Reflection - Lystra

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/043018.cfm
Acts 14:5-18
John 14:21-26

Lystra was a Roman colony in the south central part of Asia Minor, what is today, modern Turkey. Its residents were mainly retired Roman army veterans. The Roman poet, Ovid, has preserved a local legend from Lystra which may explain, at least in part, the reaction of the citizens to Paul’s cure of the cripple. As the legend has it, Greek deities had disguised themselves and visited the city in the past. The people of the time, however, were inhospitable and turned the ‘gods’ away. Only a single devout couple had taken them in. The response of the ‘gods’ was to turn the couple’s home into a beautiful temple and destroy the houses of all others. If, indeed, this legend had influence in the time of Paul, it probably moved the residents to try and avoid the fate of their predecessors. It also offers a rationale for the mistaken identity.

Identifying God has never been easy. In ancient times the Psalmist would say “their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men.” And today we can honestly say about some: their idols are silver and gold, preferably in the form of coins or bars. False gods come in a variety of forms because men are clever enough to fashion a god out of almost anything. Consequently, in the minds of some, god is a philosophy, a political point of view, an economic structure, a new invention, etc., etc., which will save the world. And that’s really the key, isn’t it. We need, we desire, we long for, we must have a god who is capable of saving the world — or at least ourselves.

Christians, no less than others, can err in their identification of God. Now that may appear to be true only in extreme cases; but what I have heard and what I have experienced suggests otherwise.

I’m a product of Catholic schools, all the way from first grade through college. Most of my years of education were lived during the pre-Vatican II era. My family went to Mass every Sunday and holy day. We prayed the rosary after dinner in May and October. I, myself, was diligent in memorizing the Catechism. I was eager to be the first altar boy in my class. I took pride in my participation in the liturgy. Maybe because of disposition, education, cultural environment, or all three, the outcome was hardly mysterious. For years my primary connection to the need for and concept of salvation was mother Church. Just as the people of Lystra were guided by their cultural experience to see salvation in the arrival of Paul and Barnabas, so too was I guided by what I thought I knew and the experiences I had had. It took a few hard knocks when I was in my twenties to realize that such was not the case.

Now it may seem that hardly any Catholic makes that mistake; but what I see and hear suggests that it is not all that uncommon. While there are many reasons that Catholics offer for leaving the Church, there are a particular few that come to mind.

• To a greater or lesser degree priests, like everybody else, can be hurtful, short-tempered or even insulting. Ordination does not confer perfection.
  
• Sometimes the clergy talk authoritatively about issues beyond their experience, or take dogmatic positions on matters still open to discussion.
  
• Most Christians fail to live up to the commandments they profess to believe, sometimes by compartmentalizing their spiritual life as if it were distinct from their real life. The result is an apparent hypocrisy when, in fact, their behavior simply confirms what we already know: we are all sinners.
  
• Then, of course, there’s the pedophile scandal, which, unfortunately, extends even beyond the local parish level.
  
• Finally, there’s the old standby: the Church, the liturgy, the prayers, etc., don’t mean anything to me.
  

Now, it is one thing to leave the Catholic Church for another Christian Church. That is not the subject I am addressing here. It is an entirely different matter to simply leave the Catholic Church and go nowhere. Such behavior suggests a confusion about the source and center of our salvation.

The citizens of Lystra identified Paul and Barnabas as gods, when, in fact, they were men, “of the same nature as you, human beings. like the rest of men.” It was their mistake which brought these various arguments and attitudes to mind because both the people of Lystra and some who buy into the reasons just listed seem to struggle in identifying God. We need, we desire, we long for, we must have a god who is capable of saving the world — or at least ourselves. The Church is not God and never has been.

It is Jesus who brought mankind salvation. Abandoning him when abandoning the church is to confuse the work of the two.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)