6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1. I would not normally pick out of the Beatitudes for your special attention Jesus words : “Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven.” I would not normally pick it out because it has more immediate application to situations where the Church is persecuted. Persecution is not a word I would apply to the situation of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom because in the main our presence in society is welcomed, accepted and appreciated.

2. Recent events, however, induce me to wonder if things are beginning subtly to change. The recent events I am thinking about concern our work in the field of adoption. Until now, this adoption work, much lauded and appreciated by all, especially for its success with difficult-to-place children, has operated on the basis of the Catholic insight that children are best placed with a mother and father who are married. New regulations from Westminster to come into force at the beginning of April will deny Catholic adoption agencies the freedom to continue to operate as before and will force them also to place children with same-sex couples. This, we believe, is contrary to religious freedom and to freedom of conscience. For the first time in modern history, the Catholic Church and individual Catholics will be forced to act against the teaching of the Church and against freedom of conscience, or else face legal challenge and possible prosecution. In this light, the teaching of Jesus in this morning’s Gospel begins to take on a more immediate light. We remember his words: “Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you and denounce you as criminal, on account of the Son of Man.” We are not a persecuted Church, but it may be that things are about to get a whole lot more difficult.

3. In these circumstances, Jesus calls us to greater trust. It will need greater trust in the Lord firmly and gently to hold fast to Catholic teaching, which in this case, concerns the place of marriage in the way we want families to be for the good of children. It will need greater trust in God if we begin to be penalised in the public arena for our vision of the human person and of human sexuality. It will need greater trust in God if such unjust regulations are brought to bear in the future in other areas of the pastoral activity of the Church. It will need greater trust in the Lord if we are to continue to be a Church which wants to serve the world in which we live, if the world in which we live pushes us away to the margins of society. It will need greater trust in the Lord to serve the community if the community is persuaded to regard us with suspicion. It will need greater trust to continue to believe in Christ if the climate grows hostile to faith.

4. Of course, my dear brothers and sisters, we have every reason to trust in the Lord. St. Paul brings before us today the paschal mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Saints, martyrs and good Christian people have always recognised in the cross and resurrection of Jesus the surest foundation for a trust which freed them to achieve so much and bear so much. For the Christian person, human life is full of opportunities to trust in the Lord. Even when our circumstances are not promising - in poverty, in bereavement, in deep sorrow, and indeed in a hostile environment, Jesus’ message says: Happy are you who trust in the Lord…yours is the Kingdom of heaven. Our world craves freedom. You know, I think that trust in God is the source of the most complete freedom there is.

St. Mary’s, Paisley

11^th February 2007