The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Dear brothers
and sisters,
Into what have
you placed your heart? To what have you given your heart? I ask this question today
because a short time ago we prayed together asking God that “we may celebrate
with heartfelt devotion these days of joy” (Collect).
This is another way of asking God that we might dedicate our hearts to him fully,
totally, completely, so as to keep the joy of the Resurrection.
We give our
hearts – or at least part of them – to so many different passing things, all in
the vain hope that these things might fill us with joy. They might – it is true
– provide some small joy for a time (as a good book does), but these things
always leave us wanting more (like another good book, for example).
Although very
few people think of it this way, every time we pray the Creed, Mother Church
invites us to dedicate our hearts anew to God, to place our hearts completely
in him. Sadly, in many places, people’s first reaction to the words, “I believe
in one God,” may be a sigh or a silent grumble that this takes too long. What
does you heart say at this moment of the Mass?
The Creed, the Profession
of Faith, begins, in Latin, with credo,
which translates to “I believe.” In the original Latin, however, it means
something a bit more.
Some
suggest credo is made up of two
smaller words: cor is the word for “heart,”
as in “coronary” or “cordially,” and do
means “I give” and is the origin of “donate.” Thus, the words “I believe” are
no simple nod to what God says in the readings – as we might give to the
country station versus talk radio. Rather, saying “I believe” is putting one’s
whole heart on the line for the Word of God just heard. If I have heard with
the ear of the heart, I can then give myself wholeheartedly back to God: “I
believe” – which is the response He wishes to hear.[1]
Is this what
happens when you take part in the recitation of the Creed? Do you simply mumble
through the words, or have you allowed them to become part of the fiber of your
being? Have you placed your whole heart in God through them?
To say “I believe
in God” means not only placing one’s whole heart in God; it also means keeping
the word of God (cf. John 14:23). To put it another way, “being a Christian
means having love: it means achieving the Copernican revolution in our
existence, by which we cease to make ourselves the center of the universe, with
everyone else revolving around us.”[2]
Believing
in God thus makes us harbingers of values that often do not coincide with the
fashion and opinion of the moment. It requires us to adopt criteria and assume
forms of conduct that are not part of the common mind-set. Christians must not
be afraid to go “against the current” in order to live their faith, resisting
the temptation to “conform.” In many of our societies, God has become the “great
absent One”, and many idols have supplanted him, multiform idols, especially
possession and the autonomous “I”. And even the major and positive breakthroughs
of science and technology have instilled in people an illusion of omnipotence and
self-sufficiency and an increasing egotism which has created many imbalances in
interpersonal relations and social behavior.[3]
In recent decades,
and especially in recent weeks, the power of the autonomous “I” and the
imbalance in interpersonal relations has reared its ugly head in the horror of
the demands for abortion without restriction which says my life is more important
than another life. This is not the way of the Christian; this is not the way of
love.
Here in
Illinois, as the legislative session draws to a close on May 31st,
our politicians are seeking to sneak through a horrendous piece of legislation
in both chambers of the General Assembly. The House will reconvene at 4:00 p.m.
today and legislators will be in session tomorrow on Memorial Day. Although
they have not yet taken a vote on identical bills both misnamed the
"Reproductive Health Act" that would go further than Roe v. Wade in
eliminating rights for the unborn child, as well as jeopardizing conscience
protections for doctors, nurses, and hospitals who refuse to participate in an
abortion – you can be sure that the opponents of the Gospel of Life want to
force these bills through. The legislation specifically states: "A
fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the
laws of this State." This claim stands in stark contrast to the findings
of science that such a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus is, in fact, a human
being, as every embryology textbook clearly states. At the same time, such a
statement seeks to deprive small and weak humans of the Constitutional right to
the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Both bills would
repeal the Illinois Parental Notification of Abortion Act, which requires a
parent or legal guardian to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion. The law
already allows for exceptions - including children physically or sexually
abused - as well as a waiver if notification is not in the best interest of the
child. Every state that surrounds Illinois requires at least parental
notification when a minor seeks an abortion.
Minors today in
Illinois cannot legally use an indoor tanning bed; buy cigarettes, alcohol, or
lottery tickets; apply for a credit card, or vote in an election. They need
parental consent if they want to get a tattoo or body piercing, or join the
armed forces. To forbid these activities to a minor while at the same time
allowing them to procure an abortion – which can lead to the death of a minor
and causes grave psychological harm and trauma – is simply ridiculous and not
in keeping with sincere love.
On Friday, the
Holy Father Pope Francis asked an important and striking question: “Is it licit
to throw away a life to solve a problem? Is it licit to hire a hitman to
resolve a problem?”[4]
He has, of course, received some criticism for posing the question in this way,
but what else do we call someone hired to kill an innocent person but a hitman?
What has unsurprisingly received less attention is His Holiness insistence that
we need “a culture that recognizes the value of life, a culture that recognizes
in every face, even the smallest, the face of Jesus.”[5] Seeing
the face of the unborn children in a sonogram image, who can deny the value and
the dignity of even the smallest of persons?
There is perhaps
still time to stop this legislation from passing, but only if Christians in the
Land of Lincoln hold fast to what they say in the Creed. Only if we act with
the bold courage of love can we work to end the culture of death and bring
about the culture of life. Have you placed your heart firmly enough in God to
live out what the Creed requires? Do you love enough to bother to make a simple
phone call or to send an e-mail to our legislators? Perhaps you might be
worried what others will think of you for defending the rights of all people.
If so, hear again the words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give
to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be
troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). If we place our hearts wholly in God, then -
through the reception of the Holy Eucharist - he will “pour into our hearts the
strength of this saving food” and conform us to the mysteries of his mighty
love (Prayer After Communion; cf. Prayer Over the Offerings). Let us, then,
place hearts wholly in God – and not in ourselves – that he might place his
heart wholly in us. Amen.
[1] Christopher Carstens, A Devotional Journey into the Mas: How Mass
Can Become a Time of Grace, Nourishment, and Devotion (Manchester, New
Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2017), 46.
[2] Joseph Ratzinger, Credo for Today: What Christians Believe
(San Francisco, California: Ignatius Press, 2009), 11.
[3] Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience Address, 23 January
2013.
[4] Pope Francis, in Nicole Winfield, “Pope:Abortion Is Never OK, equates it to ‘hiring a hitman,” Associated Press, 25 May
2019.
[5] Pope Francis, in “Pope Francis:Foster a culture that recognizes the value of life,” Vatican News, 24 May 2019.
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