It’s an understatement to say that there are very few things that are universally agreed upon in the Church these days. Most everything quickly becomes grounds for a rancorous debate, except for the universal belief that priests, and to some extent, parish staffs, should be more like Jesus. However, even that is contentious because of our tendency to move right past who Jesus actually is and interpret Him as we would like Him to be. A zealous young priest I met when I was in seminary referred to  this phenomenon as “cocktail party Jesus;” the presentation of Jesus as someone interesting,  novel, but above all else, not offensive to guests.
 
For the entirety of Church History people have  struggled with the temptation to pick and choose  the stories and messages that Our Lord used during His ministry in order to justify whatever     our  political/moral/cultural beliefs are. It’s understandable, because change is difficult, and no one wants to admit that they were in the wrong and conform their lives to something (or someone) else. Thomas Jefferson literally took a bible and      cut out all the stories about Jesus that He did not believe to make a rendition of Jesus He was more comfortable with. People who were uncomfortable with Jesus’ boundless mercy removed the chapter from John’s Gospel where Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery. The list goes on.

In today’s Gospel we encounter an important      reality about Jesus that should give us pause when we are tempted to brush past the things that make us uncomfortable about Our Lord. His preaching stirs up offense and resentment among the         people who dislike what He is saying, and so they immediately seek to dismiss Him by pointing out that He’s from their community, they know His family, and He has no right to tell them about      anything. Instead of encountering and wrestling with the words of grace He offers them, they close themselves off from Him, and ultimately, they are the ones who suffer for it. The conclusion of this chapter of the Gospel tells us that Jesus was not able to work mighty deeds in their midst due to their hardened hearts.
 
It’s a valuable lesson for us today, and something that I strive to remind myself of regularly. Jesus does not conform His teaching to convenient political systems. He does not toe the party lines. If we radically encounter His teaching, our hearts should be softened and remade to be like His.  In reflecting on how Jesus’ words and ministry change lives both 2,000 years ago and today, we should take to heart the fact that His efficacy is somehow tied to whether we are open to change. That’s a shocking thing to say, as He is God Himself, but because of the great gift of free will, Jesus won’t force us to believe in Him and be changed. We must meet Him there. The challenge for us, as we live in an increasingly divided world, is to turn to the Lord and recognize our need for Him. Our political     parties won’t save us. Our nation won’t save us.  Our ideologies won’t save us. Jesus will, but only if we let Him. As we continue to move through the choppy waters of living as Catholics in the 21^st   century, we ask God for the grace of a soft heart that is open to conversion by Our Lord.
Prayers always,
Fr. McC