard to nail Catholicism that they will say and believe utter nonsense.
So, what do we do?
We stand up for our Church. We educate ourselves and others on the truth. We recognize that there are folks who will attack us as Catholics to further their own agendas. We don’t give in to the distortions, half-truths and outright lies that are told.
Let us not be afraid to do what is right - to defend a noble purpose - to stand firm for those who cannot do so themselves.
Let us break through the clouds and not be afraid to heal on the Sabbath.
And let us not be afraid to believe in miracles, like the Bengals ever actually beating the Steelers at home or making it back to the playoffs!
