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He said to them, "Thus it is
written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third
day and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached
in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are
witnesses of these things." Today, we are his witnesses of these things.
Listen again to the words of the first Letter of John, "Those who say,
'I know him,' but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth
is not in them." Do we know him? Do we keep his commandments? Or
are we liars?
You might say, "I keep some of his commandments, but this is 2006.
Nobody is perfect, right?" John comes back at you with, "But whoever
keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him." I wish that
it were easier to stand up and be counted as a Christian and a Catholic
these days, but the fact is it certainly is not easy! Our
political leaders endorse and encourage the practice of “cultural
religion.” This means that you may go to church, synagogue, or mosque
occasionally, but if you go too often, you just might be a fanatic.
Practice your faith, but please keep it to yourself. Overt signs of your
religious preference in the workplace may be a form of harassment.
Political leaders only like to mix religious beliefs with politics when
it attracts more votes. Any other time they haul out the old battle cry
of "separation of church and state." Even though this doctrine was never
written into the Constitution, we are expected to act as though it is
there. Our government may not establish any religion, but it was never
intended to hamper the free exercise of religion.
Last but not least, we are told to keep our morality to ourselves.
According to politicians and the media we have no right to judge anybody
else's behavior. They say we should not try to impose our morality
on anyone else. Well, that’s not what Jesus said! In Luke's gospel,
Jesus clearly says we are his witnesses. His warning, "judge not lest
you be judged," referred to judging the person, not the behavior. We
must judge and hold our leaders and institutions and each other
accountable. We are to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.
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