Deacon Larry

 

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

Acts 35: 27-33; John 3: 31-36

Dc. Larry Brockman

Obedience!  Obedience to what we hear and feel God wants us to do.  Obedience to the truth, no matter what the wisdom of the world says.  That’s the common thread in today’s two readings.   

Just a few nights ago,  Jane and I watched the film “Judgment in Nuremburg”.  Neither of us had seen the film all the way through before.  The film depicted 5 Nazi judges being tried before a tribunal of American Judges for going along with the Nazi agenda in their judgments,  rather than ruling on the basis of universal justice that comes from above.  Four of the judges were truly corrupt in one way or another.  They were either motivated by greed or power or politics or weakness.  But one of the judges had been a paragon of virtue prior to the Nazi takeover.  He was staunchly supported by the German people.  His defense was based on his belief that it was better to compromise some of your principles, so that you can still have some influence, to do what you can to soften the blow, rather than stand on principle and be removed.  In the end, all 5 judges were convicted because the tribunal felt that as soon as one begins to compromise the truth, then that is a slippery slope to disaster.  The dire consequences of the compromise judgments of the Nazi judges clearly established that.

The Apostles could have been quiet because the Jewish leaders told them to shut up or face the consequences.  They could have looked for opportunities to speak up when it was prudent, and kept quiet when it was threatening.  But they were not silent; they spoke up boldly because Jesus had told them to proclaim his message everywhere.     

Whether we like it or not, each of us is placed in the same position as these Nazi judges and the Apostles every day of our life.  We are given the opportunity to speak up when something isn’t right.

For example, what do we do when we see the way some people treat their co-workers or fellow students; or we hear unchallenged “pro choice” words of a neighbor or work associate; or we hear someone criticizing or defaming our religion or church.  What do we do?  Do we speak up; or are we silent? 

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Holy Family Weekday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.