Category: Religion

Mercy – My Column Full Text

1 Comment

Rome and Persecution

In this series of articles we have looked at how the early church began with practicing Jews who also met and offered sacrifice with bread and wine as Jesus had told them to. They thought of themselves as Jews. They carried on life as Jews, viewing Christ’s teaching as a continuation of what they already believed. For them Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jewish people. Paul even described himself as a Pharisee.

It was Paul who went to Rome as part of his mission to the pagans and brought Christianity to the heart of the Roman Empire which ruled much of the known world at that time. This gave the new religion a way to spread over the world. We all know that Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire and wonder how it survived.

The Romans were actually quite used to absorbing religions from places they conquered. It accommodated new cults and philosophies from different cultures, such as the Persian cult of Mithraism, the Egyptian cult of Isis and Neoplatonism, a Greek philosophical religion. These were tolerated as long as they posed no threat to order or conflicted with the worship of the emperor as a god.

Persecution of Christians began with Emperor Nero about the year 64AD. Historians believe Nero set fire to Rome and blamed the Christians to divert suspicion from himself. It was during this persecution that Peter and Paul were martyred. Nero’s brutal treatment of the Christians, he set fire to some and used them as human candles, prompted some sympathy for the persecuted people.

Historians record ten periods of persecution of Christians. There were long periods when there was no persecution and some periods of persecution were times when Christianity was illegal but did not involve searching out Christians to punish. Where Christians refused to recognise the Emperor as a deity and make sacrifices to him they were open to the suspicion of treason. Moreover, many believed that the gods protected Rome and that refusing to give sacrifice was to look for the destruction of Rome.

There were also misunderstandings about what Christians believed. Christians were often accused of cannibalism because the professed to eat Christ’s body. The practice of Agape, or love feast was thought to be about incest. Christian apologists tried to explain the true meaning of these practices and allay the fears of the Romans.

The final persecution was under Emperor Diocletian in the years 303 – 324. This is sometimes called the Great Persecution. It was extremely violent and resulted in the destruction of churches and the deaths of many Christians.

Persecution ended when the Emperor Constantine became a convert. Historians have problems with this conversion because Constantine did not rule in a particularly Christian way. He seemed to cling to some of the ways of the old religions while also being a Christian. Was he unaware of Christianity’s demand to be the only true religion or was he hedging his bets?

I remember visiting the home of a tribal chief in Ghana. The family had converted to Christianity but there was a peculiar structure at the entrance. On enquiring I was told that this was where animal sacrifices to the pagan gods were carried out. Apparently it was common for one member of the family to remain in the old religion and offer sacrifice, just in case. This was a bit of the best of both worlds I suspect. How easy is it to just throw away old beliefs? Many superstitions which still survive are rooted in old pagan beliefs.

However strong or otherwise Constantine’s Christian faith was he made it possible for Christians to exist and for the religion to grow and spread throughout the empire. Persecution seems to occur when Christian values seem to be opposed to the values of the ruling authorities. Some commentators would say that more Christians have died under persecution in the last decades than died under Roman persecutions. The current violence in the Middle East has resulted in many Christians being executed, some in a barbaric manner, and many more fleeing the persecution.

Those years of persecution didn’t stop the growth of the Church. Today we seem to be seeing a drop off in numbers of active Christians. This morning I listened to someone on the radio who wants to put a stop to Christian based assemblies in schools because less than 50% of people are believers. We might be forgiven for thinking the move away from Christian values is accelerating. After all, if we banned everything that less than 50% of the people were involved in there wouldn’t be much left, including democratic elections.

Why are people being put off religion? Perhaps it has been given an aura of negativism. Some may blame the media for inaccurate reporting others may look at the Church and hoe it projects itself. How many people grew up being told not to do this or that or they would go to the ‘Bad Fire’? Were many of us taught that our role here was to escape going to Hell? I think many people have the wrong idea about the Church. Just as the Romans did not understand what Christian teaching meant I think many Catholics today don’t understand what the Church is saying.

The Church’s message is really quite simple. Christ set up the Church to save mankind, not to condemn them. The guidelines the Church must follow were set by Jesus when he said “Love God and love your neighbour.” That can not be construed as being negative. The Church must work for the good of mankind. That means Christians and all those who are not Christians. It’s all about bringing everyone safely to Heaven, not Hell.

This month the Church has opened a new Holy Year. This is the Year of Mercy. That doesn’t seem difficult to accept but it might prove difficult to put into practice. We start by recognising God’s mercy towards us. When we look at the great gifts God has given us and recognise the mercy he shows to us sinners we see an example of what is expected of us.

That’s the difficult part. Not only do we need to give thanks for God’s mercy to us but we must be merciful to others. That’s not a problem with those we love or even just like a bit. The difficult part is being merciful and forgiving to those who harm us or even hate us. How can we forgive those who have hurt us? How can we bring ourselves to forgive those who mean us harm? That’s not normal human behaviour.

We will need to start trying to behave a bit more like God than man. It’s obviously impossible for us to do that unaided. Where can we look for that help? Our only recourse is in prayer. When we are faced with a difficult situation we can turn to God and try to explain our problem. Don’t expect a voice booming out of a bush, a phone call or even an email from God. God doesn’t work like that. But that is real prayer, not reciting words that we say without thinking but telling God what we are thinking. Since I’m not God I can’t explain how this works but that is our path to finding real mercy in our own hearts.

Mercy – My December Column

Leave a comment

My December column will be published in the Scottish Catholic Observer in the Christmas and New Year edition. This will be available in a parish near you this weekend.

In this series we have had a look at the trials of the early Church and we conclude with a look at where we are today and the Year of Mercy.

Full text here next week.

Happy Christmas one and all.

The Trials of Paul Full Text of my Column

Leave a comment
Saint Paul had a hard time.

Saint Paul had a hard time.

Last month we looked at how Paul was spreading the gospel to the pagans. When he arrived in a place he always spoke to the Jews in the Temple before talking to the pagans. This always caused problems. Some would listen to him and be converted while most opposed what he said and threatened him with violence.

Some people listened and thought about what he said while others were angered at him for attempting to bring about a change in their ways. We see a good example of this opposition when Paul reached Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem. In Ephesus there was a thriving trade in silver shrines of the goddess Diana. A silversmith called Demetrius called a meeting of his employees and other silversmiths and warned them against Paul.

He told the meeting that Paul’s teaching discredited Diana, threatening to render her unimportant and, more importantly, destroying the trade that made them their fortunes. He whipped the crowd into a fury and the meeting ended in uproar. It seems obvious to us that these men objected to Paul for reasons that had nothing to do with religion. We would never behave like that, or would we?

We too can be resistant to change for reasons that are not based in the Gospel. Often people resist change in the Church because they are happy to be where they are and see no reason to change something they have always believed to be good. I remember debating with my grandfather who saw no reason to have the Mass in the vernacular. He argued that the Latin Mass allowed you to go to Mass anywhere in the world and it would always be the same. I argued that it allowed you to go anywhere in the world and still not understand what was being said.

When Paul eventually arrived in Jerusalem he went to the Temple to be purified. His seven days of purification were nearly over when some of the Jews from Asia recognized him and stirred up the crowd against him. The crowd seized Paul and a riot ensued. The Roman tribune heard there was a riot and sent soldiers to quell the riot. He arrested Paul and took him in chains to the fortress. Paul asked permission to address the crowd and explain who he was and how he had come to be a believer in Jesus.

When they heard his story the Jews demanded he be killed. The tribune ordered Paul to be questioned under the lash. As they strapped him down Paul asked if it was legal to flog a Roman citizen without a trial first. Realizing what he had done the tribune released Paul.

The next day Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin to state his case. He realized that the Sanhedrin was made up of Pharisees like himself and Sadducees. Paul claimed that the Sadducees opposed him for preaching resurrection which the Pharisees believed in but the Sadducees did not. This split the meeting and feelings were running high. The tribune, afraid the Paul would be harmed sent troops in to bring to the fortress.

