a little more than a skirmish

Acts 22:30-23:6-11; Ps 16 Keep me safe, O God, you are my hope; John 17:20-26

Here is a few words from Pope Benedict's letter on World Communication Day


"Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves. 
By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible.
 It is often in silence, for example, that we observe the most authentic communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal themselves to each other. Joy, anxiety, and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression. 
Silence, then, gives rise to even more active communication, requiring sensitivity and a capacity to listen that often makes manifest the true measure and nature of the relationships involved. When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary. 
Deeper reflection helps us to discover the links between events that at first sight seem unconnected, to make evaluations, to analyze messages; this makes it possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic body of shared knowledge. For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds. "


Listen to St. Paul's testimony as to why he is on trial:

"I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead."

Then a fight breaks out.  The scribes and the pharisees are fighting over whether or not there is a resurrection from the dead.  It wasn't a small matter, as scripture describes the event as a "great uproar"  and a "dispute so serious  that the commander, afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go to rescue Paul from their midst..."


This is quite an argument.  But, if you stop to think for a moment, it is refreshing to hear about the fight.  The scribes and pharisees were passionate about the truth.

I think we have lost that edge.  I don't think people in general are willing to fight about anything these days, except for all those frivolous lawsuits that have no meaning or bearing in matters of consequence.

We have become a people who have lost sight of the certain in search of the uncertain. We have lost sight of what maters most.  We have jeopardized our lives because we no longer pay attention to the truth of things.

We no longer what to live in reality but rather we seek to create our only little reality, our own little world, where we bury our heads and refuse to engage the world around us.

We are as C.S. Lewis put it men without chest.

What was the result of this argument, this fight, this dispute?

The following night scripture tells us Jesus stood by Paul and said, "Take courage.  For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome."

JEsus doesn't say, "can't we just all get along."  Jesus doesn't say, "why all this senseless arguing over doctrine."  JEsus doesn't say, " well, it really doesn't matter since we all are going to heaven anyway."

Jesus says, "Take courage.  You witnessed for my cause in Jerusalem, now you will do it in Rome."

Bravo to Jesus.  This is what we need to rediscover about catholicism, about being a disciple, about truly living the message.  We need to bring the heat if we are going to close.