Homily: 6th Sunday in Easter – Cycle C
Today/Yesterday
is/was the feast of the Mexican Martyrs, Saint Christopher Magallanes and 24
others who were murdered during the persecution of the Church in Mexico that
occurred under President Plutarco Calles in the 1920s. Probably, most of you know the story, but for
those who may not, I’ll recount a quick summary. President Calles was an avowed atheist who
held a grudge against the Catholic Church since his upbringing. When he became president, he decided to enact
and enforce many anticlerical laws both limiting and sometimes forbidding the public
practice of the Catholic faith in Mexico.
These laws were rigorously enforced and those that ignored the laws,
especially priests, were frequently murdered by law enforcement, usually
without even so much as a show trial.
Saint
Christopher Magallanes and the other priests and laypersons canonized with him
were some of those who refused to obey the unjust laws that restricted their
freedom to exercise their religion and to worship God openly. As a sign of their refusal to obey the unjust
President Calles, and as a sign of the one to whom their allegiance lay, they
would cry out the now famous cry, “Long live Christ the King!” These saints responded as the Apostles did
when they were ordered to stop teaching about Jesus. To the high priest and the Sanhedrin they
replied, “We must obey God rather than men” and then continued to proclaim Jesus
openly to all. The Mexican martyrs
showed that this basic rule still applies to Christians today: “We must obey
God rather than men”, even when we are threatened with persecution and death.
In
a way, even here in the United States, this is still a challenge for us
today. The world around us has grown
incredibly permissive of actions that are offensive to our humanity and,
therefore, offensive to God, in whose image our humanity is created. This permissive culture has grown more and
more intolerant of any voices that speak against it. At present, this is not an overt oppression
(like the anticlerical laws of the Calles government), but it is, nonetheless,
an oppression that seeks to silence our voices.
Too often, I think, we allow our voices to be silenced. In other words, we are concerned with the threats
that our fellow man makes against us and, therefore, decide to obey them,
rather than God. This is a scandal, but
it is one that we can overcome.
One
way that we can overcome this scandal is to remember our role as Christians in
the world. An ancient Christian writer described
Christians in this way: “Christians are indistinguishable from other men either
by nationality, language, or customs.
The do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange
dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life… And yet there is something extraordinary
about their lives. They live in their
own countries as though they were only passing through… They live in the flesh,
but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh… Obedient to the laws,
they yet live on a level that transcends the law…
“To
speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the
soul is to the body… The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because
of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul
places on its pleasures… Christians love those who hate them just as the soul
loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body,
that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians,
detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together… Such is
the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not
permitted to excuse himself.”
By
our continuing to proclaim the name of Jesus and his teaching, in spite of the
forces striving to silence us, we are not merely expressing our opinion or
preference. Rather, we are fulfilling
our divine calling to be the soul that directs the body in its proper action
for its own good and flourishing. When
we recognize and accept this call, we find courage to stand up to the
permissiveness of the day, which seeks to silence our voices, and to say, “We
must obey God rather than men”.
Another
way that we can overcome this scandal is by embracing the power of the Holy
Spirit that is within us. The Apostles,
who stood before the Sanhedrin, and the Mexican martyrs, who stood before the
firing squads, all did so in the power of the Holy Spirit that was within
them. By our baptism, we, too, have been
given the Holy Spirit. When Jesus told
his Apostles that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to them, he called the
Spirit “the Advocate”. An “advocate” is
one who speaks on behalf of another. Thus,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends, is the one who will speak on our
behalf, even when we may be too afraid to speak, if only we acknowledge his
presence in us and allow him to speak through us.
Brothers
and sisters, as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s Ascension next Sunday and the
sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in two weeks, we are called to continue
to our preparation to receive the renewal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit within
us. We do this by continuing to
celebrate the great mystery of our salvation: Jesus Christ risen from the
dead. Therefore, our “alleluias” must
continue to be filled with the joy of the resurrection and the new life that it
has made possible for us. We prepare
also by learning about the saints, like the Mexican martyrs, who give us
examples of how the power of the Holy Spirit within us can lead us to speak
boldly about Jesus and his teachings (which are the teachings of the Church),
in spite of the forces working to oppress us.
Finally, we do this by calling on the Holy Spirit and asking him to come
to us and to fill us with his power, praying “Come, Holy Spirit” frequently
throughout our day.
As
we celebrate this Holy Eucharist today, let us give thanks for the witness of
the martyrs and for this Gift that God has given us in Christ Jesus; and let us
be ready to allow the power of this Gift to manifest itself in our lives for
his glory and for the good of all those around us.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – May 21st,
2022
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish:
Monticello, IN, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel, IN – May 22nd,
2022
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