Defenders of the Faith Sunday
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37
This Sunday is defenders of the faith Sunday. God invites Christians to become defenders of the faith; with a shield strong and resilient enough to fend off the attackers of the Christian faith. The audacity of the “wicked”, in our first reading, to attack the righteous – “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training” – must be met with a superseding iron-dome of faith to ward it off. This defence is necessary for the salvation of the “wicked”, because Christians need to help others from themselves, just as Jesus did for the redemption of the whole world. Bishop Fred Henry’s approach brings the message close to home.
It was early in 2006. Canada had just legalized same-sex marriage. The audacious Bishop Fred Henry of the Diocese of Calgary was being interviewed by a journalist of CBC news. Bishop Henry was attacked for standing up for the Christian position on heterosexual marriage. He defended himself rhetorically in words like these: why are homosexuals allowed to talk about same-sex marriage, but when I speak of Christian marriage as being between a man and a woman, I am told to keep quiet? When I ask why homosexuals could promote same-sex marriage and I cannot talk about Christian marriage, I am told that homosexuals have freedom of speech that authorizes them to talk about same-sex marriage. I asked further, how come homosexuals have freedom of speech? I was told because they are Canadian citizens. Then, if homosexuals can speak because they have freedom of speech as Canadian citizens, I am a Canadian citizen as well and should be entitled to the same freedom of speech as homosexuals to talk about heterosexual Christian marriage. I should be allowed to talk as much as they do, concluded Bishop Fred Henry.
Brothers and sisters do not believe the contrary! In a battle, no one is neutral; not even the supporters of non-violence are neutral in a battle. It is all about strategy; you’re either an attacker or a defender of the Faith. You know what? we are in battle; the “wicked” are in full attack; the “righteous” must wield the shield of protection in the defence of the Faith. Bishop Fred Henry is one such defender fending off attacks on Christianity.
If our first reading talks about the perennial blood sucking agenda of the “wicked”, our gospel reading shows how Jesus was a victim of the same wicked people. As a matter of fact, Jesus’ death inaugurated the fact that the age of martyrdom is upon. The attacks of the “wicked” have morphed and disguised themselves in the forms of pornography, divorce, paedophilia, abortion, fraud, suicide, relativism of the truth, etc. In the face of such attacks, the children of God have got a multipurpose anti-missile interceptor called CHRISTIAN FAITH. Our faith is a shield because it does not attack, but it neutralizes the missile attacks of the “wicked”.
The “wicked” did not spare Jesus Christ in their attack. In today’s gospel, Jesus Christ teaches us that the campaign of intimidation of the “wicked” must be resisted until death, but a Christian death leads to the resurrection of those killed by the “wicked”: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise”.
Today’s gospel proposes resurrection as the reward of martyrdom and standing up for the Christian faith. Jesus took a “crucifixion” to leave us an example of how to defend the faith with one’s blood, if necessary. Jesus condemns the politics of power, which distracts from the work at hand – the defence of the faith. As a sign of cowardice, Jesus’ disciples could care less about Jesus’ teaching about the centrality of the crucifixion because they were busy arguing about who was the greatest among themselves; likewise our generation behaves like Jesus’ disciples by displaying our cowardice in the battle of faith by refusing to stick out our necks before our contemporary guillotine wielding attackers of the Christian faith. The fact remains that Jesus proposes martyrdom as the best proof of resistance to evil.
The defender of the faith is anyone whose virtuous life conforms to the list of virtues our second reading enumerates: “the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace”. If you are not attacked for standing for the faith, it simply means that you are a member of the “wicked” party, and a champion in attacking the faith. Not to act is already acting! To standby idle why the Christian faith is under attack makes you as good an attacker of the faith as those who attack the faith openly.
If no parent stands by and allows their children to consume poison, no Christian should stand idle and allow the “wicked” to make their way to Hell. It is out of love that a Christian stands up to the attackers of the faith to convict them of sin to save them from self-destruction and eternity in Hell. Otherwise, why would our second reading advise the “wicked”, “Where do the wars and were do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within yourselves?” Sin engulfs the “wicked” before the “wicked” spreads it around to others. The refusal to contain the “wicked” is to aggravate the evil of the “wicked” and allow the Devil to have a field day recruiting members for Hell.
Defenders of the faith Sunday is a recruitment Sunday for the lovers of the Christian faith to rise and make their voices heard. Defenders of the faith Sunday is a crusade to save all souls for God, even at the cost of one’s life, if necessary. Defenders of the faith Sunday is a call to display our love for the “wicked” by dying to save them from Hell Fire. Are you willing to join the campaign to save the “wicked”?
Assignment for the Week:
List when you stood up for the faith.