In the World, But Not of the World

The perennial struggle about the meaning, value and dignity of human beings and the right to human life has marked the history of humankind. In spite of the massive and horrendous tragedies for human beings in the 20th century, we are not still engaged in an intense struggle about the value of human beings and the right to life. At stake is the supreme value of human life and the meaning of our humanity.

John Paul II describes it as a crucial choice between a culture of life and a culture of death. He and Benedict XVI call us to foster a ‘civilization of love’ that results in a ‘culture of life’.

For people who want quick and total results, it seems sometimes like a ‘lost cause’. That is not true. The great majority of our fellow Americans are very uneasy and deeply concerned about the destruction and the threats to human life. Already there are positive signs in favor of human life. Many hearts have been opened and minds changed by the gentle and generous words, deeds and especially the bold and loving witness of human life advocates. Many have been blessed to meet and experience people of conviction; committed to human life. The gentle and generous efforts of countless Americans for human life are not in vain. It is a matter of the mind open to truth and a matter of the heart open to love. Both are confirmed and enhanced by FAITH.

Jesus teaches Catholics and other believers how to witness to human life and more.

How do Christians live in the world and save the world? That has been a vital question for two millennia of Christians of every time and place and for us NOW! Jesus provides the answer.

Each generation and each person learns anew in their time and place the perennial teachings of Jesus about their identity and mission in and for the world. Our Lord clearly teaches us about the world. In John 15: “If you find that the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its won. The reason it hates you is that you do not belong to the world. But I choose you out of the world”.

John 17 records Jesus’ prayer before the Passion: “I gave them your word and the world has hated them for it; they do not belong to the world anymore than I belong to the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to guard them from the evil one. Consecrate them by means of truth. Your Word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”.

As Jesus calls us to be in the world, but not of the world, he also teaches ‘HOW’.

Jesus gives three examples and ways of HOW Christians are to act. They are the familiar stuff of daily life. Christians are to act like LIGHT, SALT and YEAST (Leaven).

“You are the LIGHT of the world. Men do not light a lamp and then put it under a bushed basket. They set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Mt 5, 14-16).

“You are the SALT of the earth” (Mt 5, 13)

“The Kingdom of God is like yeast which a woman kneaded into three measures of flour. Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise” (Mt 13, 33).

Salt and yeast are like undercover agents, working in a seemingly hidden way with not ‘much ado’. Light achieves its purpose quietly and without fanfare and is usually unnoticed. All three are simply taken for granted.

So the Christian is like: LIGHT that dispels darkness. SALT that flavors. YEAST that makes dough rise.

An important Second Century letter details HOW Christians lived and witnessed in the Roman Empire. The Letter to Diognetus was written by a Christian names Quadratus between 12 - 129 AD to Hadrian, Emperor from 117 - 138. Diognetus was one of the emperors many names. It is an ‘APOLOGIA’, a defense of the Christians.

It depicts the unique mission of Christians in a hostile society and highlights their spiritual character. It presents a picture of the Second Century Church.

THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD

Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do nut use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do. Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man’s lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed. It is true that they are “in the flesh,” but they do not live “according to the flesh”. They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require. They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defaced, and are vindicated. They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life.