“ O almighty and merciful God, Lord of the universe and of history. All that You have created is good and your compassion for the mistakes of mankind knows no limits. We come to You today to ask You to keep in peace the world and its people, to keep far away from it the devastating wave of terrorism, to restore friendship and instill in the hearts of your creatures the gift of trust and of readiness to forgive.”—Pope Francis
Pope Francis never hesitates to turn the light of truth inward as well as outward. The Gospel, especially as John tells it, reminds us that Jesus suffered as much at the hands of those who shared his religious faith as he did at the hands of outsiders. Persecution happens because of misguided power, anger at perceived injustice, fear of those who are not like us, who don’t share our beliefs and sometimes even our opinions. What begins as a disagreement over ideas can be magnified and escalated into rejection, ostracism, violence, and even death. And it can—and does—happen among Catholics of different philosophies, between Catholics and other Christians, between Christians and those of other faiths. In today’s Gospel the Pharisees sneer at Nicodemus when they ask if he, too, is from Galilee, a rural region that the residents of Jerusalem considered backward and inferior. We do this even today. We think we know how people will behave based on what part of the country they’re from. We divide our own cities and towns into good areas and bad areas. We absorb the prejudices of lifelong citizens even when we’re new to an area. Often we wouldn’t think of going to another part of town because of what we think we know about it, often based only on what we hear from others. Spend some time today learning about another faith, another culture, another set of beliefs. Set aside as much as is humanly possible the division of us and them, me and other. Look at the world from someone else’s perspective.
“His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” 2 Peter 1:3-4
I am afraid we are all born rather egocentric. We are the only reference point that we have, at least initially. “It’s all about me, and why shouldn’t it be?” If Mom and Dad mirror us well, we soon develop “mirror neurons” for empathy and relationship with others, but even other people can still be seen as mere means to my own power and pleasure. Or I can think I deserve everything, which we call a sense of entitlement.
Unless there is some pressure, social or parental, pushing the infant beyond the pleasure principle, human nature tends to largely take the path of least resistance. We really do need prods, goads, ideals to help us think outside of the little boxes we all create for ourselves. That is the function of laws and commandments. Only in the more mature person can love and grace take over—or even be understood.
What precisely is the meaning of the temptations in the desert to Jesus’s humanity? That would seem to be the meaning and application for us today. In short, I see the three temptations as the primal and universal temptations that all humans must face before they dare take on any kind of power—as Jesus is about to do. They are all temptations to the misuse of power for purposes less than God’s purpose. They are sequentially the misuse of practical everyday power, the misuse of religious power, and the misuse of political power. These are the constant tragedies that keep defeating humanity. Jesus passes all three tests, and thus “the devil left him” because he could not be used for lesser purposes. If you face such demons in yourself, God can and will use you mightily. Otherwise, you will, for sure, be used!
But let me point out something we almost always fail to notice. We can only be tempted to something that is good on some level, partially good, or good for some, or just good for us and not for others. Temptations are always about “good” things, or we could not be tempted: in these cases “bread,” “Scripture,” and “kingdoms in their magnificence.” Most people’s daily ethical choices are not between total good and total evil, but between various shades of good, a partial good that is wrongly perceived as an absolute good (because of the self as the central reference point), or even evil that disguises itself as good. These are what get us into trouble.
“Consider not only that God your benefactor is present but also that He acts continuously in all His creatures. And for whom is this continual action, this work of God in nature? For you. Thus, He lights you by the light of day; He nourishes you with the productions of the earth; in a word, He serves you by each one of the creatures that you use; so that it is true to say that at every moment the bounty, the wisdom and the power of God are at your service and are exercised in the world for your wants or pleasures. This conduct of God toward man should be the model of your conduct toward God. You see that the presence of God in His creatures is never idle; it acts incessantly, it preserves, it governs. Beware, then, of stopping at a sterile contemplation of God present in yourself. Add action to contemplation; to the sight of the Divine presence add the faithful accomplishment of the Divine will.”— St. Ignatius, p. 182
During this era of the COVID epidemic, we want to rely on evidence-based science. Solutions are evidence that has been proven. Unlike Army medicine, I just want to make sure it works on somebody else before I try it. In the first Gulf War, we were given a dose of something right off the shelf. “Well, this should work; we aren’t sure, but good luck!” Thank you very much. Everybody got sick. Death would have felt like an improvement. When you work for Uncle, you have to take all this stuff that they think “might” work. When we were young and didn’t like the medicine we needed, our parents would take it so that we would.
