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But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth? This is the cry that goes up from the final pages of the Old Testament (Mal 3:2). The Lord himself gives the answer:

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; lest I come and strike the land with doom! (Mal 4:5-6)

With these words the Old Testament ends.

The New Testament opens in the desert near the banks of the River Jordan, with John the Baptist, of whom Jesus says, “He is the Elijah who was to come” (Mt 11:14). In John the Baptist is the fulfillment of the Elijah figure who was to come to prepare the hearts of the people for the great coming of the Messiah.

All of this leads us to today’s gospel, in which John the Baptist summons the faithful to repentance so that they will be ready when the Messiah arrives. Those of us who want to be ready also need to go into the wilderness and hear the message of John the Baptist: Prepare the way of the Lord! And though only the Lord can finally get us ready, on our part we must be able to say to the Lord, “I’m ready as I can be.”

Let us look at this gospel in three stages, going into the wilderness with John the Baptist as our teacher:

I. Context – The context of this Gospel is meticulously set forth by Luke: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

What’s going on here? Why all the specifics? It almost seems as if we are reading an ancient Middle Eastern phone book, or a “Who’s Who in the Eastern Mediterranean.” Yes, notice the following:

A. The Prestige – You might say that this is a parade of the prestigious, a roll call of royalty, a list of leaders! There is an emperor (i.e., the federal government), a local governor (i.e., the state government), three tetrarchs (state and local officials), and two religious (and secular) leaders. Anybody who is anybody is in the list. But it was not to any of these glitterati that the Word of God came.

B. The Person – It was to John the Baptist, the simple man in the desert, that the Word came. Who? He was not on anyone’s list! John the who? And where do you say he lives? Not in the palace or even in Jerusalem? Hmmm … And yet recall the following Scripture passages:

But God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong,  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor 1:27-29).

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure (Luke 10:21).

He hath lifted up the lowly, and the rich he has sent away empty. Yet to this simple, unlettered man, the Word of God came, and many went out to hear him speak the Word of God in wisdom.

C. The Place – Where is the word of God proclaimed? And where is John the Baptist found? And where will Jesus appear? In a palace? In the “Ivy League” town of Jerusalem? No indeed; not in a palace, not in some air-conditioned environment, not in a place of power, but in a place of vulnerability, where one experiences one’s limitations. In the desert, neediness reaches out and grabs you. Yes, it is in a hot desert where the prophet was found.

It is in this hostile climate that we go to hear the call and feel its power. Do you understand the context? It is not be overlooked. The context is not found in the halls of power; it is found in the desert where thirst and hunger hit rich and poor alike. It is here that the Word of God is found and heard.

II. Call – The text says, John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert.

Here we have a basic biblical call, “Repent and believe in the good news!” John said this but so did Jesus in His opening call: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:14 -15)

There has to be a balance in preaching. Repent and believe the good news! Modern thinking and practice has strayed from this kerygmatic balance between “Repent” and “Believe the good news!” Many today only want to hear or proclaim the “good news.” But the good news only makes sense if we understand that we are in need of a divine physician. “Repent” sets the stage for the “good news.”

As we have discussed in other posts, metanoia means more than moral conversion. It means, more literally, to have your thinking changed (meta = change, noia = thought), to have your mind renewed, to think in a new way. The basic message is to have our mind converted from worldly self-satisfaction and self-righteousness, and to be convicted of our need for forgiveness and for a savior. Yes, I am a sinner in need of a savior. I am bound for eternal death and destruction and cannot save myself. But there is good news: the Savior is here, even at the door! And now I must arise and be ready to answer as soon as He knocks.

Our modern world, concerned more with comfort and relief than with real healing, needs to experience something of the desert where John was. There’s nothing like the desert to remind us of our frailty and neediness. In the Church today we often stress trying to make everyone feel comfortable; no talk of sin or controversial topics that might unsettle someone. Where’s the desert in that? John wasn’t found in some air-conditioned marble palace. He was in the searing desert with no creature comforts to be found. No padded pews, no finely tuned PA system, no air conditioning, and no pleasantries either. Just the call to come to a new mind, to surrender our stinking thinking, our misplaced priorities, our self-righteous “I’m OK, you’re OK. I’m basically a nice person” stuff, and to accept that we are frail sinners in need of a savior.

