For the Salvation of Souls:
A Preacher's Contribution

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You know, it's clear in the gospels that Jesus was often an embarrassment to those around him, and that includes those who believed in him. We certainly see this in the gospel accounts of today's feast of Jesus' baptism:

 In the earliest Gospel to be written (Mark), we're simply told that Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, period.

 In Matthew (written a little later), John first refuses to baptize Jesus, and protests to Jesus that he is unworthy, but then finally gives in and baptizes him anyway.

 In Luke (probably written later still), we are not even told that Jesus was baptized by John at all, but that John was imprisoned by Herod, and then, simply, that Jesus was baptized.

 Finally, in John's gospel—the last to be written—not only are we also never told that Jesus was baptized by John, but the gospel doesn't even say that Jesus was baptized at all, and does not refer to the figure of John as "the Baptist," merely as "John."

In other words, the early Christians got more embarrassed as time went on with Jesus' humble gesture of submitting to the baptism of John; they couldn't understand how one so mighty could have done it, so they gradually buried its memory as best they could.

Or again, Mark recounts at one point the question asked of Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary." Matthew, embarrassed that Jesus may have actually been a manual laborer before he began his public ministry, changes the passage to read "Is this not the carpenter's son?" And finally in the Gospel of John, where the embarrassment is even more pronounced, there is no mention of "carpenter" at all.

Or again, Peter's confession of faith at Caesaria Phillippi: right after Peter responds to Jesus that he is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, he tells Jesus that he must not suffer. In Mark, Jesus says to him starkly "Get behind me, Satan, you are on the side of men, not God." By the time Luke and John wrote, the embarrassment of Jesus rebuking the great St. Peter was so intense that they have this passage end with the confession, and leave Jesus' rebuke out of their gospels entirely. So first of all,  Peter himself was embarrassed by Jesus saying that he would be a suffering Messiah,  and then the later evangelists were embarrassed by Jesus' rebuke of Peter for his embarrassment. Wow!

This tendency of Christians to be embarrassed by Jesus is in a way confirmed by the study mentioned by Fr. Roberto in his last homily before Christmas, a study which showed pretty clearly that American Catholics are "virtually indistinguishable from people" of other faiths in most areas of life. The study concluded that the lifestyles and thought patterns of Catholics are more influenced by the social mainstream than by the core principles of the Christian faith, that "Catholicism in America is a clear example of culture influencing faith more often than faith influencing culture." Why is that? Because we're perhaps embarrassed to stand out?

Well, we probably do need to ask ourselves whether we—at least in some areas of our lives—are not at least a little embarrassed to be Catholic disciples of Jesus?

In a culture that emphasizes the importance of power over others in almost every aspect of life, a culture in which our dignity is so much tied to the power we have to influence others, to make others do our bidding, to make others serve our needs—in our jobs, our politics, our relationships— are we embarrassed by the Lord's insistence that power is only acceptable when it is used in the service of others, rather than ourselves?  Are we embarrassed by the call to renounce the power valued by our world—the power of deception and  appearance, the power of coercion in our personal and corporate lives?  In particular, are we as Americans embarrassed by the call to renounce our great power in the world to coerce—and to be peacemakers instead?

In a culture that is based on putting ourselves out there, promoting ourselves, talking ourselves up, so that we might win in competition over jobs, prestige, romance, or politics,  are we embarrassed by the Lord's command that our good deeds are not to be seen by human beings, but by ourselves and by God alone?  Are we embarrassed by the humility that the Lord asks of us?  Do we see humility as weakness, or as honesty and strength?

In a culture which too often sees sorrow as weakness and in which the word apologize is so often used only to avoid lawsuits, but rarely used by managers to their employees, CEO's to their shareholders, parentsto their children, or politicians to their constituents,  are we embarrassed to acknowledge the wrongs we have done one another and to ask forgiveness, even if it is over and over again?

In a society that is largely pragmatist, one that is based at all costs upon what works and what is efficient, even when basic principles of personal integrity and justice are compromised,  are we embarrassed by the Lord's command to thirst for righteousness, to do what is right no matter what the cost? In a society that puts the effects of what we do above all else,  are we embarrassed by the Christian truth that acting immorally hurts us even more than it hurts others?  Are we embarrassed by Christian martyrs?

In a culture not widely known for its mercy, a culture in which we hear during the penalty phases of trials the families of victims regularly demanding the revenge of the death penalty for their hurt and governors proudly recounting the number of inmates put to death on their watch,   are we embarrassed by Christ's call to be different, to be merciful as our society cries out for revenge both at home and abroad?  Do we think that those who really do love their enemies and pray for them are weak, or at least weak-minded?  Are we embarrassed, again, to be peacemakers?

In a society that believes by and large that we should elect our politicians to serve our self-interests,  are we embarrassed by the Christian belief that government exists solely to serve the common good of all, without regard to who voted for whom or who can afford the best lobbyists or what programs give incumbents the best chance of reelection?

And what counts for us as success in life? In a culture which by and large counts material success as human success,  are we embarrassed by poverty (our own and others), and thus afraid of it more than anything else?  Are we embarrassed because as Christians we do not rank material or professional success at the top of the list of human values? Can we really say with the Lord, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of God."?  Are we embarrassed that Jesus identified himself in a special way with the poor of this world, those without power or wealth?

In a society that—apart from the last several months—is almost hopelessly optimistic about the past and the future  are we embarrassed to WEEP, to take seriously and deeply the spiritual and materialsuffering of so many in our world, and to let that experience transform our outlook into one of pervasive compassion.  Are we embarrassed to take seriously the many undersides of American life that are so often ignored by our culture?

Of course, because we don't like to be embarrassed, our tendency is too often to ignore those aspects of the gospel that are not well received by those around us. Ironically, we get to the point after awhile in which we do nothing that even could embarrass us in the eyes of others, we become tamed, we blunt the sometimes very sharp edge of the gospel in which we believe. But it is a sharpness that both we and our society need, perhaps today more than ever.

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