The Battle Within

St Paul writing his Letters in prison

Our first reading at Mass today is very consoling - St Paul's personal testimony on his struggle with sin and temptation from his Letter to the Romans (Cf. Romans 7:18-25a). If such a great Saint had his struggles, and we can see from what he writes that they were serious struggles, then there is hope for all of us! That, coupled with the feast we celebrate today, that of St John of Capistrano, offers us an important lesson for our daily Christian lives: the need to battle with our own weaknesses as we proceed along the path of holiness.

As many tell us, and we may know for ourselves, life is no picnic, it is not meant to be. In fact, as St John Paul II discovered when he was working as a young man in the quarry outside Krakow, it is in struggling, labour, suffering, we taste the nature of life and we meet it, not on its own terms, but, through faith, in terms set by Christ in which the seeds of victory have already been sown. Hence the need to keep close to Christ. 

It is interesting that it is in those moments we are weakest we may well meet Christ. St Paul in his reflections on his weakness tells us that it was then that he realized how strong Christ was and he put his faith in that strength, so much so that he could say "when I am weak I am strong": in his battle with himself he realized he had to be weak so he could then truly rely on the strength of Christ. St John of Capistrano also discovered this. Life was going great for him: a brilliant lawyer, he was a judge at a very young age and then raised to the office of Governor of Perugia at the age of 29! But then it all fell apart: negotiating a peace deal between warring cities he was captured and thrown into prison: was this how it was going to end? At his lowest, St Francis appeared to him and the Poverello showed him the way forward: Christ. So began the life of the great missionary of Europe.

I wrote a few days ago on St Damien of Moloka'i. Many praised his heroism during his lifetime, we honour his holiness, but we should not forget his weaknesses, and they were all too apparent as he lived on an isolated peninsula surrounded by death and facing a avalanche of needs every day from an outcast people. The consolation of confession did not come often enough for him as the authorities kept a tight rein on who could and could not go to Kalaupapa. His experience was raw on many levels, and certainly so in terms of his struggles with his weaknesses. But he put his trust in God, like St Paul and St John of Capistrano he fought the fight and was victorious, not through his own efforts, but rather through his cooperation with Christ and the grace the Lord gave him.

So we are consoled today. Thank God for the sacrament of confession in which we can bare our souls, seek mercy, find it and receive the grace of God to help us in our weakness. Thank God for the example of the Saints. Never forget that none of us are alone, and certainly not alone when we are in the depths of our struggle, the Saints look on, not as judges, but as our loving brothers and sisters who know how hard it is at times to battle with the self, to forget self and strive to be a better person, a better Christian. They were victorious in their struggle because they stayed close to Jesus and, bit by bit, and they advise us to do the same. They pray for us, they accompany us, and the Lord Jesus encourages them to console us as he comes himself to help us in our weakness.

Hypocrisy And Mercy

 

Hypocrisy is a universal experience. Every human being at some point in their lives realises that in some areas of their lives they could be classed as hypocrites. Certainly every night as I examine my conscience and every time I sit in the queue waiting to go to confession I realise that I am a hypocrite – a hypocrite in the sense that I preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but I so often fall short of it: I sin and fail to live up to the standard the Lord and Master has laid down for his disciples. Am I alone in that? Not at all – every disciple of Christ fails to live up to the Gospel. But rather than dumping the Gospel and giving way to hedonism and immorality, we strive to live the Gospel more perfectly, and with God’s grace, one day we will. In this the Saints serve as wonderful examples, they encourage us and pray for us. And of course that most wonderful of sacraments, confession, helps us in our struggle.
 

As men and women convinced of the truth of the Gospel we proclaim it and its values as men and women who are trying to live it. We recommend it to others, we defend it and we remind society that it is true, good and just. We offer the examples of the Saints as the Gospel in flesh, and so while we fall, those we proclaim the Gospel to can see that as we struggle to stay true to the truth, those holy ones who have gone before us have won the race. To men and women of goodwill struggling with their own fallen humanity the Gospel becomes a light, and even the disciples of Jesus, human and broken as they are, also serve as examples – those considering becoming Christian can see that you do not have to be perfect, to be a saint, to join, but in the communion of the Church we all journey together and struggle together, striving to become perfect, to become saints.
 

Failing to live the moral law perfectly does not negate the moral law, it just reveals that there are people who fail to live up to it. As followers of Christ we believe in forgiveness and the possibility of starting again, so much so that one who once broke the moral law could in time become its defender.  
 

Of course the disciples of Christ are not the only ones who realise they are hypocrites in some shape or form. All men and women of good will know they fail to live up to ideals while they still promote these ideals for the betterment of society and human flourishing. Indeed the only ones who will not feel the sting of conscience in this area are those who have no ideals, or those who have deluded themselves into thinking they are perfect, or those who are just bad and do not care. A society which has no ideals is one on the edge of despair; a society that cannot embrace the idea that people can change their lives and improve is already in despair.
 

Why these thoughts? Well, the recent revelation that Cardinal Keith O’Brien has admitted he committed the sins he was accused of. The media have been circling and accusing him of hypocrisy: as he opposes the gay agenda now, they see him as a hypocrite given his own moral failures. Yes, he may well be – and as such he now joins the rest of the world. The media’s solution? Discard Christian teaching, get rid of celibacy and assent to the gay agenda. In other words, throw the baby out with the bathwater and embrace wild abandon: the solution of a society in despair.
 

