In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we
were given a picture of the fanaticism which can so easily surface in fallen
humankind, for the murder of Stephen was the work of religious fanaticism of
which we see some atrocious examples today, in supposedly civilized Pakistan
for example. There are, of course, all
sorts of fanaticism: other prominent types today being football fanaticism, pop
and rock fanaticism, and the animal rights brand. Fanaticism is close to hand for fallen
mankind, because human nature was made for God, not for itself; man was made to
love and serve, know and obey, that is, identify himself with, God, and
ultimately to share in His eternal beatitude; and so, fallen men and women are
inclined to give themselves in varying degrees, not indeed to God, but to their
own prejudices, or to someone, something, such as a super-star, a football team, or to a
violent crusade for dumb animals etc.; Giving themselves to what is not
God the God-given impulse to religious
devotion is thereby progressively changed, twisted, poisoned and corrupted,
into various types of fanaticism, each of which tries to offer pseudo-fulfilment through the excitement of belonging to a
group of similarly motivated enthusiasts, or to the far more dangerous self-exaltation
which finds satisfaction in rejection or hatred of what is not
self-originated or self-promoting.
Let us now look a little closer at the religious
fanaticism shown in the first reading and compare it with the teaching of both
the second reading and the Gospel:
All who sat in the council, cried out with a loud voice,
stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of
the city and stoned him.
The present attention of those in the council was fixed
on their enemy, Stephen, and at the back of their minds was the insistent
problem of their own status with regard to the Roman overlords; they were most
certainly not responding to the God they professed to represent. The words of Stephen should have been
answered, if indeed they were defenders of the Law; but, in order to answer
they would have had, first of all, to listen to Stephen’s words, and that was
something they were not prepared to envisage let alone do:
They cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and
ran at him with one accord.
In so doing, they were in fact giving vent to,
satisfying, their own feelings of anger, apprehension and even fear, not
defending the Law of the Lord their God.
Human passions are no guide to God’s will: human anger
does not serve divine justice nor can human sentimentality transmit God’s
goodness; and yet, emotions are part and parcel of our human nature, they are
necessary for human actions, above all for human love and divine charity:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)
However, such emotions need to follow the lead of,
keep in tune with, a mind guided by faith in Jesus, and able, by the grace of
His Spirit, to look at the situation as a whole, not to indulge a mind
that is exclusive in its focus because of the weakness of its grasp. Human emotions should neither be stoked up by
prejudice nor smothered by fearful self-interest.
If we now turn to the second reading, we can see how the
Christian is called not only to look to Christ, but also urged to long
for, pray for, His coming:
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these
things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright
and Morning Star." And the Spirit
and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say,
"Come!" He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am
coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Christian, therefore, can only be a truly living
member of the Church (the bride) to the extent that, under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God, he or she is steadfastly looking and longing for Jesus. Our Blessed Lord became ‘man’ in order that
He might love His Father in human flesh, to give back to mankind’s supremely loving
Creator the love mankind itself, and even the Chosen People, had so long
refused to give Him. Jesus’ whole
purpose was and is to love His Father in our human flesh to the very utmost of
His human being which includes -- thanks
to the indwelling power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- His own rejection by the Chosen People and His
Roman crucifixion.
And there, dear People of God, lies the true beauty and glory of our vocation as disciples of Jesus, when we long and pray for the Holy Spirit to draw us ever more with Jesus into loving the Father: for there we are becoming children again, but now children of God. following the Way of Jesus under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, the Bond of Infinite Love uniting and issuing from both Father and Son in ‘love beyond all telling’.