We can see the transforming power of God. A couple of examples are the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sisters of Charity. Look at what they do; the poverty they work in; and the people they deal with. It would take you a little while to adjust to that life and some never do. One of the sisters asked, “Do you get many American vocations?” “No, they cannot handle the work; they are too sissy.” I had to correct one of the Sisters, a doctor, when I was in Gitmo. The Sisters wouldn’t drink any water from the time they left in the morning until lunch time. Gitmo is rather warm and humid all the time. This Sister was sick, and I told her that she knew better and that she needed to take a break. The amount of work they do is daunting. They take care of the aged, and every morning, the Sisters made sure everyone was washed and fed before they had their own breakfast. It’s not an easy life, but they manage and they’re happy. They are very well balanced. Women say they want to be part of it. Really? Where does that come from?
When I was a young priest I was assigned to St. Patrick’s and then St. Gabriel. On Sunday mornings, a woman would come in and cook breakfast for the priests. Some of the gentlemen waited on us; one was my doctor, Dr. Kozack. These men never ate…they just waited on us. No coffee cup was ever empty. There was this one guy who waited on me for over two years like he was my personal steward or something. His name was Dick Froch. Dick was an interesting character. One day I saw something on his arm. After breakfast, while we were walking over to the church for Mass, I said, “Hey Dick, were you in the German army during the war?” He said “Yes, I was.” What branch? Then, he knew that I knew. I had seen the tattoo on his arm. As a young man, Dick had been a member of the SS division that guarded Adolph Hitler. After that, they were sent to work on the Eastern Front and then the Western Front. They were really bad, bad boys. They had done a lot of bad things. Dick was lucky, because the Americans had a habit of shooting the SS when they caught them. Why wait for a trial? But, Dick, a war criminal, had regained his faith, became a humble man, a good Catholic, and served me breakfast for over two years. The power of God’s transformation can do incredible things.
In my work at the Veterans Hospital, I see all sorts of men and women in the drug and alcohol unit. I see them come in sick, and I see a lot of them get better and leave which is both wonderful and surprising at the VA. If they do as they are told, they get better. Is it the medicine given to them at the VA? No. Medicine cannot cure drug and alcohol addiction. Doctors can make sure you dry out without killing yourself; but they can’t ensure long term sobriety. What keeps these men and women sober or clean, depending on their problem, is their relationship with God and His transforming power. They were sick and now they are better. We can see the transforming power of God all around us. Some people say, “Oh, this doesn’t work!” That’s like denying the sun rises in the East. Open your eyes to see the sunrise; open your eyes to see the transforming power of God all around you. You just don’t want to see it, because if you see something, you have to act on it. Then, you are responsible.
This one man came in and wanted to see me. He said, “Father I’m not Catholic, but I want to talk to you.” Okay, sure. “When I was in the hospital for a couple years, I talked to a priest, and he really helped me out.” And, then this man told me his story. Growing up, he was sexually, emotionally, and physically abused. When he came of age, he joined the Army and did a tour in Vietnam. What he saw there just enraged him…what the VC did to people. So, he signed up for a second tour and became Special Operations to repay the favor. When he came home, he tried alcohol therapy, but that didn’t work. He had all sorts of problems: anger, PTSD, the whole gamut. He sought help and got it. It took him years, but, because he had a spiritual transformation, he had a very happy marriage and was able to help other people who had also been abused. By the way, he was in the hospital for ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. One day, his doctor told him that his time was short. I saw him in the hallway a few days before he died. He had a new wheelchair that he could control with his mouth. I told him when I came back the following week, we were putting flames on the side of his chair. We were going to pimp his ride. He was happy, even though he knew his time was short and knew how his life would end. Having ALS is not the most pleasant way to die. But, he was happy. He was at peace, and his wife was at peace. The power of God in your life is transforming. No matter what you have done or what was done to you, the transforming power of God can change you. It can, and it will, if you work at it using the means that God offers us.
We have evidence-based proof that God’s power is alive and active. It’s all around us. You’d be surprised at the people around you who have received all sorts of blessings from God. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who has passed now, performed 40,000 abortions and later became Catholic. The head of the Gestapo in Rome – you know how they work…if not, look it up – became a Catholic while in prison. We are not a church of psychopaths – we may be eccentric – but we are not psychopaths. We have evidence-based proof of the power of God. Some people might say, “Well, it wouldn’t work with me.” But, have you ever tried?
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you allow the transforming power of God change you?
