"What have you to do with us?"

Things have been going slowly in my exchange with Shan and as a result I've decided I should interrupt those postings with some thoughts which have been rattling around in my head.

A Gospel reading at Mass recently was from the first Chapter of St Mark. It recounted the story of Jesus at the synagogue in Capernaum (not by coincidence St Peter's home town) where He is confronted by a demon possessed man. The demon shrieks at Christ, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?" This question echoes through the ages to this day; it is still heard from the world, addressed now to those who stand counter to the culture, particularly those who hold to the teachings of Christ as passed on by His Church.

"What have you to do with us?" The culture recognizes Christianity as a force counter to itself. It sees in Christianity a force capable of reforming itself, capable of seizing the reins and redirecting the progress of mankind towards its ultimate goal. This is why it rails against the Church. This is why the Church is under such vehement attack by proponents of the culture at large. Academia distorts her history and philosophy, the media misrepresents her opinions and exaggerates the flaws of her members.

"Have you come to destroy us?" Within the Christian call for discipline, for self-denial, self-restraint and self sacrifice, the culture sees its nemesis. It recognizes a force for change more powerful that its call for individual, for temporal happiness. In its drive for the common good over the good of individuals the Christian ideal is diametrically opposed to that which the society overall values most, the happiness of the individual at the expense of the whole of mankind. The disciplines which allow the Christian to see the suffering of others, to feel that pain, to act outside himself to alleviate that suffering where possible, and where the alleviation of that suffering is not possible, to share in it, are baffling to those involved wholly in the popular culture.

This, though baffling though it may be to many, is exactly what we are called to do. We are possessed of a philosophy and a way of life which has great power. Indeed, it is a way of life capable of reforming the culture. Secure in the knowledge that what we believe is firmly grounded in objective truth, and with a guarantee from He who established that truth that the victory belongs to us, we as His instruments must attempt, as best we can, to live within the confines of that discipline, to demonstrate that life within that discipline is not only possible, not only feasible, but that it is productive and fulfilling both physically and spiritually and is in the best interest of the whole of mankind.

Til next time, all the best. Joe