Who are the dangerous enemies of the church? Are they some atheists or some sects or any other religion?Of course some of these groups are trying to destroy the church through their own way. Still they are not the real enemies of the church.
But it is some of the faithful in the church itself. Their scandalised life and provocations can be more dangerous than other enemies.
This is not a new finding. Our history is it’s simple but concrete witness.
Also this is not some thing experienced in the past middle ages.
It happens in the present era too.
In these days we hear about the „Vati- Leaks“: about the butler,
who stole some private documents of Holy Father Pp Benedict XIV.
Many newspapers and news channels discussed about this in various manners. But the words of Pp Benedict on May 30, 2012 was very special:
He said: “The events of recent days involving the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness to my heart. However, I have never lost my firm certainty that, despite the weakness of man, despite difficulties and trials, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit and the Lord will ensure she never lacks the help she needs to support her on her journey.“
These words come from the experience of Centuries; more over it underlines the unmovable faith in the Divine Providence.
Why should I tell all these on this Sunday? To tell, not only we faced such obstacles. We hear Jesus too facing some problems in his life. The Evangelist Mark tells us, Jesus had a very busy day. He and his followers had no free time. They even had no time to have food. This is not a problem at all in itself. But these hard works are not well accepted by many.
More over the scribes from Jerusalem accuses:
Jesus “has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
Yes, the good hard work of Jesus was not only rejected as it was, but it was misinterpreted. Jesus was accused to be a follower of Evil Spirit.
Jesus was not astonished over such denials. He never expected an encouragement from such people.
But the denial of his family members might have hurted him a lot.
Their comments on Jesus works was:
“He has gone out of his mind“.
But all these hindrances couldn’t stop the works of Jesus.
They couldn’t diminish his motivation.
Because, Jesus had great faith in his Father.
He believed in the work of the Spirit more than any human recognition.
My dear friends,
just as Jesus, our church too faced so many accusations and difficulties over these centuries. It is still continuing through many other modern ways. The Church is still a persecuted church in many part of the world.
But nothing could and can stop her motivation.
Nothing could/ can decrease her faith in the Holy Spirit.
We too are living in a world of criticisms.
Crises are not new in our lives.
There can be many obstacles in our lives.
Our dedication may not give us attractive life circumstances.
We may lack many advantages in our lives.
We may have to sacrifice many life pleasures.
And these sacrifices may not be counted positive too.
We may not even get the minimum support – from our family or near ones – in our mission. But never forget: Jesus, Our Master too had such a life.
He will support us with his power and Holy Spirit.
Jesus exhorts us today to have faith in his word.
He teaches us to believe in the Holy Spirit.
The experience and example of Jesus and his disciples and our church are encouragement to face our life and faith in the Good Spirit.
Let us believe in him completely.
God Bless us all. Amen.
--Fr Thomas Kalathil
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