Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 1:2 NAB)
Recently, you may have heard some complaints that the mandated health care law here in the United States is requiring Catholic institutions to fund abortion and contraceptives. We warned people eight years ago that this was where this was all going, but those people we warned did not listen.People are complaining that our rights are being erroded. We warned that was happening and again no one listened. People are beginning to react now, but alas, the time to act was eight years ago when we sounded the alarm. Those who are reacting now are eight years behind in their ability to address the matter.

So for the rest of us who did all we could to sound the alarm what is our next step. The answer can be found in today’s second reading. Paul is teaching us a powerful principle: Our way of thinking reveals our way of believing.

As we have seen for the past several weeks, the focus is on Paul’s letter to the Romans. We have already seen the Christians at the time are suffering from a terrible persecution. The emperor has declared Christianity to  be illegal in Rome which means that it is now Roman policy that one cannot be a Christian. That policy extends from the lowest levels of Roman government right to the emperor. It is illegal to be a Christian in Rome. Indeed, it was more illegal to be a Christian in Rome than it is to be a Christian in China today. There is a national church in China where those who want to obey the Chinese law about organized religion can go to a government approved Church. It won’t be  in union with the Vatican and everything taught will be approved by the Government, but in Rome in the first century even this was not an option.

Throughout Romans Paul is addressing many issues and this is one, how are the Christians called to live in such an environment. Notice Paul never says to stand up for your rights. In fact, in the next chapter, if anything he does the opposite, he says to obey the authorities in all ways possible and to live as law abiding citizens except for that which outlaws the practice of the faith. What he says is that the Christians will be persecuted but their living the law will shame those persecutors. Essentially, they will be arrested for doing good. This is classic spiritual warfare.

However, there is another level to this that Paul addresses that early Romans would not fully understand unless they were Christians. Paul is reminding the faithful of the day that the long standing kingdom is that of God and is not that of Rome. That would be fascinating for the time. Romans would be surrounded by the symbols of their culture and their society that would indicate that the empire is a permanent fixture on the face of the Earth.

It is two millennia later and not only is the Roman Empire gone, what you see in Rome that was the political center of the empire was actually excavated from a dump, literally. The whole seat of power of Rome became a dump and it was one of the Pope’s of the second millennia who called for it to be found and excavated from this dump. The Church is still here. Yet, the reason why is through words such as Paul who calls us to have a renewal of our minds. Embrace God and in your relationship with Christ allow Him to change your way of thinking and change your way of being.  This is what Paul is saying. Understand what that means, that means a whole new understanding of what we should value, of how we should trust in God on how we should live on what we should fear and on how we should react all of it fed by our relationship with God. Our way of thinking reveals our way of believing.

This means that our everyday life should be affected by our faith right down to how we should life our lives. When it is not happening it is a sign that we need to draw closer to God.

What would you do if you heard some bad news as soon as you left here? How would you react? Would prayer be a part of that news?

I want you to think of that in light of someone who has no relationship with God, how you would your reaction differ from his or hers.

When things go wrong or when you are worried about anything, can you bring it to prayer? Can you understand that when prayer is the first stop and it becomes a central element of to facing your situation you will have a focus that the non-believers could never understand. This is part of the renewal of your mind.

Sometimes those people that are deeply attacking the Church can get us down, but, when you read the psalms not only do you learn that they have always been there, but they always lose. Indeed, the psalms say, do not fret the evil doers it only leads to evil. It is a passage that I have to keep in mind quite often when I read about such people. Yet, it is true, if I respond, then I will succumb to evil. The bible warns me not to.

It is hard to live this way, but this is how we witness to our way of living. Let us have a whole new way of thinking always, that our way of thinking reveals our way of believing.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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