The Jews plotted to kill Paul but the tribune learned of the plot. He sent Paul under guard to Caesarea to be examined by the Governor, Felix. Felix listened to both sides but did not come to a decision. He kept Paul for two years until he was replaced by a new governor, Porcius Festus.

Festus listened to the complaints against Paul and asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there. Paul asserted his right, as a Roman citizen, to be tried by Caesar. Festus had little choice but to send Paul to Rome. The journey to Rome was no simple affair. The best route was by ship.

These ships were not the large liners we might sail across the Mediterranean in. They were small and did not make the journey in one go. Paul had to sail from one port to another, each time finding another ship to take him nearer to Rome. On the third leg of this journey the ship was struck by a violent storm and was forced to drift before the wind. As the storm raged on the next day the crew were forced to jettison the cargo and on the third day they had to throw the boat’s gear overboard.

The ship was caught in the storm for fourteen days and they had been unable to take any food. Paul reassured them that God had promised they would all survive as Paul was destined to go before Caesar. They all ate some food and at daybreak the found themselves at Malta where the ship ran aground. The soldiers determined to kill Paul and his companions to stop them escaping but the centurion stopped them as he was determined to deliver Paul to Rome.

It was three months before better weather allowed them to continue their journey to Rome. Paul made contact with the Jews in Rome and continued to spread the Gospel message. Paul remained there for two years.

As we can see from his story, Paul faced trials in court and the dangers involved in travelling on long journeys in those early times. He faced both sorts of trials in the same way. He placed all his trust in God. God had chosen him to complete a mission and Paul knew that he would survive until his mission was completed. He was proved to be correct. Now we might think it was ok for Paul who had heard God speak directly to him and had appeared to him. God is unlikely to appear to any of us with a message of reassurance. How can we hope to behave like Paul with such confidence?

This is really because we do not understand God and how he deals with us. Each of us has a mission; it may not be as dramatic as Paul’s but it is why we are here. We find it difficult to recognise the important mission we have and distinguish it from the normal problems of everyday life. We worry about trivia and get dispirited when our plans don’t seem to work out. My plan to win the Euromillions and sort out poverty in Africa has come to nothing. I wonder why God doesn’t help out. The reason is that it is my plan, not God’s. It’s not my place to sort out world poverty single handed. That’s not in God’s plan.

I remember speaking to some primary school pupils about the work of Holy Childhood. One wee boy asked me what we would do when we sorted out all the poverty and there were no poor people any more. I can’t remember the daft answer I must have given him but he made me think. What would we do? How would we be able to live out our Christian calling to feed the hungry cloth the naked and help the sick if there were no poor? They are our road to salvation in God’s plan.

Paul was a great orator and converted many people with his preaching. He converted many more by his example of curing the sick, acting justly and devoting his life for the benefit of others. Surely we could all do a bit of that. We don’t need to be orators. We can lead the world to God by our good example.

 

Saint Paul and the Pagans – My October Column – Full Text

Leave a comment

Statue of Paul

Paul’s Mission to the Pagans

Last month we saw how the Apostles came to understand that the Good News of the Gospel was meant for all mankind, not just for the Jews. Now Saul, or Paul as he is now being called, set off with Barnabas to bring the word to the pagans. On their journey they reached Antioch. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue and after the lesson had been read they were invited to address the congregation with some “words of encouragement”. Paul’s address to the congregation was a complete explanation of how Jesus was the fulfilment of God’s promise to the Jews. So impressed were the congregation that Paul was invited to return the next Sabbath to give another talk.

The following week almost the whole town turned out to hear Paul, pagans as well as Jews. Seeing the large crowds and being jealous of his popularity, the Jews contradicted Paul, shouting him down. Paul replied that, as a Jew, he had wanted to proclaim the word to the Jews first but as they had rejected it and so he would now go on to proclaim the word to the pagans as Jesus had commanded when he said

“I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

This made the pagans happy but it did not go down well with the leading men of the city. Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the territory. They shook the dust from their feet and moved on.

