The last real field trip that I took as a student took place several years ago when I was in Rome studying liturgy. The trip took place at the end of February between the first and the second semester. A group of students from the school that I was studying at went with one of our rather famous liturgy professors to visit the church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. This church was built in the sixth century at a time when the Roman Empire was divided between the East and the West and the capital of the East was at Constantinople or present day Istanbul. At the time of its construction, it was the largest church in the world. Our class was going to visit it and study it as part of a class on church architecture.

While we were in Istanbul, I and the priests that I was travelling with were amazed to see how committed the Muslims of this city were about their faith.  Throughout the course of the day the great minarets would sound and call people to the five traditional times of daily prayer.  People would drop whatever they were doing and make sure that they gave their undivided attention to God during these times of prayer. The weather during our visit was very cold and wet. Yet despite this, we would often see Muslims who were washing their hands and feet in the fountains outside of the mosques before going into the mosques to pray. Now I do not know if you have ever put water on your hands on a cold day, but it can be freezing and cause great pain. This did not stop these people who were taking part in the ritual washing required of them before they entered the mosque. It was amazing to see an entire city so obviously dedicated to the faith of the people who believed with such conviction in their religion. While we were in Istanbul, I and the priests that I was travelling with were very impressed about how the people of this city lived their faith in such a convincing and obvious way. At one point in our trip we actually stopped to speak with an Imam about how impressive it was to see how seriously the people of Istanbul took their faith. He replied to us that the reason why he was certain that Christianity was dying was that he claimed you could be in a city with a million Christians and you would hardly be able to find any proof that they were there. On the contrary, he said if you were in a city with 100 Muslims you would know they were there because they practice their faith with conviction. Quite simply this Imam said, it is always hard to find any evidence that Christians believe anything or ever live their faith seriously. As my classmates and I made our way back to Rome, we were all looking for some kind of evidence that there were Christians living in Rome.  When we got back to the city all we saw was a bunch of angry drivers waving their hands at one another. Sadly, we had to admit, that other than the old church buildings there was very little evidence that there were a lot of Christians living in Rome from the way people acted and the empty churches. It lead all of us to look at our own lives and our cities and wander if there was any evidence of Christianity in them. Some of us even thought about a question that we had heard asked in some Church homilies: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there ever be enough evidence to convict you?”

This is actually a good question for all of us to ask ourselves: “Is there enough evidence in our lives that people might suspect that we are Christians and believe that Jesus is our Savior?” By the very fact that we are here on a Sunday and you can hear me asking you this question, happily we can answer that there is some evidence. However, it is amazing the number of people who can call the church during the week to inquire about baptism and a wedding and seem shocked when I ask them to come to church and introduce themselves to me before we set-up an appointment. I always figure, if people want to join the church they should at least come once and get a sense of the church that they are asking to join. Yet for many who call, this seems to be a great imposition. I sometimes think it is like someone asking to join the hockey team on the condition that they never have to go to the hockey rick. Imagine how others would act if someone were to say: “ I want to join the hockey team, but please, please, please do not make me go to the rink.”

The truth is, it is becoming harder and harder to live a Christian life and we often do not find the support in our society that used to exist in generations past. Christians are often afraid to speak of their faith at work or to tell people where they go on a Sunday morning. When it comes to trying to encourage others to live up to the ideals of Christianity, people are often dismissed as being out of touch when they do attempt to speak about Christian values and beliefs. Even in our Catholic School System, it can be difficult to find people who will speak with conviction about their faith and the values that ought to be central to the Catholic School System. The number of people in the Catholic School System that have a real relationship with their local parish is sadly less and less. In society at large, Christian values are often more and more opposed to the values of the society. This week we saw a very clear example of this as the Parliament of Canada passed a law, Bill C 14, which would allow for medically assisted suicide by doctors and force those doctors and nurses who were opposed to such measures to possibly violate their consciences. As Christians who believe that life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death, this law is obviously opposed to everything that we believe about the sanctity of life.

