Manantena amin'ny fanoherana

NY TENY IZAO MOMBA NY VAKIN'NY MASY
ho an'ny 21 Oktobra 2017
Sabotsy ny herinandro fahavalo ambin'ny roapolo amin'ny ora mahazatra

Lahatsoratra litorjia Eto

IT mety ho zavatra mampatahotra mahatsapa ny fihenan'ny finoanao an'i Kristy. Angamba ianao dia iray amin'ireo olona ireo.

You have always believed, always felt that your Christian faith was important… but now, you are not so sure. You have prayed to God for help, relief, healing, a sign… but it seems as if there is no one listening on the other end of the line. Or you have experienced a sudden reversal; you thought God was opening doors, that you had correctly discerned His will, and all of a sudden, your plans collapse. “What was fa all about?”, you wonder. Suddenly, everything feels random…. Or perhaps a sudden tragedy, a painful and brutal illness, or other unbearable cross has suddenly appeared in your life, and you wonder how a loving God could permit this? Or permit starvation, oppression, and the child abuse that continues every second of every day? Or maybe, like St. Thérèse de Lisieux, you have encountered the temptation to rationalize everything away—that miracles, healings, and God Himself are nothing but the constructs of the human mind, psychological projections, or the wishful thinking of the weak.

Raha mba fantatrao mantsy izay eritreritra mampatahotra ahy. Mivavaha fatratra ho ahy mba tsy hihaino ny Devoly izay te hitaona ahy momba lainga be dia be. Ny fiasan'ny materialista ratsy indrindra no apetraka ao an-tsaiko. Aorian'izay, tsy mitsahatra ny mandroso fandrosoana vaovao, ny siansa hanazava voajanahary ny zava-drehetra. Hanana ny antony feno amin'ny zava-drehetra misy isika ary mbola mijanona ho olana, satria mbola be ny zavatra ho hita sns sns. -St. Therese of Lisieux: Ny resadresaka farany nataony, Fr. John Clarke, voatonona ao amin'ny catholictothemax.com

And hence, creeps in the doubt: the Catholic faith is nothing but a clever system of human origin, devised to oppress and control, to manipulate and coerce. Moreover, the scandals of the priesthood, the cowardice of the clergy, or the sins of “faithful” lay folk seem further proof that the Gospel of Jesus, as lovely as it is, is powerless to transform.

Moreover, you cannot turn on the radio, TV, or computer today without the news or entertainment acting as if everything you were ever taught in the Church about marriage, sexuality, and life itself is so completely out of touch that to be heterosexual, pro-life, or believe in traditional marriage is tantamount to being an intolerant and dangerous freak. And so you wonder… maybe the Church has it wrong? Maybe, just maybe, the atheists have a point.

I suppose one could write a book in response to all these worries, objections, and arguments. But today, I will keep it simple. God’s answer is the Cross: “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” ^[1]1 Cor 1: 23 Where did Jesus ever say that faith in Him meant you would never suffer again, never be betrayed, never be hurt, never be disappointed, never be ill, never doubt, never fatigue, or never stumble? The answer is in Revelation:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

That’s right. In mandrakizay. But on this side of Heaven, Jesus’s very life on earth reveals that suffering, persecution, and even the sense of abandonment at times is part of the journey:

Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?… “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)

Certainly, the early Christians understood this.

Nampahery ny mpianatry ny mpianatra izy ireo ary nananatra azy ireo haharitra amin'ny finoana ka hanao hoe: «Tsy maintsy miaritra fahoriana be isika mba hidirana amin'ny fanjakan'Andriamanitra. (Asan'ny Apostoly 14:22)

Why is that? The answer is because humans are, and continue to be, creatures of Safidy malalaka. If we have free will, then the possibility to reject God remains. And because humans continue to exercise this extraordinary gift and act contrary to love, suffering continues. People continue to pollute creation. People continue to start wars. People continue to covet and steal. People continue to use and abuse. Sadly, Christians too.

Fantatro fa rehefa lasa aho dia hisy amboadia masiaka hiditra eo aminareo ka tsy hiantra ny ondry. (Asan'ny Apostoly 20:29)

But then, Jesus was not spared by His own either. After all that Judas witnessed—the extraordinary teaching, the healings, the raising of the dead—he sold his soul for thirty pieces of silver. I tell you, Christians are selling their souls for much less today!