It is worth remembering that the early Christians were also Jews. They attended the synagogue before their meetings to break bread together. They didn’t think of themselves as a separate religion. It is not surprising that some of these early Christians were unhappy about Paul’s conversion of pagans. Some of them who were Pharisees objected. Paul had to convince them that this was part of God’s plan that all mankind were to be saved.

Paul’s mission was now one of bringing the Gospel message to the pagans. He travelled across what we now know as the Middle East, preaching to the Jews there but also converting pagans. He met with opposition from Jews and from pagans but pressed on.

Paul made journeys of hundreds of miles. Most of these distances he travelled were on foot. There was no transport system other than boats. Even journeys by sea must have been very dangerous undertakings. Paul’s life had become a journey, a journey to bring the Gospel to the world. I can’t help thinking that this is a kind of model for our own lives. Our lives are a journey, a spiritual journey. We walk, not along the dusty roads of Syria and Greece as Paul did, but in the everyday tasks we perform in our lives. Paul walked in barren wilderness. We often walk in a spiritual wilderness where Gospel values are not upheld.

Paul often found himself arguing with Jews and pagans who could not accept his teaching. He put himself in danger, angering powerful people. There are many stories of Paul escaping who opposed him. We don’t often find ourselves standing in the marketplace preaching the Gospel. We still have to bring the Gospel message into our society by the way we live. By living the Gospel we keep the message alive for others to find.

I remember being told by a missionary in Africa that the missionaries did not bring God to Africa. God was already there, the missionaries brought the Gospel. We see that in the stories of Paul’s travels. He would speak to people in a market place or a synagogue and some people were filled with the Holy Spirit and believed. Others did not have the Spirit. I’m not sure whether that is because some are chosen and others not or because some people are just not open to receiving the Spirit.

Whatever the danger he put himself in, Paul always argued his point and because he was guided by the Holy Spirit he was an eloquent debater. Often those who could not beat him in debate were frustrated and resorted to other means to defeat him. Despite the danger he put himself in Paul never wavered from his course.

That should be a model for us. In our ordinary lives we find our Gospel values being challenged. Like Paul, we must argue our cause. It is becoming increasingly unfashionable to hold Christian values and we have to accept that. As a bishop once told me, we are being told that the basic human value is equality. If we don’t believe that everyone is equal and all ideas are equal we are at fault. He insisted that the real basic value is truth. Some ideas are not true. We must be defenders of the truth.

As European Christians we could be regarded as followers of Paul. It was Paul who took the Faith to the pagans and we are the spiritual descendants of those pagans who converted. The Christians who are the descendants of the early church are those in the Middle East such as the Coptic Church. These Christians are the ones who are facing the same dangers that Paul faced. They are keeping their faith alive in the face of death threats.

The Christian population of the Middle East is falling rapidly as extremists kill some and others flee to safety. Even after fleeing Syria many Christians are unable to shelter in the refugee camps for fear of attack by other refugees.

We live in safety with no threat of violence for holding Christian beliefs. Some may suffer when the law of the land is changed in ways which contradict Christian teaching. The laws on abortion and same sex marriage bring some into conflict with the state. As we saw in the case of the midwives who did not want to have anything to do with abortion, standing by our beliefs can cost us dear.

The recent case of a Christian official in America who refused to licence same sex marriages and was jailed shows that sometimes we have to stand up for what we believe and put ourselves in danger. What would Paul have done? As we can see from his story he was jailed from time to time. He never allowed this to deflect him from his course.

Paul’s legal battles brought him to Rome eventually and brought the Gospel to the heart of the Roman Empire. It just goes to show that even when things look black and we think the fight is lost the tide can be turned. Paul never lost sight of the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who was leading him in his travels. Paul was just an instrument. So too, we are merely instruments in the Spirits work of evangelisation. We might not understand what is really happening but we know from the events in the early Church, the Spirit will not be diverted from his work. We must take Paul as our model and run the race to the end.

Keep the Faith.

Saint Paul and the Pagans – My October Column

Leave a comment

Statue of Paul

Why did Paul preach to the pagans? Why did he annoy so many people? Why did they want to kill him wherever he went? Given all that, is Paul a suitable model for us?

