John 15
I have read somewhere Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote that the world hates Christianity because Christianity is still relevant in our times. I wondered what the bishop meant. In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks that the world hates him. At the beginning of his gospel, St John writes that the world rejected the light, Christ Jesus. Why did the world hate and reject Christ? St John explains it’s because its deeds were evil. The world loved the darkness better than the light so that it can hide its evil deeds and remain in sins in the darkness.
Some of us may ask why Christianity takes this negative outlook on the world. The world becomes a village. Everybody helps each other as neighbours in this global village. Nobody is excluded and everybody is accepted. We expect only development, enhancements, and advancements for everything. The man defeats old fears and becomes his own master!
Now, in this process of progress, the world regards Christianity as the obstacle. Obedience and humility cannot be the virtues of autonomy. Family and life are only burdens on economic development. Eventually, faith and morals turn people’s hearts from products and entertainment!
Bishop Fulton Sheen’s insight pierces this reality. Faithful Christians are not welcome in our society while everybody else is accepted. Why is that? It’s because Christ is still alive. The spirit of the world knows this. Christianity is still relevant in our times because Christ is still alive. And his body, the Church, still proclaims Christ’s voice to the world. Faithful Christians pursue values and practice morals that oppose to what the world pursues and practices. The prince of the world cannot ignore this and wages a war against Christians. When we truly live our name, Christian, the world cannot stand us. And this is our destiny.
