“Now
I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God." (John 1:34)
This morning at Mass, we are
honored to have with us the young people who will be representing the
Archdiocese, representing us all, at the National March for Life in Washington,
D.C. in just 10 days. They are
courageous young men and women who will brave cold temperatures (they marched
in a blizzard last year), so that they could raise their voices for those who
have no voice: the unborn. They will
testify, just as John the Baptist did in today’s gospel, to the Truth. They will testify that Jesus is Lord and that
as a nation we have forgotten that he is the Lord of us all. Their courage and their conviction should
inspire us this morning as we listen to God’s word. Their testimony should prompt us to ask the
question: how do I testify that Jesus is Lord of my life?
As John proclaimed in the
desert, every word and action of ours should proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Because we are Christians, because we are witnesses
of the power of God’s love, everything we do should speak of His love. John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said
the words that the priest says right before we receive Holy Communion: “Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus is in our midst. Jesus is present here. As we go forth from Mass, Jesus is present in
you. As we proclaimed during Christmas,
Jesus came to touch us, to save us, to redeem us, to renew us, to re-create us,
and to give us his Spirit. This is the
Spirit of courage that should embolden us to proclaim the Good News. We need witnesses to the Truth. We need witnesses who courageously raise
their voices to say Jesus is Lord. Even
though these young people will march primarily in silence with maybe a rosary
being said, their presence on the National Mall and on the steps of the Supreme
Court speaks volumes. Yet the world will
mostly ignore them because the world does not recognize nor wants to pay
attention to the Truth.
Let me give you a concrete
example: two weeks ago I was blessed to see the movie “Silence.” If you haven’t heard of this film, and I
don’t blame you because it really hasn’t been promoted and you’ll understand
why in a second, this is a film of two Jesuit missionary priests who travel to
Japan in the 17th century to find a priest who had disappeared and
to minister to the Christian faithful who practiced their religion in secret
because Christianity was outlawed in Japan.
The movie speaks to the unwavering courage of these priests but more so
of the peasant Japanese who testified that Jesus is their Lord to the point
that it may cost them their life along with the lives and well being of their
family. It is a powerful film, an ode to
the true witnesses of the faith. Yet has
been scarcely nominated for any major awards, and you would think this film
would be heralded because it has acclaimed actors and is directed by probably
the most heralded and most influential director of our generation: Martin
Scorsese. Yet it is a film about
faith. It is a film that is unabashedly
about Jesus Christ and his followers. It
took Scorsese 20 years to get this film financed and made because the world
does not want to hear about the courage of the witnesses of Jesus Christ. Yet we hand the Oscar for Best Picture last
year to a film that tore down Catholicism.
The world doesn’t want to
hear from you. The world wants you to
practice your Christianity in secret preferably behind the walls of this church
and no further. Sure Hollywood can
preach to us about what we should be doing and thinking but heaven forbid we
should speak up for Jesus. Whenever an
actor speaks about his or her faith, the news is relegated to religious papers
or websites. Whenever an athlete or
coach is interviewed after winning a game and he or she praises and gives
thanks to Jesus Christ, whether it’s sincere or not, you should see the
backlash that they get on social media.
Just this past Monday, the coach of the champions of college football
repeatedly said after the game that none of this could have happened without
God. He said this three times. Remember when Tim Tebow was ridiculed some
years back for writing biblical verses on the eye black on his face during
games, for kneeling in prayer? Those
verses sent people scurrying for their Bibles, but it would be soon ridiculed
and outlawed. One Sunday after a game
against the New York Jets, I did what I always do and went to midfield to join
the few prayers who knelt to pray after the game. Tim Tebow was right next to me and we knelt
and held hands in prayer with the other players as cameras went into a frenzy
around us to catalog this curious occurrence: a famous athlete kneeling in
prayer. It’s a curiosity to some, an abomination
to others, but heroic to those of us who follow the Lord. When we finished the prayer, I shook Tim’s
hand and thanked him for all he has done to witness to the world that Jesus is
Lord.
Our world is in need of more
witnesses to Jesus Christ. Our world
needs us to testify that Jesus is indeed Lord.
And we need to be unabashedly unapologetic when we do so. We do not have the luxury or the time to
apologize or be embarrassed for being Christians. Remember that Jesus said that if we deny him
before others then he would deny us before the Father (cf. Matthew 10:23). We
need to speak with a loud voice like John the Baptist did to proclaim that the
Lamb of God is present in our world. So
I conclude by asking you a very simple question: how do you testify to the
world that Jesus is Lord?