Now with the “bad news” established, the good news makes sense. And it really is good news: the savior is near at hand, even at the door. But we have to go into the desert and listen to a humble man, not one of the glitterati or the intelligentsia. We have to listen to John, a man clothed in camel hair and subsisting on wild honey and locusts.

He does proclaim good news, but only if we’re ready.

III. Content – I’ve got to repent, but what does that mean? John says, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Notice the elements of the content:

A. Ready – The text says, Prepare the way of the Lord. This is a hectic season; we’re all getting ready for Christmas. But most of this involves social readiness (presents, parties, and decorating). Will we be spiritually ready for Christmas? We know how to get ready for a lot of things. We prepare for tax day. We make sure to be on time for work. We know how to catch a plane. We know how to be on time for a movie or a sporting event. We spend years getting ready for careers. Why don’t we spend more time being ready for God? The one thing that is most certain is that we will die one day and stand before God. Are you ready? As the text says, Prepare the way of the Lord! This world will pass away but the things of God remain. Advancing careers and promotions are not certain, but death and judgment are. Why do we get ready for uncertain, worldly things and yet not take spiritual things all that seriously?

B. Right – The text says, make straight his paths. The winding roads shall be made straight! A winding road is a symbol of shifting priorities, of waywardness, of a heart that is not steadfast or straight. Too often we are all over the moral map; we are inconsistent and crooked. Scripture says,

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Prov 3:6).

Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Take heed to the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil (Prov 4:24-27).

Consider an example. If I am driving from Washington, D.C. to New York City and see a sign that says, “South to Richmond,” I know that to follow such a path would be foolish. We know how to set a course for worldly destinations and how to avoid going the wrong way. But what about our course home to Heaven? We might sing, “I’m on my way to heaven and I’m so glad the world can’t do me no harm.” But then we see an exit marked, “Sin City, Next Exit” And sure enough we take it. Why? Many of us are outraged to hear that we can’t just go whichever way we please and still end up in Heaven. And then comes all the anger directed at the Church, and the Bible, and the preacher, and anyone who might remind us that we have to make straight the ways of the Lord. You can’t go down to go up. You can’t turn left or right and say it’s straight. Thus the text says that we should make straight the way of the Lord.

C. Reverent – The text says, Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The mountain is pride. Every sin is rooted in pride, since it asserts that my way is better than God’s way. I know better than God; I am a modern man and Scripture is old fashioned; the Church is out of touch, etc. This is the mountain of pride and it has to go. God hates pride; He just can’t stand it. There is nothing that excludes us more from Heaven than pride, thinking that we know better than God.

The valley is low self-esteem and despair. Now it may not be obvious, but a lot of sins come from low self-esteem. For example, we gossip and denigrate others because we think that if they are brought low, we will feel better about our own self. We also give way to peer pressure since we can only feel better about our self if we “fit in” and are approved by others. We’ll even sin in order to accomplish that. Some young women fornicate for the price of pizza and beer, selling their bodies for less than a prostitute would; all because they fear that they won’t be loved if they don’t. Young men pressure young women and disrespect them because they think that they must in order to “be a man.” Many young men join gangs—even drop out and commit crimes—all to “belong” and be “cool.” Low self-esteem is an ugly business that leads us to commit lots of sins. These valleys have to be filled in.

The solution to both pride and low self-esteem is fear of the Lord, reverence. The fear of human beings and what they will think is at the root of much sin. That is why the Scriptures admonish us to fear the Lord instead. When I fear the Lord I don’t have to fear anyone else. And when I reverence the Lord, my pride is dissolved. Mountains are made low and valleys are leveled when we have a reverential and loving fear of the Lord.

D. Refined – The text says, the rough ways shall be made smooth. Rough ways are filled with obstacles, stumbling blocks, and pitfalls. What are some of the things that hinder our ways? What are some of our obstacles and pitfalls? Are they relationships, lifestyles, or habits? What are the things that cause me to stumble? Are they habits, excesses, or unlawful pleasures? What are the things that make me rough and difficult to live with? Am I unyielding, unforgiving, unmerciful, or unkind? Am I lax, frivolous, nonspiritual, or unaccountable? What are the rough ways in me and in my path that need smoothing? What trips me up? What in me needs softening and smoothing?

