Mt 11:16-19 Wisdom Is Vindicated By Her Works

Mt 11:16-19  Wisdom Is Vindicated By Her Works

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Jesus said to the crowds:  “…The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

Today, I celebrated Mass for our middle school students.  After the closing prayer, I said something to them I had not planned on saying.  I said, “People who often pray get the craziest ideas.  And you can read all about their ideas in the lives of the Saints and in Scripture.  People who do not pray get the craziest ideas as well.  You can read all about them in the newspapers.”

Little did I know that one hour later, there would be a school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. 

Once again, our nation is doing what it does best:  report and mourn.  Within twenty-four hours of the massacre, the White House and Capitol lowered their flags.  With a broken heart the President addressed a grieving nation.  Almost immediately the media swooped down on this tiny town to share with us the reaction of local residents and to take lots of pictures of horrified parents and children.  Psychiatrists and counselors (familiar faces) have begun to appear on all the television stations to share with us their expert advice as to how to explain such incidents to ourselves and to our children.  But after the notorious movie theater massacre and recent mall massacre, I suspect that none of the so-called experts will to go out on a limb this time and say what they have said before: “these are rare and isolated incidents, and the chance of something similar to this happening in the future is very slim”.

Something is seriously wrong with our society.  We all know it.  And I think we all agree on it.  We used to think that these murderers were just plain crazy.  But most people today no longer subscribe to that theory anymore.  After all, crazy people do not put bullets in their pistols; they put orange slices in them.  They do not wear body armor to go on a shooting spree; they put it on to go swimming.

What we cannot seem to agree on is the “why” of these massacres:  why are they happening and why they are happening in our schools?  Massacres are not frequent occurrences in poor nations.  They are frequent occurrences in America.  Massacres are not even common in first world nations.  They are only common in America and Communist China.  What do schools in China have in common with schools in America?  One strange thing:  God is not allowed.  Now couple that with broken families and shattered dreams, and you have the potential of a real massacre on your hands.

"I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go."

When I went around the classrooms today to ask the children to pray for the victims of this tragedy, one child asked me, “Why would God allow this to happen in an elementary school?”  Immediately I replied, “If God is not allowed in our schools, then how can we honestly blame God for something like this?” 

"Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life".  I don't like saying the same thing over and over again.  But I don’t believe we need more metal detectors in our schools.  But for the sake of argument, let’s put more in - even in our elementary schools!  I don’t think we need more police officers in our schools.  But in order not waste any time in discussing it, let’s put more of them in our schools.  And yes, even in our elementary schools.  Let’s add more counselors and therapists in our schools as well.

But what’s the real solution, the solution that will help avoid these problems? Let's face it.  It's allowing God back into our schools.  It's allowing teachers to teach morals and values and prayer.  That's the solution.  And if we are not willing to allow God back into our schools, then we will have to spend billions of dollars to create bunkers and safe rooms in our schools.  Isn't it amazing how much money we have to spend in schools if we want to keep our kids safe and God out?  No wonder why we are bankrupt!    

But I'm all for trying something new, something that doesn’t cost a penny.  For example: let’s start promoting Judeo-Christian values in our schools; let’s start strengthening the family and marriage in our society; let’s even allow our school kids five minutes of silence to pray to God.  Let’s give it a shot.  We have nothing to lose and plenty of lives to save.

As Chevron puts it:  Let’s do it!  Let’s solve this.  Let's teach our kids to pray.

If wisdom is vindicated by her works, then the opposite holds true as well; that is, if Christians are called to shock the “hell” out of this world, then we can assume that there are many Non-Christians that are hell bent on making sure that it stays.

Let us pray for all the families who may have lost a child today.   This massacre reminds me of another massacre that happened two thousand years ago; a massacre of the innocent.