Committing to lives of discipleship

Homily for October 11, 2015 (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrew 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

There is much in the news these days about religious freedom.  Here in the United States, the land of Kim Davis and the Little Sisters of the Poor, the debate is primarily about how it should be properly expressed and respected in a nation where the First Amendment to our Constitution has laid out two principles in dynamic tension:  non-establishment of religion by the state and the freedom to exercise one’s faith.  Elsewhere in the world, particularly in places that have state-sponsored religions, things are a lot more basic:  people simply don’t want to be killed because they are members of religious minorities.  

Pope Francis spoke eloquently about religious freedom during his recent visit to the USA, but it’s important to remember that prior to Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t exactly waving the flag of religious tolerance and liberty, insisting that “error has no rights.”  It was largely through the work of an American Catholic theologian, Fr. John Courtney Murray, that the Church was challenged to see that religious freedom was a fundamental human right rooted in a Catholic understanding of the dignity of the human person and that religious pluralism, undergirded by the separation of church and state, was the best way to preserve that freedom.  

In a number of essays, Fr. Murray countered both Protestant and Nativist arguments and prejudices that Catholicism was antagonistic to American democracy, as well as Church teachings that the morality of society was best guaranteed when the state enforced Catholic doctrine.   For his provocative yet prescient assertions, he was censored in 1955 by the “Holy Office” at the Vatican. A Jesuit committed to religious obedience, Fr. Murray complied.  In 1960, however, he published a collection of his earlier essays entitled We Hold These Truths.  As our nation elected our first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy, the book became a best-seller.

Fr. Murray was subsequently tapped by Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, to serve as his theologian at the Second Vatican Council; and it was Murray who subsequently served as the primary author of Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Freedom, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.  In surrendering his own freedom for a time, he opened the door to greater freedom for others.  In letting go of one thing he possessed, he came to embrace something greater; and he enabled the rest of us to do the same.

Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man in Mark 10 illustrates how our possessions can come to possess us.  They can even prevent us from freely embracing the kingdom of God and the life that comes with it. In the young man’s case, his wealth was the obstacle.  But we all have “possessions”—people, places, things, memories, attitudes or expectations that we think we cannot live without—that can end up holding us hostage or that distract us from committing ourselves more fully to lives of discipleship.  

How can we break free?  Our other readings today suggest several ways:  (1) deeper devotion to and reflection on the word of God, “sharper than a two-edged sword,” which helps us to get to the heart of matters and examine our consciences; (2) cultivating wisdom, which helps us put things in perspective and enables us to have the right priorities; and (3) humbly accepting our mortality and numbering our days aright, living our lives on earth with gratitude, purpose and joy while keeping our eyes on the horizon of eternity.  In short, to live in faith and freedom. +