E. Recognizing – The text says, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The Greek word used is ὁράω (horao). While it is translated as “see,” it involves an active receptivity, more in the sense of looking than merely having something overshadow us or cross our visual path. The danger is that we can close our eyes. Thus we must remain active and receptive. We must look for salvation and redemption; we must seek it. It is a gift, but we must open our eyes and accustom ourselves to its light and to its ways.

It is very much like learning a language. Until we learn the letters, the meaning of the words, and to make sense of the written language, it can look like gibberish. For many today, the ways of faith are just that: gibberish. But for us who believe, having been made ready for God, making straight his paths, reverencing God and rejecting roughness, we are able to recognize our redemption and rejoice at its presence.

When I saw the commercial below, I was struck with a twinge of guilt. The words of a poem by William Butler Yeats came to mind:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed,
and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Yes, something struck me. In this commercial, anarchy, destruction, injustice, violence, and pure chaos are shown. And yet all the while our superhero, with his “bat phone” screeching in the background, is wholly distracted, flipping through the channels unaware that the world around him is descending right into Hell. He is turned inward, wholly focused on his own little world.

Is this what we’re doing? Are we the superhero slouching on the couch as the world and Western culture descend into a maelstrom? Innocence lost, the blood-dimmed tide of the 20th century with perhaps more than 100 million put to death in war and for ideological purposes, moral anarchy swept in on the four horsemen of the apocalypse: relativism, secularism, individualism, and the sexual revolution.

And while the wicked have been marching with passionate intensity, the good have largely been asleep, lacking any intensity for the battle. All around us are divorce, abortion, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, broken families, increasing lack of self-control and discipline, declining school test scores and graduation rates, the inability to live within our means, climbing poverty rates for children, drug and alcohol addiction, plummeting Church attendance … the list could go on and on.

And where have we been as a Church—as Christians—in a world gone mad? Where, for example was the Church in 1969, when “no-fault” divorce laws began to be passed? It would seem that we were inwardly focused: moving furniture around in our sanctuaries; tuning our guitars; and having debates about liturgy, Church authority, and why women can’t be ordained. These are not unimportant issues, but in being so focused on them we lost the culture.

Yes, it happened on our watch. I am now past fifty, and I cannot say that it is all the fault of the previous generation. Even in my relatively short span on this earth, the world as I knew it has largely been swept away, especially in terms of family life. And now it is up to me to try to make a difference.

How about you? It will take courage and an increasing conviction to live the Catholic faith openly. No more of this “undercover Catholic” stuff; no more trying to fit in and be liked. It is long past midnight for our culture, our families, and our children.

There is something very wrong with the scenario in the commercial: the superhero ignores the calls for help. It’s time for our superhero to get off the couch, pick up the phone, re-engage, and get to work. It is interesting to note that the movie he is watching shows a wolf being set loose. Jesus says, Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Matt 7:15). Indeed, many wolves preaching (false) tolerance and spouting other pleasantries have badly misled people and spread error, calling what is sin, “good,” and misrepresenting biblical tradition.

Well, fellow superheroes, the last time I checked, we are supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s time—long past time—to bring Christ’s power back to this world. It’s time for us to get off the couch, pick up the phone, re-engage, and get to work.

Don’t just watch culture, direct it.

One of the great mysteries to believer and non-believer alike is that of evil and suffering. If there is a God who is omnipotent and omniscient, how can He tolerate evil, injustice, and suffering of the innocent? Where is God when things like shootings (e.g., in the U.S., Paris, and Kenya), church bombings (e.g., in Nigeria), and beheadings (e.g., in Egypt and Iraq) occur? Where is God when a woman or young girl is raped, or when genocide is committed, or when evil men hatch their plots? Why did God even conceive the evil ones and allow them to be born?

The problem of evil cannot be answered simply. It is a mystery. Its purpose and why God permits it are caught up in our limited vision and understanding. Scripture says, all things work together for the good of those who love and trust the Lord and are called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28). But in many circumstances it is difficult for us to see how this is so.

Anyone who has ever suffered a tragic and senseless loss or who has observed the disproportionate suffering that some must endure cannot help but ask, why? And the answers aren’t all that satisfying, for suffering is ultimately mysterious in many ways.

