We Must Be A Sign of Contradiction

Despite signs of it’s imminent demise, and calls for its destruction, the Church endures. Easter brings new members into this most despised Faith. They come with great joy!

The very things which invite the world to attack the Church are what make it most attractive. Sinners can be found everywhere. It is because of their sins that sinners attack the Church. Even at its worst, the Church steadfastly proclaims the Eternal Truth. The Truth was so hated that It was killed, yet It conquered death.

The cross holds up the truth for all to see, and like St. Paul we must always give witness to Christ crucified. With the cross we proclaim life. We must be signs of contradiction in this world so dead to truth, beauty and the love of God!

Written by Laura Weston, widow of Deacon Michael

This sermon is a Sunday sermon that was delivered at St. Monica Catholic Church on October 27, 2013, where Deacon Michael was assigned for a while. He had previously been assigned to Mary Immaculate, and later returned to Mary Immaculate.

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The Church brings before us today a very important theological concept they call the sign of contradiction.  The sign of contradiction, that our faith basically leads us into a position where the expectations of society are contradicted by the way we are called to live.  And the best sign of contradiction that you can imagine is that God died on a cross.

It makes no sense in the sense that if you are looking at it, why would God die, why would he die on a cross?  And in the Responsorial, we have another example: "the Lord hears the cry of the poor."  Wait a minute, doesn't He hear the rest of us?  There's a contradiction there. 

And we see it in the reading that we have from the Gospel.  "I tell you, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."  And in the reading itself, Jesus never says, other than pride, that the Pharisee was a sinner.  And he never says that the tax collector wasn't.  These are signs of contradiction.  And in chapter 18 of the gospel of Luke we see other contradictions. 

Next week we are going to be hearing about how you need to have the faith of a child.  Wait a minute, I'm an adult.  Why do I need the faith of a child?  It's a sign of contradiction. 

And then the week after that we have the wealthy young man who has studied, he knows very well, he has lived a good life, and he asks, "What is necessary?".  And Jesus tells him to give away everything. 

These are all things that society then, and society now, will look at and go, "Wait a minute."  But these are all things that lead us to greater holiness.

And let me think of some other signs of holiness.  There are signs of contradiction that we have.

And yesterday there was a wedding, and I was talking to someone who was there for the wedding, and I mentioned that I had been married for 42 years.  And she said, "Wow, virtually nobody is ever married that long anymore."  Being married to the same woman, one wife, and being married a long time, has become a sign of contradiction.  It has become a sign of faith in God.

And I remember when we were younger.  We were having children, my wife and I, and I would proudly announce that my wife was is pregnant, and an amazing number of people would say, "Haven't you figured out what causes that yet?"  We have gotten to the point that being married and having children is a sign of contradiction. 

A sign of contradiction many times if you are a worker, where someone says, "Well, lets go out and do whatever after work, and you go, "No, I don't want to do what you want to do and besides which, I'd rather spend time with my wife and my family.  That's a sign of contradiction. 

And after I did the homily last night, I started thinking about it, as I always do, and my favorite readings, every day I read out of the lives of the saints.  I cannot think of a single saint that is in the four volume set of the lives of the saints that I read, that was not a sign of contradiction. 

We are called to be a sign of contradiction by our faith in and of itself, and Our Lord Jesus Christ.  And one of the greatest signs of contradiction and we are celebrating [it] today, we are going to have a second collection for priests.  This is Priesthood Sunday.  Can you imagine anything that is a greater contrast to what society expects to occur, than a young man saying that I love God and I love my fellow man so much, I won't get married, I won't live a normal life, I will be subject to people calling me at three o'clock in the morning because they need someone to go to the hospital, I will have to listen to the problems of everybody and try to help them.  Can you imagine any sign of contradiction bigger than that? 

And as St. Paul says in the second reading, "I am already being poured out like a libation."  And in the Serran prayer for vocations it says, "… spend and consume themselves for souls".  Can you imagine any greater sign of contradiction that we can have in our society today than a man who would voluntarily do that. 

And someone will ask and say, "I like the Catholic faith, and a lot of things are good in it, but I don't understand priests."  And I’ll look at them and I go, "What? Don't you understand that this man can take ordinary bread and ordinary wine and it changes into the body and blood of Christ.  A sign of contradiction.  What can you not understand [about the fact] that I, as a sinner, I sin, and I can go to Confession and receive forgiveness through this man who is a sign of contradiction.  What can't you understand about someone who was ordained to love God and love man. That he will participate in the sanctification of my life: in Baptism, First Communion, all the sacraments.  That he is there because of his love of God and fellow man.  Yes, this is a sign of contradiction, but what greater gift can you ever get from a man who loves God and loves man so much.  I don't understand how you can even ask the question of what's so special about a priest.” 

And the marvelous thing about a sign of contradiction, and we talk about this, is that a sign of contradiction brings holiness, so that when you are a sign of contradiction, contained in that contradiction itself is something that is bringing you closer to God.

Being married forever.  Having children.  Living a life within the Church.  Giving up a football game so you could come to Church.  Giving up a golf game so you can come to Church.  Dedicating your time to the Church, to others.  These are sacrifices that may not make any sense, but they lead to a greater sanctification of yourself.  It brings you along the path towards salvation and eternal life. 

But moreover, this sign of contradiction that we live has an impact on others.  The impact, for example of a young woman, who is newly married and is having problems and she talks to an older woman and says, "Well, how long have you been married?"  "I've been married for  55 years."  "And was it always easy?"  "Oh no, you haven't met my husband, you don't know." Laughter  And this young woman says, "If she can do that, and say that, and be married for 55 years, why can't I do the same."  Or if you say, "No, I can't do that."  And someone else says, "Well he said, 'No'; I can say, 'No.'  I really don't want to do it but I feel pressured to do it." 

So that you are bringing others to greater holiness through this sign of contradiction.

And then, and I remember this vividly, I'm a convert, but I remember vividly in my childhood, probably my first real introduction to priests was a sign of contradiction.  I remember seeing headlines and great big pictures of civil rights marches in the South and other cities and they would always be having this great big banner that they would be carrying down the street, and I'll guarantee you that there were at least two, probably three priests and nuns carrying that banner.  A sign of contradiction.  A sign that they loved God and they loved man so much.

And I remember also, Dallas, the federal courts decided that Dallas needed to have busing for desegregation of schools.  Very, very controversial.  What is the first thing that the Church did, the bishops, the priests?  They announced publicly and said, "No one, coming from a public school to escape busing, will be admitted to a Catholic school."  Period.  A sign of contradiction. 

And what we are being told in the readings today, the Gospel reading today particularly, is that for our sanctification, for the sanctification of those people we are called to love by the second (Great) commandment, and for the sanctification of the world, we, each and every one of us in our lives, are called to live a life that we show to the world the sign of contradiction that comes from being a member of the Holy Catholic Church.  God bless you.

October 27, 2018