A Penitent Blogger
The few, the stupid
Cultural elites say that intelligence is incompatible with faith.
The media says that more and more people today are not religious or have even embraced atheism.
The bottom line: the world today is pushing the idea that Christians and other people of faith are stupid and few.
In... its... dreams.
Indeed, the examples of super-intelligent people of faith are overwhelming and people of faith run some of the greatest centers of learning in the world.
Moreover, people of faith are the supermajority in the most powerful country in the world and in nearly all of the other countries in the world.
Of course, in particular places, it can sometimes seem as if fewer and fewer people are believers. It is also undeniable that atheists are more accepted in modern society than in times past (and, in some circles, highly regarded).
There are even a few high-profile atheists who combine glibness, arrogance, and intellectual sleight-of-hand to argue (falsely) that God does not exist, that religion is evil, and that people of faith have their minds in neutral.
But even if demographic trends should ever be against people of faith at a particular point in time or the self-anointed intelligentsia should ever appear to have an advantage over people of faith in the public mind, we have encountered such situations before, as today’s readings remind us.
Today’s first reading (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13) gives us fragments of prophecy that include a nugget of hope in the midst of a challenging world.
How challenging is this world? It is described quite vividly inbetween the verses of today's reading (Zephaniah 3:1-4):
Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,
to the tyrannical city!
She hears no voice, accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
to her God she has not drawn near.
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are wolves of the night
that have had no bones to gnaw by morning.
Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men;
Her priests profane what is holy,
and do violence to the law.
Today’s world is indeed afflicted by gurus of the profane, treacherous opinion-makers, self-serving judges, loud and dangerous politicians, moral and physical pollution, and a culture that rebels against God.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD....
Even if we sometimes might feel outnumbered or feel concerned about the departure of some from our midst, we can always take heart in the promise of the Lord to watch over his faithful remnant.
And, as we know from salvation history, God’s faithful remnant has always borne within it seeds of grace and power by which God changes the world.
The greatest example of this is given by St. Paul in today’s second reading (1 Corinthians 1:26-31): classic words of powerful assurance given to God’s lowly few:
Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world
to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world
to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing
those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
The expression of this truth, fittingly, reaches its pinnacle in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12a): in the greatest words of power-filled hope ever spoken to those who are despised and lowly in this world, words spoken by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in the greatest sermon ever spoken:
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they
who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely
because of me.
"Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Whenever we feel overwhelmed,
whenever we feel outmatched,
whenever we feel stupid and weak,
may we draw ever closer to Christ,
open ourselves ever more fully to his grace,
and walk ever more faithfully in our lives
with Christ’s invincible light
even in a darkening world.
The media says that more and more people today are not religious or have even embraced atheism.
The bottom line: the world today is pushing the idea that Christians and other people of faith are stupid and few.
In... its... dreams.
Indeed, the examples of super-intelligent people of faith are overwhelming and people of faith run some of the greatest centers of learning in the world.
Moreover, people of faith are the supermajority in the most powerful country in the world and in nearly all of the other countries in the world.
Of course, in particular places, it can sometimes seem as if fewer and fewer people are believers. It is also undeniable that atheists are more accepted in modern society than in times past (and, in some circles, highly regarded).
There are even a few high-profile atheists who combine glibness, arrogance, and intellectual sleight-of-hand to argue (falsely) that God does not exist, that religion is evil, and that people of faith have their minds in neutral.
But even if demographic trends should ever be against people of faith at a particular point in time or the self-anointed intelligentsia should ever appear to have an advantage over people of faith in the public mind, we have encountered such situations before, as today’s readings remind us.
Today’s first reading (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13) gives us fragments of prophecy that include a nugget of hope in the midst of a challenging world.
How challenging is this world? It is described quite vividly inbetween the verses of today's reading (Zephaniah 3:1-4):
Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,
to the tyrannical city!
She hears no voice, accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
to her God she has not drawn near.
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are wolves of the night
that have had no bones to gnaw by morning.
Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men;
Her priests profane what is holy,
and do violence to the law.
Today’s world is indeed afflicted by gurus of the profane, treacherous opinion-makers, self-serving judges, loud and dangerous politicians, moral and physical pollution, and a culture that rebels against God.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD....
Even if we sometimes might feel outnumbered or feel concerned about the departure of some from our midst, we can always take heart in the promise of the Lord to watch over his faithful remnant.
And, as we know from salvation history, God’s faithful remnant has always borne within it seeds of grace and power by which God changes the world.
The greatest example of this is given by St. Paul in today’s second reading (1 Corinthians 1:26-31): classic words of powerful assurance given to God’s lowly few:
Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world
to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world
to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing
those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
The expression of this truth, fittingly, reaches its pinnacle in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12a): in the greatest words of power-filled hope ever spoken to those who are despised and lowly in this world, words spoken by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in the greatest sermon ever spoken:
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they
who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely
because of me.
"Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Whenever we feel overwhelmed,
whenever we feel outmatched,
whenever we feel stupid and weak,
may we draw ever closer to Christ,
open ourselves ever more fully to his grace,
and walk ever more faithfully in our lives
with Christ’s invincible light
even in a darkening world.
posted by Penitens | 3:25 PM
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