I have some respect for those who struggle to believe in the wake of tragedy. I do not share their struggle, but I understand and respect its depths and the dignity of their questioning. At the end of the trail of questions, often asked in anguish, is a God who has chosen not to supply simple answers. And perhaps even if He did, our simple minds could not comprehend them anyway. We are left to decide, often in the face of great evil and suffering, whether God exists or not.

As in the days of Job, we cry out for answers, but little is forthcoming. In the Book of Job, God speaks from a whirlwind, questioning Job’s ability even to ask the right questions. He doesn’t provide an answer to the problem of evil and suffering. If He were to explain, it seems that all we would hear would be thunder anyway. In the end, He is God and we are not. This must be enough for us; we must look with trust to the reward that awaits the faithful.

Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of suffering is its uneven distribution. In America, we suffer little in comparison to those in many other parts of the world. And even within the U.S., some seem to skate through life strong, wealthy, and well-fed, while others endure suffering, disease, inexplicable and sudden losses, financial setbacks, and other burdens.

While it is true that much of our suffering comes from poor choices, substance abuse, and lack of self-control, some seems completely unrelated to any of these.

The most difficult suffering to accept is that imposed on the innocent by third parties who seem to suffer no penalty: parents who mistreat or neglect their children, corrupt governments, unscrupulous businesses, schemers who exploit others (especially the poor), and crazed killers.

Suffering is hard to explain simply or to accept. I think this just has to be admitted. Simple slogans and quick answers are seldom sufficient in the face of great evil and suffering. And when discussing the existence of evil with an atheist, sympathy, understanding, and a call to humility may go further than forceful rebuttal.

A respectful exposition of the Christian understanding of evil might include some of the following points. Note that these are not explanations per se (for suffering is a great mystery), and they are humble because they acknowledge their own limits.

1. The Scriptures teach that God created a world that was as a paradise. Though we only get a brief glimpse of it, it seems clear that death and suffering were not part of it.
2. But even in the Garden of Eden, the serpent coiled from the branch of a tree called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. So even in paradise, the mystery of evil lurked.
3. In a way, the tree and the serpent had to be there because we were made to love; love requires freedom and freedom requires choices. The ‘yes’ of love must permit the ‘no’ of sin. In our rebellious ‘no’ both we and the world unraveled, and death and chaos entered in. Paradise was lost and a far more hostile and unpredictable world remained. From this came all of the suffering and evil we endure. Our sins alone cause an enormous amount of suffering on this earth—the vast majority of it, by my reckoning. The suffering caused by natural phenomena is also linked to sin: Original Sin, wherein we preferred to reign in a hellish imitation of paradise rather than to serve in the real paradise.
4. This link of evil and suffering to human freedom also explains God’s typical lack of intervention in evil matters. Were God to intercede routinely, it would make an abstraction of human freedom and thus remove a central pillar of love. But here, too, there is mystery: the Scriptures frequently recount how God did intervene to put an end to evil plots, to turn back wars, and to shorten famines and plagues. Why does He sometimes intervene and sometimes not? Why do prayers of deliverance sometimes get answered and sometimes not? Here, too, there is a mystery of providence.
5. The lengthiest biblical treatise on suffering is the Book of Job. In it, God showed an almost shocking lack of sympathy for Job’s questions and set a lengthy foundation for the conclusion that the mind of man is simply incapable of seeing into the depths of this problem. God saw fit that Job’s faith be tested and strengthened. But in the end, Job was restored and reestablished with even greater blessings in a kind of foretaste of what is meant by Heaven.
6. The First Letter of Peter also has an explanation of suffering: In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7). In other words, our sufferings purify us and prepare us to meet God.
7. Does this mean that those who suffer more need more purification? Not necessarily. It could also mean that a greater glory is waiting for them. For the Scriptures teach, Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:16-17). Hence suffering “produces” glory in the world to come. Those who suffer more, but with faith, will have greater glory in the world to come.
8. Regarding the apparent injustice of uneven suffering, it should be noted that the Scriptures teach of a great reversal, in which the last shall be first (Mat 20:16), the mighty will be cast down while the lowly are exalted, and the rich will go away empty while the poor are filled (Luke 1:52-53). In this sense it is not necessarily a blessing to be rich, well-fed, and unaccustomed to any suffering. In the great reversal, the first will be last. The only chance that the rich and well-heeled have to avoid this end, is to be generous and kind to the poor and those who suffer (1 Tim 6:17-18).
9. Finally, as to God’s apparent insensitivity to suffering, we can only point to Christ, who did not exempt Himself from the suffering that we chose by leaving Eden. He suffered mightily and unjustly but also showed that this would be a way home to paradise.

