6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 12, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45 Moved with pity, he said, “…be clean”
Full sermon text: The response of the crowd to Jesus in the Gospel is amazing. We are told that “people kept coming to Him from everywhere.” Americans are not strangers to crowds of this size. Oftentimes concerts and sporting events draw similar crowds. Yet for one man to draw such a crowd consistently is indeed unusual.
From the hills of “Andy Griffith” to ordination in SardiniaIt might seem a wayward path, but Scott Brentwood’s journey began in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Parkway near the town about which “Mayberry RFD” was written, and ended at the altar with Scott receiving ordination in the historic city of Cagliari amidst the balmy breezes of the Mediterranean. See the video, “The Humble Roots of the Ordination of Deacon Scott Brentwood.”
Is God calling you to become a Mercedarian friar? Visit Fr. Joseph Eddy’s page.
Blessed John Paul II was certainly known to draw a crowd wherever he went. Some have said that there is no one in the history of the world who was seen by more people than “the traveling Pope.” This is high praise indeed, but very likely considering the all the pilgrimages he took to different countries and his masterful use of the media. A person with this sort of draw can do a lot of good or a lot of bad. In the case of Blessed John Paul II, he was able to do much to unite people and teach the faith.
Oppression in Poland
One of the first pilgrimages the Pope took, was to his native land of Poland. This nation had a history of suffering unlike any other. For centuries, this small Catholic country was overrun by one regime after another. Most recently, Poland was taken over by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany. Then, shortly after the war Communist Russia moved in and forced its ideology on the Poles. The Communists came, promising equal treatment of all and the sharing of all goods without distinctions based on such things as class or religion. Karl Marx, whose thought heavily influenced Communism, himself referred to religion as the “opium (drug) of the people.” It was meant to be used by the bourgeoisie or upper class to keep the proletariat or the lower class down.
The Communists promised utopia to those who followed its tenants, but what was experienced by the Poles was only another form of oppression. The people soon lost their property, their motivation to better themselves, and their freedom to express themselves. Because of the influence of the Catholic Church in Polish society, it survived under Communism, but not without much struggle and losses. For years the Poles suffered under a regime, which promised much, but ended up degrading the person and causing society to lose the recognition of the dignity of the human person created in the Image of God.
Faced down the regime
After long years of suffering and prayers, God intervened in a dramatic way for the Polish people. For the first time in over 400 years a non-Italian Pope was elected in 1978. This man was from, as he said, a “far off land.” As Karol Wojtyla stepped out on the balcony in St Peter’s Square, the whole world was shocked to see not only a non-Italian, but a man from the land of Poland. Pope John Paul II right away negotiated to make a pilgrimage to his native land in 1979. His nine days in Poland brought the people together in ways unimaginable. The Polish Pope courageously faced down the Communist government and gave the people hope. He told the people to “be not afraid” to face the lies and evil of the regime with the Truth of the Gospel. The Polish people felt a new sense of dignity, and with courage formed the Solidarity Movement to fight for freedom.
Solidarity is the Church’s response to Socialism and Communism. It states that people are united as humans with the dignity of being created in the Image of God. We have a brotherhood that is based on the dignity that we share. Communism recognized in some sense the rights of people, but did so without God. Inevitably any “self-esteem” that is not based in the sense of a loving Creator degenerates into self-centeredness and individualism. Our faith, on the other hand, tells us to share the goods with the poor and help lepers, because no one is unclean to God. Charity comes first from our recognition that God is love and He loves us. We in turn must love each other as God has loved us first. We can’t force charity, because if it does not come from the proper motives then it is not true charity. True charity flows from God and is based on recognition of the dignity of the human person. True charity is contagious and helps others to recognize their dignity. As St. Paul says in the second reading, we are called to “avoid giving offense…try to please everyone in every way not seeking (our) own benefit, but that of many.”
Dignity from God, not state
The Solidarity movement in Poland started “from the bottom up.” People began to recognize their dignity from the example of Pope John Paul II who pointed them to Christ. Each one freely chose to become part of the movement, not held together by force, but by love for God and then for those created in His Image. Once the people united, Communism’s godless depressing society could no longer hold people down.
Let us learn from the solidarity movement in Poland that we each have a part in our society. As Catholics, we are the Body of Christ who each receive the one Eucharist and profess one Faith. We can make our country and the world better by sharing our goods with the neediest. Sharing our physical resources with those in our community freely and generously. But, especially sharing our spiritual resources, our faith, with others. Working together as a community of believers we can make our society better and show the world what true love is.