Read my article in this week’s Scottish Catholic Observer. Is the Truth there? Is the Truth important? If you can’t get a copy this week you can find the full text here next week.

My September Column – Full Text

Leave a comment

September’s column from the Scottish Catholic Observer.

Peter

 

So far in this series about the early Church we have heard about the Apostles and Saul. We learned about Stephen and his martyrdom. But what about Peter; Jesus made him the head of the Church. What was he up to and what can we learn from that?

Apparently Peter was travelling round the country, from one place to the next, preaching the good news. He arrived in Lydda and found a man named Aeneas, paralysed and bedridden for eight years. Peter commanded him in the name of Jesus to get up, he was cured. Sure enough the man got up and everyone was amazed. They were all converted to Jesus.

At that time there was a woman in Jaffa nearby. Tabitha, as she was called, was renowned for her good works. She became ill and died. There were disciples in Jaffa and when they heard Peter was close by they sent to Lydda for him. Peter went straight to Jaffa and went to the room where Tabitha lay. The room was full of mourners and Peter sent them away. He knelt and prayed and then spoke to Tabitha and told her to stand up. The woman opened her eyes and got up. Peter called the mourners in and showed them that Tabitha was alive. Many converts were made in Jaffa and Peter stayed there for some time.

Why did Peter bring the woman back to life? If she had been a good woman then presumably she would have been received by God. This is something that has puzzled me for a while. The woman he raised from back to life must have died again at some later time; either that or she is still alive somewhere. If our aim is to enter this new life after death why bring the woman back?

I can think of two reasons for this. They both involve signs. It is good to remember that people in those times did not think in what we would regard as rational ways. Rational thinking is something we associate with scientists like Isaac Newton who made us associate cause and effect.

So what were the signs in raising someone from the dead? Well, firstly it was a sign that Jesus had power over life and death. It showed that this Gospel that Peter was preaching had unimaginable power. The second sign is a bit more subtle. It is a sign that becoming a true follower of Jesus involves us in taking on a new life. In baptism we die to our old life and rise to a new life, putting matters of the world in the background and putting Jesus in the foreground of our thinking.

Teaching that it is important to discard old ways and adopt new ones can be seen as dangerous talk. The authorities certainly thought this was dangerous talk as we shall see. Meanwhile a centurion called Cornelius, a devout, god-fearing man who prayed regularly, had a vision in which an angel told him to send to Jaffa for Peter. Cornelius was in Caesarea, some distance away from Jaffa so he sent two servants in search of Peter. While they were on their way Peter had a vision in which God showed him every sort of animal and told him to kill and eat them. Peter replied that he could not eat anything that was profane or unclean. God told him that he had no right to call anything God had made clean profane.

Peter was puzzled by this vision. No wonder, you might say; it is certainly strange. Soon the men came to fetch Peter and the Spirit told Peter to go with them because it was the spirit who sent them. Peter listened to the men and agreed to go with them. Next day they set off and reached Caesarea the following day. Peter talked with them and told them that it was forbidden for Jews to associate with people of another race. He told them God had made it clear to him that he must not call anyone profane or unclean. That was why he had come to bring the gospel to them.

The Holy Spirit must have enabled Peter to understand the meaning of his vision. Peter had realised for the first time the true nature of the Church. It was intended for all of humanity, not just for the Jews. Now he really understood that this was not just an extension of the Jewish religion, it was much bigger. Peter had to explain this to the Apostles who were surprised and said that God can grant “even the pagans” repentance that leads to life. I suppose that means us.

Round about this time Herod started persecuting the Christians. He had James, brother of John beheaded and this made him popular. He decided to do the same with Peter. During Passover week he had Peter arrested and imprisoned. The plan was to have a trial after Passover. Squads of guards were assigned to watch Peter in case of any attempt to escape. Meanwhile the small Christian community prayed night and day.

You will recall the story about how an angel appeared in Peter’s cell and released him from the chains that held him. He led Peter out through locked gates which opened by themselves and into the city. After walking the length one street the angel left and Peter was left alone, realising for the first time that this was not a dream.

This might seem unreal but what convinces me is what happened next. Peter went to a house where the Christians were gathered to pray for him. He knocked on the door and the servant recognised his voice and ran inside to tell the others. She forgot to let Peter in. No one believed her and while they were arguing Peter was left outside, still knocking to get in. You couldn’t make that up, could you?

This story is a difficult one for people to believe today. Believing in miracles is out of fashion. Why would God intervene in human affairs? Why work miracles for some and leave others alone? I think the lesson here is that God has a plan and it will not be thwarted. As we saw earlier, God had a role for Saul and intervened to set Saul on the right road. He had set Peter as head of the Church and was not about to see Peter executed; not until he had fulfilled his role at any rate. This is worth remembering when we hear people predicting the demise of the Church. We have survived far worse in the past.

Apart from the miracle there is something else in this story. You notice that all the impossible things were easily overcome. The chains were released, the guards avoided and the doors were opened. God did those things. The simple thing, opening the door to Peter when he knocked, was a problem. That was the human part.

I think the message here for me is that God is making great efforts to reach me but I’m too easily distracted to notice. Just like the servant girl I hear Him knocking and go running off before I open the door to Him. The question is, what am I going to do about it? I think the answer seems to be found in how the Christians responded to Peter’s arrest. They prayed constantly. Maybe I need to do more praying and more listening to what God is trying to tell me.

Joseph McGrath

My September Column – Do You Believe in Miracles?

Leave a comment

My September column is published today in the Scottish Catholic Observer. What was Peter doing in the early days of the Church? What part do miracles play in the Gospel?

Get your copy this weekend or see the full text here next Friday

My August Column -Saul; Full Text

Leave a comment
Why perescutist thou me?

Why perescutist thou me?

Last month we met Saul and saw his role in the stoning to death of Stephen. I think I compared him to ISIS or whatever the government wants us to call them; you know who I mean. I think the comparison was fair. ISIS seems to be religious fanatics who put to death anyone of an opposing religion. Saul was definitely fanatical and he made it his business to put an end to the new Christian sect.

I’m using the term Christian sect because the followers of Christ were still Jews who followed all the Jewish rituals as well as the breaking of bread. Saul saw the early Church as a threat to Judaism. He was moving around the country seeking out Christian groups to sort out. His name was well known and it inspired fear.

I’ve said before that the Bible is not a history book but a guide to how we should live today. I wondered if this section would give us some hints about how we, as Christians, should respond to ISIS. I thought a look at how the Christians dealt with the threat of Saul might give me a clue.

Saul went to the High Priest and asked for letters to authorise him to arrest Christians in Damascus. He was given the authority and set out on his way to Damascus. So what did the Christians do about it? They could have lain in ambush to attack Saul on the road. They chose another route. They prayed night and day.

Saul was suddenly enveloped in a great light and heard a voice saying “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” This is the strange part of the story. If God wanted to stop Saul a bolt of lightning might have served well. He could have destroyed this man who was intent on destroying his Church. It seems God had other plans for Saul. I’ve always thought of Saul as one of the bad guys. I suppose that’s unfair, after all he was defending his faith against what he saw as a threat.

Saul was blinded by the light. His travelling companions also heard the voice but there is no mention of them seeing the bright light. The voice told Saul to go into Damascus where he would be met. Being blind, Saul had to be led by the hand all the way.

Now while Saul was on his way Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, had a vision in which God told him to go and find Saul who had been promised that someone called Ananias would come to give him his sight back. As you might imagine Ananias was not too happy about going to find Saul. He told the Lord what he had heard about Saul persecuting the Christians. God reassured him, telling him that He had chosen Saul to be his instrument to bring the Good News to the pagans (that would be us).

Ananias went out and found Saul just as he was instructed. He went straight to Saul, laid hands on him and told him that he was sent to enable Saul to regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. From that moment his sight was restored. We hear no more about Ananias but I don’t think he gets the praise he deserves. Can you imagine being told to set out to Syria and find the leader of ISIS and give him a message from God? It would take a very brave man to do that and Ananias was just such a man.

Saul, when he recovered his strength, set about preaching to the Jews about Jesus. Can you imagine how the Jews in Damascus must have felt? Here was Saul who was coming to arrest the Christians now preaching that Jesus was the son of God. Instead of taking their part he was trying to convert them. They were angry and eventually worked out a plot to kill Saul and solve their problem.

The disciples got word of this and smuggled Saul out, lowering him from the roof in a basket. He went to Jerusalem to meet up with the disciples. Unsurprisingly they were not too keen to meet him. It was Barnabas who explained to the apostles what had happened to Saul and how he had been baptised in Damascus. Saul began to go around with the apostles in Jerusalem, preaching in the name of the Lord.

This brought about the same reaction he got in Damascus. The Jews were enraged that Saul, authorised to arrest the Christians, was now going round preaching about Jesus. Again they plotted to kill him. The Apostles, realising that Paul would not be safe among the Jews decided to take him to Caesaria and then send him to Tarsus. His work was to be among the pagans.

There are two lessons for me here. The first lesson is about God’s attitude to Saul. Despite Saul’s actions God did not see him as an enemy to be destroyed. He set out to bring about change in Saul. God was determined to save Saul. If God still wanted to save Saul then there is still hope for me.

Why did God blind Saul? To my mind, Saul was not seeing things properly. God stopped him seeing things in a distorted way and enabled him to see clearly. I suppose that’s what we need to do in our spiritual journey. We need to stop seeing things through the distorted lens of worldly things and start seeing clearly what God intends for us. God had plans for Saul. He wanted to use his sincerity and zeal to proclaim the good news. Those were gifts he had been given for God’s purpose. We have been given gifts too and God has a purpose for us. It’s just a matter of seeing clearly what God has in mind for us.

The second lesson for me is in how the early Christians dealt with Saul and what that tells us about ISIS. The followers of Jesus were powerless to do anything about Saul. He had the backing of the High Priest and they still saw themselves as Jews. They turned to prayer. Those early Christians had the faith to put their trust in God and let Him deal with Saul.

In the case of ISIS we don’t have the power to defeat them. The Church doesn’t have an army to send into battle. We do have the power of prayer. If we are really concerned for our fellow Christians and people of other faiths who are suffering at the hands of these religious fanatics we would follow the example of those holy people who were afraid of Saul. We would pray night and day for God’s intervention.

Bear in mind that God loves those extremists just as he loved Saul. They are also His children, lost sheep and he wants them returned to the fold. He has the power to change the way they see and help them to see clearly what His plan is for them.

So what’s stopping us? Why is there no rosary crusade for the conversion if ISIS? Are we not too bothered or have we been found lacking in faith?

Who was Saul and what has he to do with ISIS?

Leave a comment
Why perescutist thou me?

Why perescutist thou me?

My column is published today in the Scottish Catholic Observer. It concerns Saul and how the early Church dealt with the threat of extinction he brought. Was Saul the ISIS of the early Church? You decide.

My July Column – Full Text: Saint Stephen

Leave a comment

Saint Stephen

In our ponderings so far we have seen that the Church was growing rapidly after Pentecost. The Apostles were preaching, working miracles and converting many people. This might seem to us to be something that was only in the past, in the early days when wonderful things were being done in the name of Jesus. Today we see numbers falling. What is wrong?

The first thing that is wrong is that we are looking too close to home. In Europe and America the church might seem to be in decline but it is growing rapidly in Africa, Asia and South America. There is a different feel to the Church there. Hold that thought. I’ll come back to it.

After Pentecost the church was growing so quickly that there was too much for the apostles to manage. They recognised that extra help was needed just to deal with the day to day running of things. They decided to select seven men to deal with the distribution of food to let them get on with the work of spreading the Gospel.

Seven good men were selected, Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholaus of Antioch. This can be seen as the institution of the Diaconate. These men came forward as servants to the people of the Church. The Permanent Deacons today are following in their footsteps.

Stephen seems to have stood out from the others. It seems he was filled with grace and power. He began to work miracles and produced many signs that influenced people. Some of the Jewish authorities, concerned by the effect Stephen was having on people, came to debate with him. They were surprised to find that although he did not have their education or experience they could not get the better of him in these debates. What they did not understand was that Stephen was prompted in his replies by the Holy Spirit. They were not debating with a simple man but with God and the outcome of that was not in question.

Frustrated in their attempts to discredit his arguments they decided to undermine him. The persuaded some men to say that they had heard Stephen using blasphemous language against Moses and against God. In this way they turned people against him. This seems to be a familiar tactic when you can’t defeat the argument then attack the man. I’m sure you can recognise this approach to debate today.

Since Stephen was casing quite a stir with his preaching and working miracles. The Sanhedrin was concerned that he was undermining their authority and had him arrested. He was brought before the council and questioned. He was asked if it was true that he had blasphemed and was confronted by other false accusations that had been made about him.. Rather than give a simple answer Stephen gave a full account of the history of God’s involvement with the Jewish people.

He recounted the development of the relationship starting with Abraham and recounted the occasions throughout their history when the Jews had turned away from God. He pointed out the times when the prophets had been persecuted and how God had repeatedly forgiven them. He explained how God had promised a messiah to save the people. Jesus was that messiah he told them. Now he explained how they had refused to accept Jesus despite his miraculous works. The Sanhedrin was enraged and condemned Stephen to death.

This might see to be an extreme response to us. Seen in the context of the time it would not be unusual. Even today in the Middle East crimes which seem to us to be trivial can result in a public execution. In our own history we can see examples of harsh punishments. Australia started out as a penal colony for criminals whose crime might have been a simple theft of a dress or a pair of gloves. That does not compare well with the punishments given to financiers who steal millions today.

It is worth comparing the situation that the early Church found itself in with the circumstances we find ourselves in today. The rapid changes we have seen in laws in the western world, moving from rules based on Christian teaching towards a secular world have alarmed many Christians of all denominations. There has been an increased feeling of Christianity being under threat. The bakers in Northern Ireland who refused to produce a cake promoting single sex marriage and the midwives in Scotland who lost their case attempting to have a conscience clause over abortions illustrate the concerns.

It should be noted that we are not yet being threatened with execution. Not in the west, at any rate. In the Middle East the situation is different. The spread of ISIS and the brutal execution of Christians who refuse to give up their faith is causing real alarm. How many of us would be willing to face decapitation rather than give up their faith? In a church where people stop going to mass because they don’t like the new priest they have what chance is there of resisting threats of execution?

Stephen was taken out and stoned to death by the crowd. The organizer of the stoning, the man who held the jackets as it were was Saul. Saul was a radical Jew who saw it as his duty to stamp out this new group who threatened the authority of the Jewish religion. His very name struck fear into the members of the infant church. You could say he was the ISIS of his day.

Stephen was the first of the Christian martyrs. He challenges each of us by his life and by the manner of his death. He didn’t die, kicking and shouting at his oppressors. He had simply stated the truth, a truth that the authorities found unacceptable. He accepted his death as a price worth paying for spreading the gospel.

What are we willing to accept as a price worth paying for our faith? Have we kidded ourselves into thinking that we are real Christians? We send missionaries into the third world to hand on our faith and see ourselves as the Church spreading the faith. In reality the church in the third world displays a much stronger faith than we show here. People walk for hours to get to mass and mass are not a forty minutes or shorter version. In Africa the congregation is totally involved in the mass. You don’t find people sitting having a chat; nobody complains that it is “boring”. Perhaps it would be interesting to find out what would happen here if ISIS appeared on our shores and gave us the choice of convert or die.

The bible is not simply a history book that shows where our Church came from. It is a guide to how we should live today. What can we learn from Stephen? Why was his faith so strong even in persecution? What can we learn about how we should deal with our internal problems and the threat from ISIS? The Jews brought trouble on themselves when they abandoned their covenant with God. Are we in danger of doing the same by moving away from our basic teachings to be seduced by the world’s modern values?