But we as Christians say: no, we won’t. Not even this will distract us from the Gospel and the teaching of the Church – we just have another example of a sinner in our midst and, we hope, of another who will find Divine Mercy in his struggle. On this I would recommend Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith’s article in the Catholic Herald. Are we Catholics disappointed with Cardinal O’Brien? Yes we are, bitterly – he let us all down. He has reparation to do. Will we reject him? No, we won’t: he is still our brother and we pray for him. That does not mean we reject those he hurt.  Certainly not, we pray for them too, pray for their healing and God’s blessing on them.  He will have to face the new Holy Father and answer for what he has done to them, and rightly so.
 

However, if our journalists are looking for other Christians who fell, well I’ll give them a few examples:
 

St Augustine lived an immoral life, had a mistress and illegitimate child, was a member of a heretical sect and treated his mother badly: he was a bishop.
 

St Mary Magdalen was possessed by seven devils – Lord knows what she did to deserve that! She was chosen by Jesus to announce the Resurrection.  Dodgy decision on Christ's part?  Or is it a case be believes in forgiveness?
 

St Hippolytus was an anti-pope, he was proud and a rebel. He died a martyr with the very Pope he opposed, they were reconciled.
 

Here’s a bad Pope for you – stop the press! St Peter, the first – he denied Christ. And it was said he may even have considered abandoning his See during a time of persecution. He was also married and some say he may have left his wife to proclaim the Gospel.
 

St Simon the Apostle was a terrorist and conspired to overthrow a legitimate government. He was a bishop too.
 

Blessed Bartolo Longo was a Satanist – there’s a story there, boys. He founded a shrine in honour of Our Lady – now there’s hypocrisy!
 

St Pelagia was a debauched actress who even tried to lead a bishop into sin. He converted her and she became a hermit – but people saw her as holy and pious, but with a past!  Is there an expose there?
 

And another of our Catholic heroes: a murderer – Jacques Fesch who killed a policeman in the course of a failed robbery. He became a mystic on death row and many think he may well be canonised one day.
 

And here’s another Catholic hero, though not as well known as he should be: Oscar Wilde. He struggled with his sexuality, but sought to embrace the Catholic faith believing that her teachings would cure him of his orientation. He finally had the courage to enter the Church on his deathbed leaving behind his lifestyle and finding peace before he died. And the Church embraced him – another sinner to join the billions of us already in it, and another who saw the need for mercy.
 

　

So if the press are looking for Catholics with a past to bring down the Church, then they have plenty to choose from.  Any one of the above could be accused of hypocrisy.  Yet in spite of all these sinners, the Church is still here; why?  Because God believes in mercy - he sent his Son as the price of that mercy, and he pours it out on all and offers us a new life, a new beginning and an eternal destiny.  And that gives us great hope! A hope that is absent in much of our society.  We will not abandon the Church, or her teachings, because they speak of hope, holiness and eternal life: they guarantee that when we fall, the Lord will pick us up again and our brothers and sisters will wipe the dust off us and help us along the way.  We may have reparation to do, sometimes very serious reparation, and it must be done, but we can do it with humility trusting in God's forgiveness.

 

And so when people say we are hypocrites, we smile and agree, we throw our eyes to heaven and ask for mercy, and truly try to do better in future, with God's help.  If I may quote Oscar: "Every Saint has a past, and every sinner has a future" - it may come as a shock to many, but we Catholics actually believe that, not in spite of the moral law as is, but because of it.

Excuses...excuses....

Found out, Adam and Eve start making excuses. Adam blames the wife (and it has been way ever since), Eve blames the devil, the devil tries to slink away to gloat: dissension and blame has entered the world.  This passage from Genesis is very ironic - they wanted to be like God, but when they are caught they will not step up act like gods, taking responsibility for what they have done.  They do not argue their case or rebel, but like bold children knowing they have done wrong they try to get out of trouble by passing the buck.  Unfortunately for them God happens to be omniscient, so he knows what has happened.  His question "Where are you?" was their golden opportunity to come clean and who knows if they had, would the punishment been as harsh?  Who's to know?  But they don't - gone is human dignity with human responsibility.

The devil gets it first - crawler at the start, he'll be a crawler forever.  Woman will now have pain in childbirth and while she will love her husband, she will fall victim to male pride and will be lorded over - a feminist statement in Genesis which tells us that the oppression of women by men is wrong, but a result of the fall - that wonderful bond is wounded.  The man too will suffer: now he will have to work hard with little return - the world will now be a harsh place and in the end: death.

It is an awful curse.  You might ask why God did this - surely he should have forgiven them seeing as he is the God of love?  He does, he provides for mercy, we will look at it in a minute.  But he must also respect their free will.  Adam and Eve chose to do what they did - they disobeyed him, they wanted to become like God, so now he respects that decision - let them be gods.  But seeing as they are not divine, they do not have what he has, they cannot transform the world into a paradise nor cheat death.  Now they are in charge and suddenly their powerlessness is revealed. 

But there is mercy.  As he passes sentence, God speaks of the Redeemer in 3:15.  This verse is the Proto-evangelium, the first Gospel, the prophecy of the coming of Christ, and also a reference to Our Lady, the new Eve who will be conceived sinless.  The tragedy has a happy ending in Christ and, most wonderfully, an even better outcome.  "O happy fault", St Augustine sings, "that merited such a Redeemer!" 

God did not abandon them, and this is a consolation.  As they prepare to leave Eden, he clothes them: a symbol that he loves them dearly and is with them even in the midst of the world.  Eden is closed, but outside, in the wilderness, he is present and there lies the promise of a return.