Today’s first reading is something that most non-Catholics probably never read, that is because this is found only in a Catholic bible. It is from the book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus. The Catholic Bible is based on the Greek and Hebrew language Jewish scriptures and the Protestant bible is based only on the Hebrew language scriptures. This is why the Catholic bible has more books. I read the entire section in preparation for my homily. We all know that forgiveness is a central theme in the teachings of Jesus and, indeed, in today’s Gospel. Yet, the understanding of forgiveness in this first reading is intense compared even to what you read in the gospel.

What makes this fascinating is that these readings just by coincidence fall on the tenth anniversary of that first horrible September 11th. It is the day that members of a radical creed believed falsely that they knew the mind of God in carrying out what they considered His wrath. Yet, the bible makes it clear in many places, it is not the role of the human to carry out the wrath of God. It is the role of the human to carry out the most equitable form of human justice, but never divine justice, that is reserved to God alone.

This passage as you can see makes it clear, that if you act in vengeance then that same vengeance will fall upon you. One interesting phrase from before this passage is: A stone falls back on the head of the one who throws it high, and a treacherous blow causes many wounds. (Sirach 27:25)

If there is a constant in this whole passage it is simple: vengeance is never ours. Indeed, Paul cites this truth as well in Romans 12 when he says vengeance  is only the property of God. What is ironic is that true vengeance on the part of the person who seeks to be holy is done by acting in holiness to even the worst of all sinners. For holiness that confronts unrepentant evil isolates that evil.

It is important to consider this. This week, I saw a video and a report from the Catholic League about a convention that was held in Los Angeles. It was a group of people actively involved in seeking to sue the Catholic Church for past sins. According to the report, there were a list of about ten leaders of this convention who are those always named ten leaders in this movement. Three are lawyers and they have not only won millions of dollars, they made it clear that they consider the Catholic Church to be the most evil institution so much so that it is their goal to destroy it and they are using the media and the law to do so. This is why they do not go after any other organization. They seek not reparative justice, but just the destruction of the Roman Catholic Church, period.

How do we fight those who seek our elimination from the Earth? Don’t let anyone kid you that is exactly their goal. If we take up arms against them, then today’s first reading applies. If we seek vengeance against them it MAY succeed in stopping them, but probably not,  but in the process our seeking vengeance WILL destroy us.

I have told you that those who organized the movement to destroy our Church have done so using the model described in Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky which they learned in a classroom in Cambridge among other places. The technique they embrace is to emulate the Devil. However, if you emulate the Devil you will get consumed by his evil and fall victim to the same wrath that God has reserved for him.

Believe it or not there is only one way to fight back against these who seek our total destruction as Catholics: When we become agents of mercy even against our enemies, even against those who seek to destroy us, then we isolate ourselves from the evil that is overtaking them.

Let me show you my point: What happens if these people succeed?  What happens if we are no longer around. Many say that they will live in pure liberty and freedom. I am not so sure. I am reminded of a story of a group of chief petty officers who retired from the Navy. They chose to buy a bar and spend the rest of their days in one of the most hedonistic ports in the world. It would not be a reach to describe this place as not far from Sodom and Gomorrah in lifestyle. All three who believed they had found perfect freedom were dead within five years.

Those who seek to destroy this Church and eliminate it from the face of the Earth will not only be consumed by their evil, they will bring evil into this world of nightmarish proportions. Why because they either willingly or unwillingly are part of a movement to bring an ethic into the world that rejects any input from the godly and seeks only that which makes science the ethical standard. Yet, by doing so it is their goal to manipulate the tools of life until the humanity becomes the author of life casting God from his world. Every time that path has been followed it has created unspeakable evil, everytime. You and I by living our faith are on the front lines not against those who seek to destroy us, but the evil that is using them to get us out of the way. It is the same evil that will consume them and consume us if we give in to it by acting in vengeance.

Forgiveness and mercy are not tools, they are not things to do, they are weapons in the fight against evil. These weapons are all that exists in union with our practice of the faith and obeying the commandments to love. We, the Church, have the role of being on the front lines in this fight against this unspeakable evil that seeks the destruction of humanity. This is why this evil seeks to destroy the Church,  its is powerless against holiness of life; only God’s wrath can stop it. If you want to avoid the wrath of God be forgiving and not wrathful nor vengeful. For holiness that confronts unrepentant evil isolates that evil.

Let us remember that God is always in charge. For example, where would be without those who use our sins against us to destroy us. I shudder to think, but our complacency would lead us far, far from holiness. Now is the time for us to make the choice and  pursue it everyday for holiness, to seek holiness like the world seeks a multi-million dollar lottery ticket blowing in the wind.

Let us make a choice to seek the utmost form of holiness, to draw close to the Lord and emulate His mercy and His forgiveness. There is only one way to do this and that is to be in union with Him, to be persons of mercy and forgiveness as we imitate He whom evil cannot defeat.For holiness that confronts unrepentant evil isolates that evil.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr

This is  the first of two parts, the second part will appear on January 06, 2012

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