Sunday, November 19, 2017

Determined and Resolved in their Hearts


Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant, and whoever observed the law, was condemned to death by royal decree. But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. 1 Maccabees 1:62-63

"What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, please let me see." Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God. Luke 18:41-43

Piety
"The persecution of Christians and others is a source of great grief," Archbishop William E. Lori, the leader of the Baltimore archdiocese's half-million Catholics, said in an interview. "We really need to pray for those people affected."

"The joy of Easter is not meant to mask suffering. It's meant to give hope to those who suffer, to bring hope to the hopeless," he added. "We can all be agents of the Resurrection."

Study
During my college years, I was active in the Encounter with Christ retreats (a shorter version of Cursillo with talks targeted to the generation of Catholics in college).  On the Friday night section about Know Thyself, the talk asked us to imagine someone has been making a movie of your life.  One of the questions to ponder is whether or not you could be convicted of being a Christian if someone watches the movie. 

Some of the people in 1 Maccabees did not have to worry about that cinematic feat.  They already “resolved in their hearts” to eat kosher and to respect the covenant. Many paid the ultimate price for their fidelity. They had such faith without being witness to the miracles of the New Testament when Jesus restored sight to the man born blind based solely upon his faith.

If you had your faith or health restored, it might be easy to praise God like the blind man. If you witnessed Jesus heal a blind man or person with leprosy, it might be easy for you to praise God like the people who witnessed the miracle in today’s Gospel reading. How much more faith did the people in the Hebrew Bible have that they laid down their lives without being witness to such miracles?

Action
Religious persecution of Christians is not some ancient Biblical concern.  It remains an issue today. Christians and other religious minorities are facing systematic and horrendous persecution at the hands of the so-called “Islamic State” or ISIL.  

“Upon learning of the death of 21 Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIL terrorists [in 2015], Pope Francis called their murder a ‘testimony which cries out to be heard.’ 
“…The testimony of those 21 brave and courageous martyrs does not stand alone as thousands of families – Christian and other religions – find themselves fleeing from horrific violence. …We urge all people of goodwill to work toward protection of the marginalized and persecuted.” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urges the U.S. government to adopt five key policies in response to the rise of ISIL and religious persecution in the Middle East:
  1. Confront the reality of religious persecution in the Middle East, where Christians are beheaded “for the mere fact of being Christians” and other religious minorities suffer similarly at the hands of extremists;
  2. Recognize that it may be necessary for the international community to use proportionate and discriminate force to stop these unjust aggressors and to protect religious minorities and civilians within the framework of “international and humanitarian law;”
  3. Acknowledge that the problem cannot be resolved solely through a military response and that it is critical to address political exclusion and economic desperation that are being manipulated by ISIL in its recruitment efforts, especially in Syria and Iraq;
  4. Scale up humanitarian and development assistance to host countries and trusted NGOs, including our own Catholic Relief Services, that are struggling to aid displaced persons; and
  5. Accept for resettlement a fair share of some of the most vulnerable people where return is impossible.[i]
In testimony before the House committee dealing with this topic, the USCCB concluded:
Religious persecution in the Middle East must be confronted directly and strongly with comprehensive and far reaching strategies: encouraging intercultural education and interreligious exchanges and rejection of extremist ideologies;  strengthening the rule of law; using proportionate and discriminate force to protect religious minorities and civilians within the framework of “international and humanitarian law; addressing political exclusion and economic desperation that are exploited by extremists; scaling up humanitarian and development assistance to host countries and trusted NGOs; and accepting for resettlement a fair share of some of the most vulnerable people where return is impossible.

According to an article in The Baltimore Sun, "Catholic Relief Services, the international relief arm of the U.S. Catholic Church, has supported more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt the past five years, Hartigan said, spending $40 million in 2015 alone to provide medical help, counseling for trauma victims and hygiene kits... It can take refugees years to accept that they won't be going home anytime soon, Hartigan said, but as that awareness has taken hold, CRS has begun a pivot to longer-term initiatives, most notably working to expand educational opportunities for children."[ii]

You can support these efforts by writing or calling your Congressional delegation and supporting CRS with your charitable giving.

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