“God is Love” ~Good Friday 3/16
This post is based on John 4:8
Yesterday, my 16-year-old asked for a Biblical clarification. She struggles with the whole church/faith thing, but she respects it and believes that it is every person’s right to believe and practice what they believe. She has been raised to understand that our reality is not everyone’s reality and therefore each of us has a different but just as valuable path to God. Because of our baptism, hers and mine, ours is through the divinity of Jesus. But she knows that there is much more to God’s reality. Our faith is vital to us. My faith is everything to me. Because I am so bound and convicted in my own, I allow others the space to be bound and convicted in their own understanding that God is great, diverse and unlimited despite my desire to confine God.
But let me share the backdrop so that you can see the basis for her worldview.
She lives in an affluent, high achieving suburb that borders on a struggling, ethnically diverse city. Our parish has some of the wealthiest families in the area as well as some of the poorest and as a mission parish, we serve refugees, the homeless and indigent. Her first hand experience of seeing both sides of life enables an understanding that we don’t all have to be the same for us to be equal. She knows that no matter what your situation, we are all just people doing what we do and for the most part, the best we can do. So when she saw a post on Instagram that was spewing hate about Islam and accusing its holy book, the Quran, of only inciting violence she was a little taken aback because she is aware that the Bible (our Holy Book) is filled with violent scenes as well (she wanted to make sure she was remembering it right and thus the clarification).
I write this post on Good Friday, the day that a Jewish man is murdered because he is speaking God’s truth, in obedience to his Father, to all people.
Violence and a desire to follow our own agenda is part of the human condition. We are all guilty of it. Islamic terrorists are like Christian terrorists in that they are manipulating Scripture to their own twisted end. Today’s culture as well as history in general is rife with people twisting God’s sacred word for their own purposes. (Ex: A moment in the Iowa caucus comes to mind when Ted Cruz said that there are people all around the state on their knees to ensure that he would win followed by “you’re gonna get your guns back!” This, I happened to catch while watching him on Periscope. I am pretty sure that praying that Cruz will win and make us a more heavily armed nation is just wee bit counter to the teachings of Jesus. After all, he healed Malchus’s ear after Peter cut it off with his sword during his arrest. But I digress.)
I think we can all agree where Jesus stands on violence. It’s just not his schtick.
As Catholics, we do not subscribe to a fundamental interpretation of Scripture and we do not disrespect a faith that begins with Abraham, because he is our father as well. My daughter knows this. She knows, precisely because of her faith, that this is completely off base. We, as Catholic Christians, are called by Jesus Christ to love our neighbors, it doesn’t qualify…unless your neighbor is this or that.
But I think this is the very heart of the problem. Some people think it is okay to dismiss the beliefs of others because they are not the same as theirs, even though they may have never really taken the time to really examine what they profess to believe. Some people just assume that they are right and others are wrong. We are all guilty of this on some level, but the 1.6 billion peaceful Muslims in the world should not have to suffer because of our ignorance. Just as Christians shouldn’t have to suffer because of theirs. Imagine a world where we were interested in what others believed because we were able to see that God is in all of it in some way. If we believe that God created everything, it only stands to reason that God intends everything for his glory. I cannot claim to know more than what God has shown me through my faith and through his people.
So, on this Holy Friday…which has been so good for all of us, maybe we could ask ourselves, “Do I allow God to come to me in all forms? Are my own beliefs so stringent that I cannot imagine God in anything other than what I am comfortable with?” Whatever the answer, ask God for the grace to understand that which you struggle with. God is so generous and will give you anything you desire, but you have to ask, you have to want it and you have to engage.
Loved reading this. I know your faith is a huge part of your life and it shows in all that you do which I love about you. My oldest questioned her faith and asked not to be confirmed as to her confirmation was her choosing her religion and she didn’t want to be a part of that religion formally. She was upset and disgusted by those that called themselves “religious” but were judgmental and harmful to others all while using their religion as evidence of their beliefs. It’s interesting to see our children process what religion means to them and at the same time see them realize how people “use” their religion to defend their thoughts and actions. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone could just get along and accept that we all have different views which doesn’t make us better than others just different? So simplistic I know but man, I’m over all of this violence and hatred.
Syd was the same way last year, eventually she went through with it but she had the same misgivings. We had a lot of real discussions and still do and she waffles between having nothing against the Catholic church to not wanting to subscribe to any religion. That is the hallmark of this generation though; not affiliating. Who can blame them, really? When people refuse to live up to what they say they believe? M was a little different, she didn’t want to initially either but in the end she did and chose a powerful name; Ignatius. Her view is about changing the world from the inside. We also have an extraordinary Confirmation teacher downtown, he is truly a walking saint. He is also a school psychologist and father of four so he gets teens really well. That is what mattered the most to Syd, she had a safe place to express all of her misgivings and still be welcomed, accepted and appreciated. In the end, I hate the age we do confirmation, it is the worst age in so many ways. But it is what it is. I have a lot of faith in the grace of each sacrament so I just want them to have access to that. What they do with it in the end is entirely theirs. I made a promise at baptism to bring them up in the faith as did you, we both fulfilled our promises. Not much more we can do. Loved this comment, Anne!! Thank you for sharing!