Second Sunday of Easter, Apr. 15, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin
(Full text of sermon) What an unspeakably beautiful gospel. How often I have pictured that scene—how often artists have painted it—where the once-dead Jesus—appears to doubting Thomas and asks Thomas to inspect the wounds in Jesus’ hands and in His side—to see if it is really Jesus. And Thomas falls to his knees and says the words that have echoed through the centuries for the next two thousand years: “My Lord and my God.” Now Jesus appeared for forty days to the Apostles and the Disciples. Hundreds of people actually saw Him. And that story was told to us a hundred years later—a thousand years later and two thousand years later as proof that Jesus did truly rise from the dead—and for no less a reason than that we might come to believe that He is the Son of God and that through Him we might have life.
God chose you to become Catholic
Did you ever wonder why—of all the religions in the world—God chose you to be a Catholic? Oh sure you could say it was just because of your family. You are Catholic by default, and there wasn’t any choice. But maybe it was because God chose you—in this time—in this day and age—to be His Disciple. Because He needs you now more than ever. So that by your words and ways—by your kindness and inner strength in the face of temptations and evil—by what people see in you, they will be encouraged to ask: Why are these Catholics different? Why do they do what they do and say what they say?
And if the Gospel today tells us anything it is that if we are His Disciples and therefore witnesses of the Resurrection, then His wounds are our wounds. The holes in His hands and feet and sides are holes in our hands and feet and sides. We identify most surely with Jesus if we are willing to suffer for His sake. Our personal wounds will prove that we are His disciples. That is how deep membership in the Church is. It is no less than a participation in the very Body of Christ— risen, of course, but also crucified. We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. He is the head and we are the hands and feet. Insofar as we are Catholic we are His Presence in the world. If He lives, we live. If He suffers, we must suffer, If He rises from the dead—so too do we. It is that deep. It is that Mystical. It is that supernatural.
Not a club
We cannot ever allow ourselves to be persuaded that belonging to the Catholic Church is like belonging to some club or society of men and women. That is exactly how modern society understands the church—as some sort of human organization or agency—with no more authority to teach or preach, persuade or influence or govern lives than does the Moose Club. And in fact, according to Liberal Democratic Masonic ideals on which America was founded, the Catholic Church needs to be regulated by the government. We, of course, reject that because the Catholic Church is the very Body of Christ on earth and is not regulated by any human agency. My goodness! The Catholic Church is either the Voice of God and the Will of God and the Grace of God in this world—or it is nothing.
No government permission
The Catholic Church does not need governmental interference or state permission to do anything that she does. The Catholic Church does not need an act of congress or a mandate of the President or approval by the President’s wife to act as the Body of Christ in the world. Yes, the members of the Church are sometimes flawed. We are not perfect. We are vessels of clay. But together as Catholics we are a perfect society. We are the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ teaches the world what it must believe or do in order to be saved. Sorry—no Harvard Puritans or Enlightenment geniuses can save the world—only Christ and Him crucified and that proclaimed authoritatively by the Catholic Church.
Of course, saying so, won’t convince our erstwhile Masters. They will spare no effort to demean the Church and diminish her role in the world. They hate the Catholic Church so much because they know that only the Catholic Church stands in the way of their usually hurtful policies and programs. They bombard us constantly with the propaganda that the government is our friend. The government will help us fulfill our lives by giving us unbridled freedom (unlimited sex actually). And the government works overtime to get everyone—even Catholics—to feel that somehow the Church is the enemy of the people because its teachings will only restrict our lives.
Vampires in love
But the government is not our friend. At best it is neutral. Any entity that promotes the values of this world is our enemy. Hollywood is our enemy. The media and the newspapers and the internet—that is our enemy—not the Church. Our enemy is the huge propaganda machine that produces all the base garbage that make up so much of our American culture—all the porn and pedantry that appeals to our lower instincts.
Do you think that the constant video diet of Dancing with the Stars or Vampires in Love or Zombie Nights of the Living Dead ennobles us? Or enhances our lives and makes us better people? Or fosters happy families? No it dulls us and deadens us and makes us oblivious to what is real and true and important. Our culture manipulates us at every turn. They trick us into buying what they want us to buy—thinking what they want us to think—valuing what they want us to value and ultimately into believing what they want us to believe. In this way they mean to control us and our futures and our families.
And when they cannot control us by stealth—they try to do so by law. That is why the present regime has commanded—not asked—but commanded under force of law—and under penalty of law—that the Church must provide insurance for immoral medical procedures—like abortion and sterilization. They are saying to us, “The state is the arbiter of right and wrong—not Jesus—not the Catholic Church. So do what we say or we will punish you.” And this is not just the federal government trying to interfere with Catholic life and teaching. States and municipalities have shut down Catholic adoption services—all over the country—because the Government has said that Catholic adoption agencies must adopt out children to whomever the government says we must—and that includes same-sex couples.
Baptism illegal
How many Christians and Catholics have been and will be forced to perform gay marriages? And if you don’t think that is coming, you are just not reading enough. Did you know that in Alabama—right now—a priest is forbidden by law to baptize the babies of undocumented families or to hear their confessions or to administer the Last Rites to them? Did you know that Catholic priests in this state are prohibited from teaching catechism to people who have no papers? And they are forbidden from encouraging these people to go to Mass or provide rides for them. Churches are forbidden to admit them to Bible classes or attend catechism or prepare them for marriage.
Suffering part of discipleship
Excuse me! The Catholic Church does not take orders from politicians. The Catholic Church does not need the permission of bureaucrats to preach and baptize and bestow the sacraments. We will do what Jesus has asked us to do, and we will brook no interference from party officials. Maybe that is why Jesus showed His wounds to Thomas. Sure he wanted to prove to Thomas that He rose from the dead—but maybe He also wanted Thomas to know that suffering—as evidenced by those wounds given to Him by evil men—was going to be part of being a disciple. And that is a lesson we too are learning—bit by bit—day by day.