7/12/2016 - Tuesday of the 15th week of Ordinary Time - Matthew 11:20-24

       Jesus spoke to the people of his day in a very honest, challenging way. Today, Jesus in particular speaks to the people of the Israelite villages where he spent a lot of time proclaiming God’s kingdom and performing miracles as signs of his divine identity and of the reign of God.  Unfortunately, many in those villages did not heed this message.  This message, nevertheless, is relevant for us today.  How often do we ignore our faith or make excuses for not participating in our parish as much as we should?  Would we see the teachings of Christ reflected in the words and actions of non-Christians more than they are reflected in us?

     In the community of saints, we remember a lot of men and women who are great witnesses and examples of the faith for us.  Last Saturday, on the calendar of saints, we recognized 16 Carmelite nuns who gave their lives for the faith.  Their story is not commonly known in our modern world, but it is worth remembering, especially in the context of those who turned their backs on Jesus’ Good News in today’s Gospel.  The government that gained control during the French revolution ordered the Carmelite monastery in the town of Compiegne closed in 1790.  Yet, in 1794, 16 nuns were arrested on charges of living in a religious community, which was against the law in post-revolutionary France, as they refused to abandon their monastery.  The nuns were sentenced to death in Paris; they were killed on the guillotine while they sang the Salve Regina.  They refused to bow to a government that condemned their Christian way of life.  Today, we have a media that tells people that they should abandon organized religion, that it is not worth the time and bother.  We have a government that tries to define what religion is and what it isn’t, as evidenced by how they defined religious organization in regards to health care coverage.  We are told by our government that we have to violate the Gospel of Life that we see proclaimed in Christ’s Gospel.  Who would Jesus condemn today in the way he condemned certain inhabitants in today’s Gospel?  Will we have martyrs in modern America in the way these Carmelite nuns were martyrs during the time of the French revolution?  Our Bishops have been mocked and derided for the Fortnight for Freedom that we just observed several weeks ago.  In hearing the story of the Carmelite nuns who were martyred in France and Jesus' condemnation of the cities that refused to repent and to see the signs around them, we should be thanking our bishops for their courage and foresight.