Dangerous fixations

Dangerous fixations

Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky

Jesus reserves His harshest rebuke in the Gospel for Pope Peter after he gets too big for his britches. Immediately after Jesus founds His Church on him, Peter presumes to become the spiritual director of Jesus, advising Him not to go up to Jerusalem to be crucified. The response of the Lord is swift, public, and harsh: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” (Mark 8:33)

Attempts to distract Jesus from his sacrificial and saving mission is satanic. We all have our own ways to allow Satan to distract us from the Gospel by our expectations and even excessive fixations.

At the time of Jesus, the world wasn’t pleasant for most people. There was, of course, the peace of Rome that came with their conquests. But tell that to the Jews who despised the peace of Roman occupation. There were indeed a lot of things to fix in the world – Roman slavery, the debauchery of the Greeks, the worship of false gods…. At least there were no plastic straws in the ocean.

The son of Herod the Great was initially fairly benevolent as tyrants go. But his murder of the innocent John the Baptist to please his wife was a black mark on his record. Herod got away with murder. After the Ascension of Jesus, Herod continues to play to the crowds: “[Herod] killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:2-3)

If Jesus was the Messiah according to Jewish fixations, He should have been the man to overthrow Pilate and his centurions and bring Herod to justice. And it would have taken more than His three years plus an army of obedient soldiers to get it done. Even the Apostles shared those fixations up until the time of the Ascension.

But the mission of Jesus is to overcome sin, to proclaim the Good News, to suffer and die on the Cross, and rise on the third day. When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman authorities, Jesus takes a coin and says, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” (Mt. 22:21) Jesus misses a perfect opportunity to take a shot at the Romans in accordance with the presumed job description of a Messiah.

During the Sermon on the Mount, He teaches us the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.” He refrains from a making editorial remark such as, “…unlike that lust-ridden good-for-nothing murderous Herod who will burn for eternity in the fires of Hell!” Jesus was fixated rather on His Good News.

After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the world continued to be a mess. They rounded up Christians and martyred them for three centuries. The Christians were not fixated on the Romans; they fixed their eyes on Jesus crucified and His redeeming message: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me… For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8: 34-38)

A wise priest once remarked a good sermon is about two things. It’s about God and it’s about ten minutes. This is why going forward – with an exception here and there when it seems necessary to bad-mouth a Pharisee within or outside the Church – my sermons will be about ten minutes and about the Gospel.

So amidst all the troubles in the world, I plan to fixate on the Good News. I’m going to celebrate Mass according to the rulebook. That alone is enough to anger half of all parishioners. Finally, I promise to commit at least 80-90% of my efforts in the exercise of my priestly duties. (Just trying to be honest.)

Here’s what you can do. Why not fixate on Jesus and His saving words? Why not get value for your contribution dollar and keep the priests busy in the confessional? I’m busy hearing Confessions in this parish – but I also get a lot of reading done. With every Confession a priest hears, it’s an opportunity for him to examine his own conscience. With every “I lost my patience” or “I fighted with my brudders and my sistoes” a priest is reminded of his own sins. So work the system and keep your priests from getting too big for their britches. But if anyone is complaining about the state of affairs in the world or in the Church, I’m going to ask them, “When was your last Confession?” Punch your ticket and then complain.

Adults fixate on God’s mercy because they’re not innocent. But children fixate on God’s justice because they’re innocent. Lest anybody worry that bad people can escape the justice of God, ponder the end of Herod, a sneak preview God has in store for unrepentant sinners:

On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and made an oration to [the people of Tyre and Sidon]. And the people shouted, ‘The voice of a god, and not of man!’ Immediately an angel of the Lord [struck] him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12: 20-23)

How I remember this account from the innocence of my childhood! There is no need to be distracted from Jesus and the Gospel even when someone seems to get away with murder.

Fixate on the Truth. Fixate on Jesus.