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Bishop Barron

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

Word On Fire

Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 12:38–42
Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord tells his opponents, who asked for a sign, that no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah—that is, the resurrection. According to the early Church Fathers, Christ’s coming precipitated a warfare with the powers that hold the world in their sway.

In bringing God’s ordo to the world, Jesus had to move into the arena of disorder, but this invasion was not met with passivity or acquiescence. Rather, the principalities of the world—Herod, Pilate, the scribes and Pharisees, the demons—waged a ferocious struggle against him, and it was only through the drama of the cross and resurrection that Jesus managed to defeat them.

He took all of their violence and, through courageous forgiveness, robbed it of its authority, for violence feeds on itself, surviving only through reproduction. When it is met with compassion and forgiveness, it dissipates, its power source gone. In the language of the Fathers, Jesus thereby tied up the devil, frustrating him into submission, leading our captivity to hatred captive. So, as the hymn text has it, “The strife is o’er, the battle done . . .” 

Violence and Silence

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

It seems that many on the left and certain religions are condoning violence to enact political change. We have seen seemingly rational people ignore this violence. Your silence is complicity, as you enable the violence by becoming a silent partner. If we allow political violence to become the norm in America, it will be very hard to get that genie back in the bottle.

The leftists here seem to think that violence has a role to play in our politics, since their ideas about how our country should be governed do not get much traction with the American public. They celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder and the assassination attempts on Trump. The doxing of federal agents and Judges is now the new norm. They even swatted a Supreme Court Judges home.

God help us if this becomes the new norm, because if it does, everybody will lose. Be careful what you wish for; you might get it. The silent majority could become the violent majority if pushed too far.