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My Lord and My God! An Easter Reflection April 15, 2007 By Philip D. Ropp |
The solemnity of Lent has drawn to a close and now we find ourselves celebrating the joy of the Easter season. Today, this season stretches out before us, as we await the celebration of the Lord’s Ascension on May 17 and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on May 27. A current catch phrase among the clergy is the proclamation to the faithful that we are an “Easter people,” as we have participated in a mystical way in the Resurrection of Christ. We are referred to as the “Risen Church,” and informed that this is indeed cause for great celebration. We are told to feel good about ourselves, yet we do not seem to be told why this should be. Since we have, to the best of my knowledge, assembled here very much encased in the flesh of our physical bodies, it seems that we might do well to examine such claims as these. Too often in this modern day, in these twenty-first century times when high technology has provided us with a level of creature comfort and an unbridled arrogance unprecedented in history, mass media preaches a new gospel of science as true savior, and has named this godless faith “secular humanism.” This has spawned a generation of human beings so spiritually ignorant as to believe that true faith is merely another form of primitive superstition, and so every public expression of love for God results in howls of protest. So accepted is this scientific dogma of secular humanism within modern society, that we shouldn’t wonder that it has invaded so many of our seminaries and institutions of higher learning and turned out far too many clergy and religious that believe that human reason is the equivalent of Divine Revelation. In my own experience with modern, liberal Catholic higher education, I was taught that Jesus’ humanity was more important than his divinity. I was taught that the Immaculate Conception was a false dogma and so Mary and, in turn, Jesus was born under the stain of original sin. I was taught that physical liberation from poverty and human suffering was the modern definition of salvation. I was taught that John Dominic Crossan, a professor at It is precisely this attempt to adjust truth to fit a particular agenda that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called the “dictatorship of relativism.” And while this expression has garnered much attention when applied to the radical left within the church, it should be noted that there is another dictatorship of relativism that applies equally to the radical right. Just as deadly as denying the true faith of Christ is the opposite effort exerted by those that believe they have the right and duty to define the practice of the faith to the last letter of the law. In so doing what they prove is that the Pharisees are alive and well and practicing their own peculiar version of Catholicism – and it is every bit as destructive as the legalistic Judaism that cost Jesus his life. These are the self proclaimed true believers that have declared themselves more Catholic than their priest, bishop and pope. They will not hesitate to declare that the only correct Mass is the Latin, that confession for everyone must be made according to their own predetermined schedule, and that every detail of the liturgy must conform to their rigid understanding of the missal – which most of them have never read. And so the most profound teaching of the Christian faith means nothing to them and the Eucharist itself should be declared invalid if they deem that Father’s chair is slightly askew, his vestments not quite correct, or the gifts presented in a way they find unacceptable. In general, this dictatorship of relativism rears its ugly head whenever we human beings fail to recognize the truth of our own fallen nature. It does not matter if this is done by denying the validity of sin the way the left does, or by placing oneself above sin as do those on the right. During the twentieth century, the far left communism of the Marxist-Leninists and the extreme right fascism of the National Socialists combined to murder untold millions of innocent people. The varying political philosophies of Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler mattered not to the dead. In like manner, neither the false religion of the Catholic left nor the false dogmatism of the Catholic right has any bearing on souls that are lost when either obscures the true faith of Jesus Christ. The driving force behind both of these manifestations of the dictatorship of relativism within the church is the secular humanism that propels modern western culture towards the oblivion of a world devoid of any meaningful relationship to God. By definition, secular humanism places humanity at the center of its own universe. It seeks to create a world without meaningful religion, and serves to push God from his throne so that he might be replaced by those among us most wicked and capable of seizing the reigns of worldly wealth and power. This is the simple reality that lurks behind the wars and rumors of wars and all the rhetoric concerning the earth and its environs. It all comes down to controlling people and money. This is that worldly power that the Book of Revelation calls “Mystery Babylon” and secular humanism is its state religion. For the full realization of Mystery Babylon upon the earth, secular humanism must displace the true faith of Jesus Christ. To displace the true faith of Jesus Christ, secular humanism is promoted within his church under the guise of the dictatorship of relativism. And so the Catholic left embraces the religion of secular humanism in the form of feminism, gay rights, and the redistribution of earthly wealth and tries to sell sin as Christian salvation. The Catholic right counters with a reactionary legalism that seeks to reverse the Council of Trent (let alone Vatican II) and return the church to the days of the Inquisition. And so, as Stealers Wheel once sang, “Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.” And as long as we understand who we are and where we are, it is not a bad place to be. We can be Easter people. We can claim the honor of the At the Cross we, too, like the apostles are sifted like wheat. And we find that we are weighed in the balance and found wanting. We find that we identify all too easily with the weakness exhibited by the crowds and in the disciples. We have participated in the irreverence of those that claimed to believe in him and acclaimed him Lord when he entered into the If we are truly an Easter people, then it is because we have seen and believed. If we are truly the |
April 15, 2007 
Acts 5:12-16 Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s portico. None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them. Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them. Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. A large number of people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered, bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting. or: R. Alleluia. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD say, “His mercy endures forever.” R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting. or: R. Alleluia. I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just: R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting. or: R. Alleluia. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. R. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting. or: R. Alleluia. Reading II Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said, “Write on a scroll what you see.” Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.” Gospel Jn 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. |