{"id":23840,"date":"2016-04-15T15:45:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T21:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=23840"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:57:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:57:44","slug":"on-the-eve-of-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/on-the-eve-of-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Eve of Revolution","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"


Revolution: “Love” backwards<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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SINCE <\/strong>Christianity’s beginnings, whenever revolution <\/em>has broken out against her, it has most often come like a thief in the night.<\/em><\/p>\n

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THE FIRST REVOLUTION<\/p>\n

Even though there were warning signs all around them, the Apostles were shaken\u00a0and surprised when that diabolical revolution broke out\u00a0in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord had been warning them to “watch and pray,”<\/em> and yet, they continually fell asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, \u201cAre you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.\u201d While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs… (Matt 26:45-47)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yes, revolution broke out “while he was still speaking.” That is, it often comes when people are in the midst of their projects, in the middle of their plans, their hopes and dreams. It takes many by surprise because they do not\u00a0think\u00a0that life will ever change; that the patterns they are used to, the structures they have relied on, and the assistance they’ve always had, will always be there.\u00a0But suddenly, like a thief in the night<\/em>, these securities are shaken and the night of revolution falls with a violent thud.<\/p>\n

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Then all the disciples left him and fled. (Matt 26:56)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That is what happens when revolution takes Christians by surprise, when it rudely awakens those who have fallen into the sleep of sin and the complacency of comfort.\u00a0Slumber overtakes us when worldliness, pleasure, and the anxieties of life choke\u00a0out and silence the voice of God.<\/p>\n

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“It\u2019s our very sleepiness to the presence of God that renders us insensitive to evil: we don\u2019t hear God because we don\u2019t want to be disturbed, and so we remain indifferent to evil.\u201d<\/strong>\u2026such a disposition leads to \u201ca certain callousness of the soul towards the power of evil.\u201d <\/strong>The Pope was keen to stress that Christ\u2019s rebuke to his slumbering apostles \u2013 \u201cstay awake and keep vigil\u201d \u2013 applies to the entire history of the Church. Jesus\u2019 message, the Pope said, is a \u201cpermanent message for all time because the disciples\u2019 sleepiness is not problem of that one moment, rather of the whole of history, \u2018the sleepiness\u2019 is ours, of those of us who do not want to see the full force of evil and do not want to enter into his Passion.\u201d <\/strong>\u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, Catholic News Agency, Vatican City, Apr 20, 2011, General Audience<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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THE SECOND REVOLUTION<\/p>\n

This past week in the Mass readings, we have reflected on the early Church immediately after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It did not take long for revolution to stir once again, but now against the body <\/em>of Christ, beginning with Stephen.<\/p>\n

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They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin… (Acts 6:12)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Like Jesus, the truth <\/em>was put on trial. But rather than stir his listeners to reason and reflection, the truth only angered them. As Jesus\u00a0said,<\/p>\n

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…this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. (John 3:19-20)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Likewise, with Stephen, “they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.”<\/em> [1]<\/sup><\/a>Acts 6:10<\/span><\/span>