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When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes," he said.
Oh oh. Peter was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and was stunned into sinning!
Does not your teacher pay the temple tax? He flat out lied. Yes!
Has that ever happened to you? Of course I don't mean lying. That we have all done! I mean have you ever lied out of sheer embarrassment for the person you love?
Peter was caught off guard by the collectors of the temple tax. They asked him a direct question and he didn't have the courage to honestly answer it. Why?
Because he was embarrassed.
I know a lot of people who are embarrassed into lying. "Hey, did you just pray?" No! Of course not. "Did I just hear you say that you went to Church this Sunday?" Who me?
A long time ago, I sent out a request for prayers for a test I had to take. An atheist responded back: "Study!" I wrote back, "This is a test I can't study for. It's a CT Scan."
But that we may not offend anyone. Today, Christians can easily be scared into silence. We are not supposed to talk about God in public (shh...that would be imposing). We are not supposed to talk about our love of God on TV (shh...that would be too self-righteous). We are not supposed to pray or display our faith in public squares (shh...that would be insulting). We are not supposed to encourage others to pray in hospitals or in other institutions (shhh...that would be overreaching). We are not supposed to discuss in our public schools the impact of Christianity in early American society (shhh...that would be disrespectful).
God is supposed to be dead, and we need to make it appear that way. Don't you know???
Recently, the Obama Administration teamed up with Republicans to file an amicus brief in favor of prayer at town council meetings. From what I have gathered, it appears as though the council members of Greece, NY only invited Christians to lead the prayers. A Jewish resident, along with an atheist, sued and won in federal court. Now, the Supreme Court is reviewing the case.
As I have often done in the past, I once again disagree with the Obama Administration's position. Why should only Christians lead the prayer, especially if the town has constituents of other religions? They should all be invited to lead a prayer.
Hence, rather than eliminating prayer, all institutions should be given an opportunity to allow believers to pray. This is respect. Maybe they could even skip saying prayer at one meeting so as to show respect to all atheists. Or maybe they could start the prayer before the meeting officially began, that way anyone who wished not to attend the prayer would not be forced to skip the start of the meeting.
Now that's working together...and not endorsing any one particular religion.
Paying the temple tax. For heaven's sake, the Lord did not have to pay the temple tax . His Father owned the temple! But that we may not offend anyone the Lord paid his dues.
Christians ought to strive for and encourage prayer at all times, in all places and in any manner that is respectful of the members of the community they live in or the institution they work for.
I can relate to this meditation, and agree with your assessment of how prayer could be incorporated into various settings. I will continue to pray for that day when that happens.
ReplyDelete-Rosa
It’s the fear of the unknown that I am wrestling with right now. Father, it’s what you’ve said before: ‘We Christians must fight with our hands tied behind our backs.’ Even in our health, we are fighting with our hands tied, but maybe this time our hands are tied in front of us. But it doesn’t matter. It’s still a fight for Christ! What incredible purpose there is in His most magnificent Cross! It wasn’t His preaching that saved the world; it was His dying to Himself.
ReplyDeleteI still can’t believe how God gave me such a most perfect, precious gift of a dear friend! I still am amazed and in complete awe!
2010 in the Catechism: …..Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, ‘we can then merit’ for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. “Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God’s wisdom.” These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions.
So for this I live, each and every moment. Prayer and unity. I will continue to keep my hands tied in front of me. I just wish I knew.