To these points I am sure you will add, but be careful with the problem of evil and suffering. It has mysterious dimensions that must be respected. Simple answers may not help those who struggle with it. Understanding and an exposition that shows forth the Christian struggle to come to grips with this may be the best way. The “answer” of Scripture requires faith, but it also appeals to reason, and calls us to humility before a great mystery of which we can see only a small part. The appeal to humility in the face of a mystery may command greater respect from an atheist than would pat answers, which may tend to alienate him or her.

Words can change meaning over time—sometimes dramatically. For example, “manufactured” originally meant “handmade” (manu (hand) + facere (make)). The word “decimate” used to mean “to reduce by a tenth” (decem = ten); now people usually use it mean “to wipe out completely.” The list of examples could go on and on. Yes, words do change meaning over time.

One word that has changed meaning dramatically over time is “nice.” Today it is an overused word that usually means pleasant, kind, or easygoing. In our culture there is often a standing admonition that we should be nice, as in “Stop fighting and be nice now!”

But the adjective “nice” once meant anything but nice in the modern sense. Rather, it was a derogatory word used to describe a person as something of a fool.

The word “nice” comes from the Latin nescius, meaning “ignorant, unaware” (ne (not) + scire (know)). The Old French word “nice” (12^th century) also came from this Latin root and meant “careless, clumsy, weak, simple, foolish, or stupid.”

In the 13^th century, “nice” meant “foolish, stupid, or senseless.” In the 14^th century, the word started to morph into meaning “fussy, fastidious.” In the 15^th century it meant “dainty, delicate.” In the 1500s it was used to mean “precise, careful.” By the 18^th century it shifted to meaning “agreeable, delightful.” And by the 19^th century it had acquired its current connotation of “kind and thoughtful.”

The word “nice” has certainly had a tortured history!

Given its older meaning of “ignorant, stupid, or foolish,” it is not surprising that the word “nice” is used only twice in the Douay-Rheims Bible, and in both cases pejoratively.

Today the word can have a meaning that is properly praiseworthy and is basically a synonym for “good.” For example, one might comment, “That was a nice distinction you made.” Or, observing a sporting event, one might say, “That was a nice move!”

However, I am also convinced that the word “nice” is beginning to return to its less noble meanings. This takes place when it is used in a reductionist manner that seeks to simplify the entire moral life to being “nice.” Here, nice is used in the sense of being pleasant and agreeable. To the modern world, in which “pseudo-tolerance” is one of the only “virtues” left, being nice is about the only commandment left. It seems that much will be forgiven a person just so long as he is “nice.” And little will be accepted from a person who is not thought of as “nice.”

I suppose niceness has its place, but being nice is too akin to being harmless, to being someone who introduces no tension and is most often agreeable. As such, a nice person is not so far away from being a pushover, one who is easily manipulated, silenced, and pressured into tacit approval. And thus “nice” begins to move backward into its older meanings: dainty, agreeable, weak, simple, and even further back into weak, simple, unaware, and ignorant.

The pressure to “be nice” easily translates into pressure to put a dumb grin on your face and pretend that things are great even when they’re not. And to the degree that we succumb to this pressure, we allow those who seek to shame us if we aren’t nice get to watch with glee as we walk around with s dumb grin. And they get to think of us, “What an ignorant fool. What a useful idiot.” And thus “nice” takes up its original meaning.

We follow a Lord who was anything but a harmless hippie, or a kind pushover. He introduced tension, was a sign of contradiction, and was opposed by many because he didn’t always say and do pleasant things. Not everything he said was “nice.” He often used strong words: hypocrites, brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs, murderers of the prophets, and evildoers. He warned of judgment and Hell. He spoke in parables about burning cities, doom, destruction, wailing and grinding of teeth, and of seeing enemies slain. These are not kind words, but they are loving words, because they seek to shock us unto conversion. They speak to us of our true state if we remain rebels. Jesus certainly didn’t end up nailed to cross by being nice in any sense of the word.

In the end, “nice” is a weird word. Its meaning has shifted so many times as to be practically without a stable meaning. Today it has further degraded and increasingly returned to its original meaning. Those who insist on the importance of being “nice” usually mean it for you, but not for themselves. They want to have you walk around with a silly grin on your face, being foolishly pleasant, while they laugh behind your back.

