An audio version of this homily is located in the upper right of this blog:
There is a powerful and scary message in today’s first reading that is a warning to us today, especially during the election year.

 

Let’s look at the elements: The Sanhedrin, which was the governing body of the Jews in Jerusalem imprisoned the Apostles who then escaped and now the Jewish authorities caught them preaching again. They leaders have the disciples of Jesus disciples flogged for not obeying them. They demand that Peter and the others refrain from preaching about Jesus. The apostles refuse, for they cannot refrain. They witnessed Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. They became filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, for them to obey the Sanhedrin, they would have to deny any of this happened. It would be like if I said I never went to school. I could never say that, because in fact I did.

 

The Apostles also make a powerful statement that indicts their persecutors. Peter speaking for them all says they must obey God, not men. Clearly, they are throwing gas on the fire, for they are making clear that these leaders of the Jews are no longer directed by God. They are saying that they no longer recognize their authority and will not obey it. It is no wonder the Sanhedrin wants them dead.

 

Notice something else: when the apostles suffer imprisonment and flogging at the hands of the Sanhedrin. They patiently endure this and then rejoice that they were found worthy of suffering for Christ. At no point, do they start a violent counter-revolution.They do they call for a war against the Sanhedrin or those Jews who stand with them. Remember, this is taking place in the Middle East of all places. They peacefully endure their wounds and imprisonment knowing that this leads to Heaven. The Sanhedrin must have been beside themselves in wondering what all this craziness meant.

 

The apostles understand a deeper wisdom, that If we do not embrace the promises of Christ, we will become imprisoned in the tyranny of evil.

 

What the Apostles are actually doing is to witness to the reality of Christ and to evangelize, through their hardship, of the reason for their hope.

 

But there is a deeper meaning that reveals the most important part of their message and the urgency of you embracing it and living it. Notice, I said urgency.

 

The Apostles are testifying not only of Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, they are also testifying that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. They are testifying to a definition of who we are as human beings, what we are about and the reality of the Kingdom of God. Their pacific reaction to their imprisonment and torture is testimony that there is nothing worth fighting for on the Earth in comparison to sacrifices which gain the promises of Christ.

 

That witness has been placed in our hands to carry on. This is why attending mass is an important act as we come to our God and enjoy Communion with Him before we return to the world. We are testifying to a reality in contrast to the world. We too stand before the  world and say, we must obey God and not men and women. We seek the promises of Christ and they can only be found by being obedient to Him. If we are obedient to Earthly authority alone, then we merit those promises which are actually empty at best. The greatest joy the world has to offer is tiny compared to the slightest joy that Christ promises us. Even if one is in mortal sin and cannot receive communion at this time, not receiving communion in this case, is a powerful witness of the awesomeness of Christ’s resurrection and all the promises it signifies. I welcome that person in confession by the way.

 

Now the obvious question: what happens when we do listen to men and women and not God. It is not good. Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation released this week warns against ideological colonialism, in which powers that reject Christ suppress our faith for their atheistic beliefs.

 

St Pope John Paul II in the encyclical Centesimus Annus warns that hen we reject God and embrace the world, then we also embrace what becomes the totalitarian state.

 

If you want to be truly free, embrace and live the gospel. If you want to follow those who reject the gospel as old fashioned, you will embrace their image of your existence and your existence will be led by how much it benefits their goals.

 

The Lord calls us to build a just society and you cannot build a society more just, than one which seeks to obey the source of justice. When we reject that source for another definition of justice, we will fall prey to it. If we do not embrace the promises of Christ, we will become imprisoned in the tyranny of men.

 

Remember community organizers learn to use the teachings of Saul Alinsky to get what they want. Saul Alinsky praises the devil; how can you build a just society embracing the ways of the embodiment of evil? It makes no logical sense, but those who reject Christ do exactly that at your expense and they learn this in a local graduate school.

 

That is what happens in our world and our country today. Those who reject Christ want to build a society where they define for you your meaning and value in this world. This is what St. Pope John Paul II warned is what happens when we reject Christ and embrace the world. It is what happens when we choose to obey men and women rather than God.

 

We take away a divine standard of our existence and embrace the standard promoted by atheist  politicians and corporations. Why would we do that? Because they promise us prosperity and we believe them.

 

Christ calls us to believe in His gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of God and the more we embrace His promises the we more realize they are true. Decide that the intelligensia who has rejected Christ are the ones you  will listen to and you will find them promising you a prosperity that comes with gold covered handcuffs. It is a prosperity that is gained through exploiting those who stand in the way of their desire of prosperity that they promise you so that you will give it to them, pure manipulation.

 

Remember what we discovered last summer, that there is an industry based on distributing the organs of unborn children to laboratories for experimentation. There is a move on to keep this quiet and now the government is involved in silencing the uncovering of this work. No one has ever denied that this happens; they only deny that abortion clinics profit off it. Is it not really a form of totalitarianism to proclaim that children will be denied birth AND then their bodies will be used for scientific experimentation?

 

At a Catholic University recently on the Solemnity of the Annunciation a nationally known advocate for abortion promoted it further and again used the promises of prosperity as the prevailing motive. As one person said, on the day Mary said yes to God, a Catholic university is calling people to say “no”, to God. If you say no to God, you say yes to totalitarianism.

Everyday is the day to decide whom you will choose to obey. Will you obey men and women for the sake of gaining prosperity, or will you obey God for the sake of gaining eternal life. That questions confronts us daily. Which do you choose? If you choose God, you not only are on your way to eternal life, and leading others there as well, you are also saying no to supporting a totalitarian state and the forced loss of all your freedoms. If we do not embrace the promises of Christ, we will become imprisoned in the tyranny of men.

 God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is member of the Segundo Elo  of the Canção Nova Community. He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MAand is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube.  You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google plus as+FrRobertCarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook