June 23, 2024
The month of June is known by many in our society as ‘Pride month’ yet a growing number of people have been claiming an older tradition – that June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Whichever way a person prefers, there are a lot of posts that make their way around the internet this time of year. One such post caught my attention the other day. Placed upon an image of rainbow colored cobblestones was a quote from Rachel Held Evans, an author that I am somewhat familiar with. The quote said: “The apostles remembered what many modern Christians tend to forget – that what makes the gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out, but who it lets in.” I share this because I have been thinking a lot about this quote and how objectively she is correct – the Gospel has lost its punch so to speak. The Gospel message, originally heard as something earth shaking, has more recently been watered down to basically you’re ok, I’m ok. Jesus’ life message, the ‘Good News’ is meant to be a challenge that will inadvertently offend popular opinion and religious/societal leadership and we need to be aware of just how easy it is to slip into conformity.
What is the Gospel message? On one hand it seems like it should be as simple as a catchphrase, on the other it is so complex and life-altering that it has undeniably changed the world. One attempt to define the Gospel is: be like Jesus. To flesh it out a little further: becoming like Jesus unites one to God in this life and in the next. This begins to elicit the powerful teaching that Jesus does not sentence anyone to hell. Rather than condemning, Jesus invites us to be like Him and respects those who do not desire to be like Him. Furthermore, this state of not being like Jesus is known as hell and the actions and beliefs that we hold in this life affect our response to Jesus’ desire to be like Him. We cannot effectively claim to be like Jesus and not act the way He acts and think the way He thinks; Jesus is the model of authenticity and He will press us to make the authentic choice of Himself, or anything else. In fact, Jesus says, in regard to those who do, and those that don’t do, the Father’s will: “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” He said it, I believe it, and the Church professes it.
It is meant to be shocking who gets in and who is left out; because of that the Church (and here I mean the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church) has never once officially declared anyone to be in hell. Even with the absence of any official decree it remains obvious from the Gospels that Jesus is very concerned with who gets in and who is left out. Looking at Jesus’ life we may desire to come up with some characteristics to describe the way Jesus acted and what He believed. Here the three evangelical counsels come to mind: poverty, chastity, and obedience. Did Jesus flaunt anything? Did Jesus obsess over sexuality or sexual pleasure? Did Jesus go His own way and forsake genuine religious traditions or His Father’s will? No. Jesus was instead poor, chaste, and obedient. May we, myself first of all, act more as Jesus acted and believe more as Jesus believed so that we may be united with Him for all eternity.
Two Parishes, One Heart,
Fr. Adam