To be sure, being “nice” in its best modern sense has its place. We surely should not go around acting like a grouch all day. But just as being nice has its place, so does being insistent, bold, and uncompromising.

I have started reading through a recently published book called Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society. It is an anthology of the writings of Joseph Sobran (1946-2010), long-time editor at National Review and a keen observer of culture and its intersection with faith. I recommend it highly, for its penetrating observations and its sober portrait of what happens when we remove Christianity from our culture, the same Christianity that was fundamental in our making.

I’d like to present just a short passage from the first article in the book, and then add some feeble comments of my own. I’m sure that as I read through the articles I will post more reflections, but for today, I offer just this brief meditation.

Sobran writes beautifully of the strange resistance that the world has for Christ:

Great as Shakespeare is, I never lose sleep over anything he said … By the same token nobody ever feels guilty about anything Plato or Aristotle said … We aren’t tempted to resist them as we are tempted to resist Christ (Subtracting Christianity pp. 1-2).

I have often pondered the world’s special hatred for and resistance to Christ and His Body, the Church; it is unparalleled. Few of the Protestant denominations experience this hatred. The Buddhists don’t seem to be subject to it, nor do the Muslims even despite all the recent terrorism.

There is almost a knee-jerk, visceral reaction to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church that is so over the top, so irrational, that one has to marvel at it. The world doth protest too much. Why?

Is it fear? Perhaps. But the Church is not powerful enough to “force our views” on everyone, as some who hate us say we do.

There is no rational explanation for the intense fear and hatred of the world for Christ and Catholicism except to echo the words of Christ Himself:

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without cause’ (Jn 15:18-25).

Yes, they hated Him without cause—at least any rational cause. For indeed, there must be a cause. But it is so irrational and hateful that I surmise it must be that Satan himself is interacting with our flesh. Satan hates Christ in a way that he doesn’t hate Mohammed, or Luther, or Deepak Chopra. Christ is a true threat, so Satan rages. And the world and flesh draw from this rage and fear.

Think I’m exaggerating? Try to get excerpts from the Quran studied in public school and the reaction is almost non-existent. But try to get a gospel studied and the lawsuits and public outrage are nearly instantaneous. Why do the “Christmas wars” target not only nativity sets and Santa (who, by the way, is a secular remake of St. Nicholas), but now even the colors red and green? Talk about excessive and over-the-top; the rage and fear is out of control!

Sobran says it well: Christ makes people lose sleep in ways that others do not. His words and teachings touch a core that others never do. That the world bristles is a compliment. Jesus Christ has to be taken seriously. You may be mad, or sad, or glad, but no one goes away from Jesus Christ unchanged or merely “informed.” His words have an authority that demand a response. And the world seems to know this and thus bristles at Jesus. Some love Him, some hate Him, but few are neutral to Him.

Ask yourself, “Why is this so?” Could it be that Christ really is who He says He is: Lord and God? Could it be that it is His voice echoing in your conscience? Call this the argument from irrational hatred and fear. Rank it up there with the argument from motion or the argument from design. This strange, irrational, and excessive fear; this anger toward and even hatred of Christ attests to the truth of His claims to be the One whom we will either love or hate. We cannot serve two masters (cf Mat 6:24).

Shakespeare doesn’t make you lose sleep, neither does Plato or Aristotle. Why is that?

To every secularist and atheist, I direct these questions: Why do you protest Christ and His Church so much? Why do you exaggerate our power? If we really are irrelevant, if our “day is over” and we are laughably outdated, then why the fear, anger, and protest? Do our “myths” scare you? But if they are mere myths, then why the fear and protest? Why don’t you direct the same wrath at Buddha? Is it that still, small voice in your conscience?

What is it? Why your sleepless wrath?

Sobran observes the odd spectacle of greater intensity for Christ from his opponents than his friends in these words:

Sometimes I think the anti-Christian forces take Christ more seriously than most nominal Christians do…[Indeed] Such a strong and unique personality [as Christ had] could only meet strong and unique resistance. That is why Christians shouldn’t resent the resistance of those who refuse to celebrate his birth [and protest us doing so]. In their way, these people are his witnesses too. (Ibid pp 7-8)