Two weeks ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and we saw the great mystery that is Christian Baptism – not only that Baptism removes the power of the Evil One and forgives original sin, but that it makes the Christian a new creation. Starting at Baptism, Christ’s very life is lived out in the Christian.

          We see today Christ proclaiming His mission, applying the words of the prophet Isaiah to Himself, to the astonishment of the people of Nazareth, the ones who remember Him as a young child, the son of Mary and Joseph: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor … and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” This is where things really start to get challenging for us: Since you share in Christ’s life through Baptism, you also share in His mission.

          That’s tough to talk about because we so frequently fall short in that mission. We confess that we don’t share our belief in and love for Christ like we ought. We stay silent as others in our workplaces or schools insult and deride Him. We see those who are suffering and are scared to offer the hope and consolation of His mercy and love, because we fear rejection even from those who are most desperate for anyone to say anything that might point the way out of their suffering.

          Why do we reject that invitation to share in His mission? We feel ill equipped. We fear rejection. We don’t want to be hypocrites. But there is a root cause we often miss: We have a default posture of defensiveness.

          We have a default posture of defensiveness to each other. We are the eye who says to the hand, “I do not need you.” We are the head who says to the feet, “I do not need you.” We think that we can stay aloof and apart from the suffering of the other members of the body.

          Even more importantly today, we have a default posture of defensiveness towards the world. When we think about the obstacles to living a vibrant faith we so often blame, “the world,” imagining that “the world” is a hostile force out there conspiring against authentic living of the Christian faith.

          Is that the image Jesus has of “the world”? It’s true, He does tell us at one point that He has “overcome the world.” But how does He actually engage the world? What is clear in the Gospels is that Christ passionately loves the world. He gives His life for the world! He confronts those who do not share this love for the world and for the people He loves, but He does so out of love even for them, because without Him was made nothing that was made. He saw the world, and it was good.

          A friend encourages priests to talk more about the Evil One. I think he’s right. I think we do need to recognize the forces of evil with whom we are truly in conflict instead of with one another. But here’s where he goes wrong: My friend says that, “If the Devil isn’t real, what do you need Jesus for?” The Devil is not Jesus’s rival. The world is not Jesus’s rival. Jesus has no rival. He’s that good. And because He’s that good, He’s free to love that much.

What would happen if we overcame our defensive posture so that we could love the world like Jesus does, with His freedom, with the confidence of His victory? Last Sunday I alluded to the day two and a half years ago, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. That was a joyful day. I ran over to the church and rang the bells. We let them peel for over an hour.

But for a lot of people, it was a day of fear, and not just for people who are “pro choice.” For the past month, after the draft of the Court’s decision was leaked, people had been telling me to be careful. To keep the church locked or set up a rotation of guards. They encouraged me not to go out the day or the week that the decision finally came out.

So that Friday afternoon, having completely ignored and even forgotten all those concerns, I was walking through downtown Goshen, and someone in a passing car began to yell at me. And then I remembered, “Oh yeah, I’m not ‘supposed’ to be out today.” I couldn’t understand what the man yelling at me was saying, so I tried to ignore him. Eventually it became impossible, and I heard him say, “Father Tony!” (Father Tony was my predecessor five years before, so I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.) “I’m going to pull around to that parking lot. Can we talk?” All day long I had been getting texts from well-meaning friends telling me to be careful – worried about me, worried about the Church. So I said, “Sure?”

I walked up to the car, and inside was a young man I began to recognize, and a young lady in the passenger seat. “We just came from the hospital. We had a miscarriage. Could you bless our son?” And I looked down, and that innocent, frightened girl was holding a plastic bag with a big orange biohazard symbol, with a small plastic jar inside, holding the remains of their child.

When we focus so much on the negative reactions we could experience, we lose the opportunity to joyfully witness to Christ, to love the world like He does. That young couple knew better than anyone that what they carried was not the “products of conception” or just a clump of tissue, but a real human person whom they loved beyond all telling. Their sorrow, shock, and pain was a raw but beautiful witness to the importance of what our country’s highest court had done that morning, and to the importance of our continued work to protect unborn human lives. What if I had missed it, in defensiveness and fear?

I told that story two days later from the pulpit, encouraging my parish to engage that historic moment with grace, courage, and love. A lady in the fifth row was crying profusely, but also had the biggest smile on her face I had ever seen. I was distracted and perplexed, but then it hit me. She works at the emergency department front desk. She held that young woman’s hand as she lost her child. She was not afraid of her suffering. She was not afraid to ask if she wanted to pray together. Her heart broke as the young grieving mother walked out of the hospital, but she sent her away with an incredible amount of love.

I attended a small liberal arts college of only 850 students, and I was the obnoxious Catholic guy on campus. I had lots of good reasons to believe in the Catholic faith. I helped some friends and even a philosophy professor who were intellectually curious about Catholicism on their path to the Church. But while the scriptures tell us not to despise small beginnings, I did not make the slightest dent on the overall culture of Wabash College.

I had a fraternity brother who was extremely hostile to even suggestions of religious faith. Actually, he was hostile to everything. He was filled with anger and resentment that he attempted to slake with intoxication and sensuality. The closest he ever got to faith was to say, “If God does exist, I’m in big trouble.” Joe sent me a message a few years ago, sharing that his life had been turned upside down. He met an amazing woman who completely captured his heart, but who wanted to live and date in a different way than he ever had. Now, the anger and resentment are gone. He has peace. He’s a loving and good husband and father. And he’s Catholic – a Catholic who believes that as amazing as that woman whose love changed his life really is, God’s love is even stronger, and His friendship is even greater.

The difference between me and Joe’s wife is that I had arguments, and she loved him. Of course, someone had to answer those questions he had, someone had to show him how it is intellectually consistent to believe that God made the world, loves it, and suffering and evil still happen. But none of that meant anything until his heart was converted by love.

What if I had had more than arguments? What if I had been able to propose Jesus Christ to him? The Jesus who loves him and died for him and wants to pull him into His life in the sacraments?

The biggest obstacle to living the mission of Jesus is not the hostility of the world. It’s you and me. It’s the fact that our hearts still need to be converted to Him. And conversion is a free gift from the Lord. So ask Him for it. When you get caught up in thinking that “the world” is an obstacle to living the Faith, tell Jesus, “Lord, don’t change my neighbor’s heart. Change mine.”

The Rev. Royce V. Gregerson

Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne

III Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXV