Jn 8:31-42 God and Health Care

Jn 8:31-42 God and Health Care

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Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Inspired by recent debates, I would say that the Lord provides “affordable health care” to all Americans; and yes, even those with pre-existing conditions. Jesus Christ has forever changed the relationship between the individual and God: He has made it more intimate and less bureaucratic! And for this reason, I will put my trust in God’s Laws and Church before I put a little of it in man’s laws and government.

The Lord does not ration his love with his health care mandate. He covers all failings and falls, always. If you remain in my word, you will truly be covered, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

According to "Internet dictionary", a dogma is a doctrine or a corpus of doctrines relating to matters such as morality and faith, set forth in an authoritative manner. Rationalists like dogmas as much as they like religion. They like neither because neither are scientific. And yet, I find them, and even the above definition, very amusing given the fact that these so-called scholars have limited dogmas to matters such as morality and faith. I find it all very amusing considering the fact that we have nine Supreme Court justices hearing arguments regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act. Don’t get me wrong. I am glad that the Supreme Justices are hearing this case. But to those who agree or disagree, can anyone prove that nine justices are scientific? Why not seven? Or that the Constitution of the United States is a scientific document? Or that the Affordable Health Care Act is not dogmatic? And that this Court (or its ruling) is not authoritative? How amusing it all is!

Our lives are centered on dogmas, but there is one dogma that tops them all: Life. Life is the greatest dogma ever!

And so the question is: Who should be the center of my dogma? Who truly sets me free, even free from my physical limitations, intellectual opinions and logical narrowness? Who will free me from the night that may engulf me or the day that can confuse me? Who will free me from the fads and fashions that surround me? Who can free me from my genetic code, my instinctive mode, the environment that is around me? Education? The Internet? The U.S. government? The State of Texas? The answer is obvious: None of the above. All these work within the “matrix”.

God. Family. Country. I agree with this gigantic dogma. God must ALWAYS be first; regardless of what happens to my country or my family. Why? Because He is the only One that blows my mind like the Big Bang and encourages me to explore outside the matrix, the box; outside the Universe of limited things such as time, people and place.

In today’s first reading, King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego because they would not worship the King’s phony god. The King, therefore, ordered these men to be burned to death. As they were being thrown into the furnace, a Son of God appears and the King immediately converts saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” Like I said above, the Lord does not ration his individual health care mandate. If you remain in my word, you will truly be covered, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Fidelity to God goes a long way, all the way to heaven.

I can honestly say that I would never put my country before my God or my family. There is something seriously wrong with saying, “My country right or wrong”. It is as unhealthy and unpatriotic as saying, “My family right or wrong.” Who in their right mind would lead or follow their family or friends into an abyss? A patriot fights, not only when his country is right but especially when it is wrong. "My country right or wong" does not originate in America during the Vietnam War. It was actually expressed years before in Britain, in the late 19^th century, and during an unpopular war. What this proves, over and over again, is that we are constantly falling back into old and stale arguments when repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

This brings me to another point. I would say there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying, “God right or wrong”, because every time we try to prove God wrong, we end up proving him right. We could say the exact same thing with regards to His Church’s dogmatic teachings. After all, history has demonstrated that they may be more illuminating, inspiring and honest than we may care to admit!