Traditional Catholic Teaching - SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me.
St. Matthew 7: 6.

By referring to His works, our Lord wished to prove that He was the promised Messias, the One who should come, and whom all the saints of the Old Testament had ardently longed to behold. For our sake He made known by word and deed His Divine mission to all the world, and it is our duty, too, by word and deed, to proclaim our faith in Him fearlessly for love of Him. This is the lesson contained in the words, "Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me," that is to say, "he only is blessed and attains to eternal bliss who believes firmly in Me, and does not allow any worldly arguments to make him waver in his faith. He only attains to eternal bliss who never denies Me in word or action, but acknowledges My doctrines in speech and by his daily life."

The history of the Apostles and of the early Christians, and, in fact, the whole history of Christianity down to the present day is full of glorious instances of the most fearless confession of Christ. After the Apostles had undergone untold hardships whilst preaching the Gospel in distant lands, they suffered martyrdom in shameful and painful ways; and the Christians of the first three centuries likewise were in constant danger of death if they steadfastly acknowledged Christ. Nevertheless, they clung firmly to the truth, knowing that they ought to fear God rather than man.

Catholics in every age have followed their example. The Church has always been assailed by her enemies, and those who confess the Catholic faith have been liable to persecution. If we read the history of the missions in America, Africa, China and elsewhere, we shall find hundreds of instances of inviolable loyalty to Christ on the part of devoted missionaries and their converts, who suffered death in its most agonizing form rather than deny Him. If we turn our eyes to civilized Europe, we shall see that at no distant date Catholics had to shed their blood and suffer the loss of all their inherited and acquired possessions and of all their civil rights for the sake of their faith. This was the case in England, where Oueen Elizabeth and King James 1 requited the devoted loyalty of their Catholic subjects by cruel oppression and the shedding of much innocent blood. Even where confession of the Catholic faith has not involved physical suffering, it was, and is at the present time made difficult by those in authority, who, being blinded by pride, try to throw ridicule upon religion and virtue; the writings of such men are regarded as masterpieces of the human intellect, and thus the faith of multitudes is undermined, and even many, who are nominally Catholics, delight in mocking at their religion and in despising those who follow its teachings. St. Paul's words : "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3: 12), are still true, and we all ought to remember that our Lord said : "He that shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty and that of His Father, and of the holy angels" (Luke 9: 26). He still says to us all: "Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me."

It is easy enough, when we are quietly making a meditation, to think it quite impossible for us ever to be more afraid of offending men than God; but when we go out into the world and hear sarcastic, sneering and contemptuous remarks addressed to us; when apparently good reasons are given for representing our most sacred convictions as foolish, and our education as not up to date; when our steadfast loyalty to Christ brings us into danger of forfeiting the esteem of a man whom, for some reason or other, we desire to please — then the struggle becomes difficult and we risk denying our faith in Christ, or at least some principles of that faith, through human respect. We are in peril of being disloyal to our Lord not merely in word, but also in our hearts if, under the influence of human respect, we fail to accomplish the good that is in accordance with God's will, and do the evil that men desire.

Hence it is very necessary for us to try to strengthen ourselves by making good resolutions very often to avoid the sin of fear of man, to which Christians are only too apt to yield. Fear of man is an unworthy sentiment, which prevents us from following the prompting of our conscience, and constrains us to do evil and neglect our duty through a cowardly reluctance to displease others, or with a shameful intention of currying favour with them. It is a despicable and sinful kind of servility that withdraws a man from the service of God and subjects him to the will of his fellow creatures in order to win their esteem and to avoid their disapproval.

Fear of man is utterly mean, for he who yields to it disregards God's voice and listens only to the deceitful arguments of wicked men. He becomes the slave of all whom he fears to offend, and his opinions, words and actions are not guided by his own reason and the voice of his own conscience, but by the views of men who are mistaken, if not actually malicious. He thinks, speaks and judges, not in accordance with his own knowledge, but because others, with whom he cannot at heart agree, think, speak and judge in a particular way.

He knows what is right, but instead of making use of his free will and choosing to do his duty, he has no courage, simply because he fears to be criticized by men whose blame would often be true praise. He knows that he is doing wrong and abhors it in his inmost heart, and yet he does it, fearing to incur the unjust scorn of wicked men. He recognizes his duty, and sees how great and noble a thing it would be to act according to it; but yet he fails to do so, because others, too, fail to act as they ought. Fear of man causes us often to be false to our own reason, conscience and free will. A Christian, who wishes to be regarded by the world as highly educated and as possessing an enlightened and untrammelled mind, is very apt to fall into this sin, which utterly degrades him, since human dignity requires us to use our free will in following the dictates of reason and conscience.

Many other sins degrade man to the level of a beast, but fear of man makes us resemble those heathen idols of which we read in Holy Scripture that "They have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not." In the same way people who through fear of man do not venture to confess Christ and to follow His teaching, have eyes, tongues and ears, but refrain from using them for their own good. They have tongues, but they are afraid to quote the words of Him who is Truth in opposition to wicked and Godless remarks; they have ears, but they dare not listen to the voice of conscience, and seem unaware that the principles of those whom they fear are bad; they have eyes, the eyes of the mind, and see that they are being misled by those about them, yet they follow the wrong path blindly.

Such people are made like the idols of the heathen by their fear of men, and they share the same fate. The idols are for a time treated with reverence and honored with incense, but in the end they are neglected and forgotten, and, in the same way, Christians, who through human respect have been disloyal to Christ, are perhaps for a time praised and honored, but at last they are abandoned by those for whose sake they acted contrary to the dictates of reason and conscience, and see themselves mocked and despised.

What do they gain by their human respect? A little fleeting favour from their fellow men, and God's eternal displeasure, for, as we read in Holy Scripture, "He that feareth man shall quickly fall" (Prov. 29: 25), he shall perish in his sins.

Fear of man is really the most injurious thing that we have to fear. No form of persecution, no insults or ridicule can do the Church so much harm. Persecution can torture and slay the body, but it cannot touch the soul; insults and ridicule can, indeed, cause us much pain and give us days of bitter suffering, but these will have an end; whereas, fear of man kills the soul and brings down everlasting punishment upon it. If only all Christians would keep free from this fear, the enemies of Holy Church could only benefit her by all their attempts to ruin her, since such attempts would be opportunities for Christians boldly to confess their faith, and thus would only promote her glory. Fear of man hinders them from confessing their faith and doing their duty, and exposes the Church to shameful outrage at the hands of her enemies, harming her in this way more than any persecution or contempt could do. Therefore when we read in history of the terrible persecutions against the Church, we ought to be encouraged to resist fear of man. If, in spite of our convictions, we are false to her, we shall be more guilty than the persecutors, who may not have understood her claims. The disobedience of her own children can inflict worse wounds than any enemies.

Keep therefore the teaching of our holy religion before your eyes and listen to the voice of conscience, doing always what it commands. Never hesitate to do right through fear of what people may say; and should this foolish alarm stand in the way of your acting and speaking as you ought, remember St. Paul's words: To me it is a very small thing to be judged by you . . . but He that judgeth me is the Lord"
(I Cor. 6: 3 – 4). Ask yourselves, therefore: "What does God require of me? What will He say of me on the day of judgment if I do this or that?" I will do what pleases Him, caring nothing for the praise or blame of men, and being anxious only to confess the Lord Jesus before the whole world and throughout my whole life, that He, too, may acknowledge Me at the last day and give me the reward promised to those who stand firm in their loyalty to Him: "Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me." Amen.

Return to: Readings