In today’s first reading, St. Paul speaks about the faith of Abraham who “believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations.” As I look over the horizon upon the past 2000 years, I see many things that I cannot humanly explain. How, not only the remaining Apostles, but millions after them were martyred for their faith with na inona na inona to gain in earthly terms. I marvel how the Roman Empire, and nation after nation thereafter, were transformed by the Word of God and the witness of these martyrs. How the most corrupt of men and cruelest of women were suddenly changed, their worldly paths abandoned, and their riches sold or distributed to the poor “for the sake of Christ.” How at the “name of Jesus”—not Mohammad’s, Buddha’s, Joseph Smith’s, Ron Hubbard’s, Lenin’s, Hitlers, Obama’s or Donald Trump’s—tumors have evaporated, addicts have been liberated, the lame have walked, the blind have seen, and the dead have been raised—and continue to be to this hour. And how in my own life, when faced with utter hopelessness, despair, and darkness… suddenly, inexplicably, a ray of divine Light and Love that I could not conjure on my own, has pierced my heart, renewed my strength, and even let me soar on eagles’ wings because I clung to the mustard-sized seed of faith rather than turn away.

In today’s Gospel Acclamation, it says, “The Spirit of the truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also will testify.” I have come to see something in our times that both disturbs my soul, and yet, gives me a strange peace, and it this: Jesus never said that everyone would believe in Him. We know, without a doubt, that He gives every single human being an opportunity to accept or reject Him in ways known only to Him. And thus He says,

I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. (Today’s Gospel)

An atheist said to me recently that I was simply afraid to admit the truth. I smiled, as he tried to project his personal experience and fears on me. No, what I’m afraid of is to be so stupid, so stubborn, so self-centred and vain as to deny my personal experience of Jesus Christ, who has manifested His presence in so many ways; to deny the overwhelming evidence of His power at work through twenty-one centuries; to deny the power of His Word and the truth which has liberated countless souls; to deny the living icons of the Gospel, those Saints through whom Jesus has made Himself present in power, actions, and words; to deny an institution, the Catholic Church, that has had Judases, thieves, and traitors in every generation, and yet, still, somehow, commands the respect of kings, presidents, and prime ministers while transmitting her 2000 year old doctrines unaltered. Moreover, I have seen enough of what the materialists, rationalists, and other “enlightened” have brought to the table, such that they prove Christ’s words over and over again: you shall know a tree by its fruit.

…tsy manaiky ny “Filazantsaran’ny Fiainana” izy ireo fa mamela ny tenany hotarihin’ny foto-pisainana sy ny fomba fisaina manakana ny fiainana, izay tsy manaja ny fiainana, satria voabaikon’ny fitiavan-tena, ny tombontsoan’ny tena, ny tombony, ny fahefana ary ny fahafinaretana, fa tsy amin’ny fitiavana, amin’ny fiahiana ny hahasoa ny hafa. Nofinofy mandrakizay ny faniriana hanorina ny tanànan'ny olombelona tsy misy an'Andriamanitra, tsy misy ny ain'Andriamanitra sy ny fitiavany—Tilikambon'i Babela vaovao… ilay Andriamanitra Velona dia nosoloina sampin'olombelona mandalo izay manolotra ny hamamoan'ny tselatra fahafahana, fa ao amin'ny ny farany dia mitondra endrika fanandevozana sy fahafatesana vaovao. — PAPA BENEDICT XVI, Toriteny at Evangelium Vitae Mass, Vatican City, 16 Jona 2013; Magnificat, Janoary 2015, p. 311

Yes, as the world today rapidly throws off the “shackles of Catholicism”, clearly, we see new shackles in the forms of technology, oppressive economic systems, and unjust laws tightening and tightening and tightening around humanity. And so, brothers and sisters, who will be light in this present darkness? Who will be the ones to stand fast and say, “Jesus is alive! He lives! His Word is true!”? Who will be the “white” and “red” martyrs who, when this present order collapses, will be the ones whose blood will become the seedbed for a new springtime?

God did not promise us an easy life, but fahasoavana. Let us pray, then, for the grace to hope against all hope. To be faithful.

… Hery maro no nanandrana, ary mbola manao, hamotika ny fiangonana, na ivelany na ny ao anatiny, fa izy ireo kosa dia potika ary velona sy mahavokatra hatrany ny fiangonana… mijanona ho tsy azo ovaina izy… fanjakana, vahoaka, kolontsaina, firenena, ideolojia, fahefana no nandalo, fa ny Fiangonana miorina amin'i Kristy, na eo aza ny tafio-drivotra maro sy ny fahotantsika maro, dia mahatoky hatrany amin'ny fametrahana ny finoana aseho amin'ny asa fanompoana; satria ny fiangonana dia tsy an'ny papa, eveka, pretra na ny laika mahatoky; ny fiangonana isaky ny fotoana dia an'i Kristy irery ihany.—POPE FRANCIS, Homily, 29 Jona 2015; www.americamagazine.org

fanamarihana ambany pejy

fanamarihana ambany pejy
↑1	1 Cor 1: 23