Cardinal Collins has written a letter dealing with the reality that Bill C 14 has been passed and is now law in Canada. In this letter he has rightly raised the concern that this law will begin to put pressure on those who are vulnerable and weak and cause them to feel the obligation to end their lives so as not to be a burden to friends and family. He states that while he does not doubt the good intentions of the judges and politicians who have brought this law about, it too easily absolves of the responsibility of providing real care and compassion to those who are suffering. Instead of seeking to end the lives of those who suffer, our society ought to be working to provide quality palliative care for all Canadians. At present, this type of care is only available to about thirty precent of Canadians. True compassion would require that we work to provide this kind of care for all persons in need. There is little evidence of compassion and Christian charity in a society that attempts to deal with pain and suffering by choosing the easiest and most convenient manner to dispatch its members from this life, instead of offering compassion and care. Killing, under any circumstances, is never compassionate and does not witness to the faith that we profess as Christians. Cardinal Collins’ letter is in this weekend’s bulletin for those who wish to read it or it can be accessed on line at:  www.archtoronto.org/Documents/releases/2016-billc14passage.pdf

So what are we to do now that this law has been passed in our country. As always, as Christians we are to look to Jesus as our model and guide. In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus facing circumstances similar to ours. He is on His way up to Jerusalem. As He is going up to embrace the cross, He is rejected as He attempts to pass through the land of Samaria, because the Samaritans held that the place to worship was not in Jerusalem but in Samaria.  In the face of the opposition that He confronts, His disciples want Him to bring down thunder and lightning on His opponents. Jesus refuses to do this. He deals with the opposition rather with love and charity. Instead of condemning, He keeps His face set towards Jerusalem, knowing that He was only passing through that land as a pilgrim. We must also see our own lives as that of pilgrims. We are on our way to Christ and we are to walk in faith. Our true home is not here, but in Heaven. Thus we must keep our eyes fixed on Heaven and do the best we can to remain faithful to our Lord, despite the opposition we encounter in the world. Having set out on our journey, we cannot turn back. Much will come to distract us, but discipleship means that we always remember our goal. No matter what the laws of our country allow, as Christians we must always stand for the value of life from the moment of conception to natural death and have the courage of our convictions to defend the sanctity of life.

As we keep our eyes fixed on Heaven, we can also learn a great deal from Paul’s writing as we hear in today’s second reading that we are always to maintain the freedom to love and serve our neighbour in charity. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul reminds his readers that the law of freedom is summed up by the command to “Love ones neighbour as one’s self.” Christians are to work to build the kingdom of God in freedom by loving one another and caring for their brothers and sisters. What originally attracted the non-Christian world to the Gospel was the witness of the way Christians loved one another in an often hostile world. The challenge that is before us today as a Christian community in a world that does not share our values is to maintain those values in such a loving and charitable way that we give witness to the truth contained in them by caring for those in need and the vulnerable in truly loving and prophetic ways. It is this that will give evidence in our society to our Christian faith. Like the prophet Elisha in today’s first reading, we are all called to be a prophetic voice in today’s world. In the first reading Elisha put on Elijah’s mantle as a sign of the prophetic mission that he was given. Through our baptismal garment on the day of our baptisms, we too have been called to also be witnesses.

This week our country passed a law which is contrary to the values that we as Christians hold about the sanctity of life. This law calls us to give evidence about what we believe about life not by yelling and screaming. This is not the way that Jesus would want us to react. We are called rather to give evidence to our faith by following Christ in freedom with conviction and charity. This is a challenge to treat the sick and the vulnerable as Christ would treat them and to give witness to the value that we believe each person has in God’s eyes by the way that we treat our brothers and sisters. In a society opposed to its values, the early Church gave evidence to its faith by acts of charity that attracted all to Christ. We are now called to give a similar witness in our own day and age by providing love and compassion to those who are the most needy and vulnerable. The beautiful hymn “ They will know we are Christians by our love” must now resound at full volume in the love and care we as Christians show to the elderly, sick and vulnerable.This is the way we can give evidence that will make a difference.

Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor— St. Peter’s Parish, Toronto