Be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna!
Homily preached June 25, 2023
by Monsignor Michael Deering

You may have heard of the man who came to prominence 100 years ago in India … the man, Mahatma Gandhi. He was a gentle, spiritual Hindu man who became a great leader of the Indian people. He did it by using non-violent civil disobedience to unite the people so that they could be set free from British rule.

Eventually India did secure its independence from Britain in August of 1947 …but  they discovered: the British Indian Empire had been partitioned into 2 dominions:

a Hindu-majority India … and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.

So, as many displaced Hindus and Muslims made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out. And, once again, Mahatma Gandhi undertook non-violent fasts as the way of bringing the opposing cultures to peaceful co-existence.  

The Academy Award winning motion picture “Ghandi” that came out in 1982 …

does a fine job of documenting the efforts of this Indian leader.

Now, there’s a scene in that movie where Ghandi, is speaking to his oppressors in the ongoing struggle between the Hindus and the Muslims. And he says to them, “You can starve me, you can beat me, you can cut off my arms, you can even kill me; but then all you’d have is my body  ...  you’ll never have my submission!”

Wow, what a bold and courageous statement to make ...

to those who consider you the enemy.

That statement could only be made by someone who recognized a distinction …

      a distinction between … life of our bodies … and life of our spirit.

Our bodies exist in this world of space and time, and one day they’re going to die.

Our spirits however, will continue to exist outside of space and time ...

they will never die … they will live on forever!

Gandhi understood this … which is why he was able to boldly say …

that even if his enemies killed him, they would only kill his body …

      they would never kill his spirit!

Do you see it that way?

Do you see the distinction between ... life in the body ... and life in the spirit?

Many of the early Christians saw this very clearly …

   which moved them to suffer death … rather than betray their belief in Jesus.

This is what Our Lord is trying to get across to His 12 Apostles in today’s Gospel.

Jesus says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

“Rather”, He says,

“be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”

What is Gehenna?         Gehenna is Hell ...

that place of eternal fire ... eternal suffering ... and eternal separation from God!

It doesn’t take but a second to realize how awful it would be ...

   to be sent there ... to be in pain and suffering and separation from God... forever!

God is love. And since we’re made in His image and likeness, we’re made for love.

So, we’re made for God!

Therefore, to think that we could possibly be deprived of our destiny ...

which is union with God ... is just too horrible to consider.

That’s why so many of the early Christians ...

were able to choose to be martyred rather than deny their belief in Jesus.

They understood that their earthly life was going to end one day anyway,

whereas their spiritual life was never going to end ... and

“eternal separation from God, who is love, would be more horrible than death.  

Many of the early Christians suffered terrible deaths rather than deny their faith in Jesus.           During the 300 years immediately following Jesus’ Resurrection twelve Roman Emperors such as Trajan, Hadrian, Decius and Valerian ...

ordered harsh persecution of Christians ... with many of them

thrown to wild animals in the Coliseum ... or be-headed ... or crucified.

And many of those Martyrs went to their death while singing their praises of God!

There’s no way in the world that a person could face certain death with a song on their lips unless they really believed that the death of their mortal body was not really the end of them … and that their soul was really going to live on with God.

What powerful witnesses the Martyrs were to God’s promise ... that there really is

an Eternal Reward for all those who love Him and remain true to Him.

Jesus emphasized this today when He declared:

“Everyone who acknowledges Me before others,

I will acknowledge before my Heavenly Father!”

That’s quite a promise! Imagine coming to the end of your life in this world and being personally introduced to the Father by the Son. There’s no way you could ever have a better reference than to have the endorsement of God’s Beloved Son!

So what does it take to get Jesus to acknowledge us before the Father?

It takes us acknowledging Jesus before others!

Yes, Jesus wants us to be His witnesses in this world. ...

and we’re well prepared to do this.

• We have the Holy Scriptures, which tell us of God’s plans and promises.
• We have The Holy Spirit, who reminds us and guides us in all truth
• We have the Church, which forms our minds and hearts in the Law of God
• We have the Mass, which nourishes us in the Body and Blood of Jesus.
• We have the Sacraments, which empower us with God’s grace and mercy.

We’re better prepared to witness to Jesus than the early martyrs were!

For they didn’t have many of these things in their fullness ...

such as the New Testament ... for it wasn’t even written yet!

Yes, Jesus has amply equipped us to be His witnesses in this spiritually darkened world. And He wants us to be bold and courageous like the early martyrs.

          He says today, “What you hear whispered, proclaim on the rooftops!”

And what message would that be that we should proclaim from the rooftops?

It’s right there in our Second Reading from Romans where St. Paul points out that God’s gracious gift of Christ is an extravagant response to Adam’s offense.

Paul put it this way today:   “But the gift is not like the transgression.

For if by the transgression of the one many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”

Paul is explaining that Jesus did more than just free people from the reign of sin.

He acquitted them of their sins before God and offered to those who believe in him divine companionship and favor on earth, through death, and for all eternity!

Wow!    How generous was God’s response to man’s sinfulness! 

“the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ, (overflowing) for the many”.

This is Good News ... it is the best news ever ... and it’s proclaimed in every Mass … when the Priest ... standing in the place of Jesus says,

“This is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant,

which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

You see, by Jesus atoning for the sins of the whole world ...

 all of us have been offered the prize of Eternal Life with Him.

This is very good News … that the death of our bodies does not mean the end ...

because thanks to our Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ ...

when our mortal bodies die ...

those souls, who have demonstrated their love for God ...

will go on to live ... in God’s perfect love ... in Heaven … forever!

Please let the immensity of this truth ... this Good News ...

sink into your minds and hearts.

Because when you do, you will naturally want to share it with others.

And you will become zealous advocates of Christ even in the face of persecutions.

The Psalmist referred to this in our Responsorial Psalm today ... saying: “zeal for your house consumes me.” Yes, having zeal for God will bring us to a good destiny.

And what do you think our destiny will be ... if we don’t do this?        It’s not good!

Jesus, warns us solemnly today saying:

“Whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Wow!     Does that make you afraid?          Well, it should!     

It brings us back to the question:  Who are we to be afraid of?

Jesus says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;

rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

You know, at first blush ... you may think you have that passage all figured out ...

that Jesus is saying ... that we should be afraid of the Devil ...

who can lead us into sin and send us to hell.

But no ... no ... the devil doesn’t have that kind of power ... only Jesus does!

Jesus is the judge of all ... and He’s the one who passes judgment on every soul.

So looking at it that way ... we don’t need to be afraid of the devil ...

who can kill the body but not the soul.

The one we need to be afraid of ... is Jesus!

Only He has the power to cast into Gehenna!

Imagine that moment ... when each of us will be alone before the Father ... and hear Jesus say, either:      This one is with Me  ...  or ... this one is not with Me.

This one acknowledged me before others. This one did not acknowledge me before others.

St. Paul refers to this as being in the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants us to be afraid of His just judgment ...

   for not living our earthly lives ... as ambassadors of His Goodness and Love.

Jesus warns us today, “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,

    nor secret that will not be known.”

How many people take time regularly to confess their sins and beg for forgiveness?

Not many ... because they don’t have holy fear of the judgment seat of Christ.

We were taught to pray the Act of Contrition every night!  And yet there are many who come to Confession and don’t know that little 3-sentence prayer!

Jesus says today, “Be afraid of the one ... who has the power to cast into Gehenna.

Who’s that?    It’s Jesus ... He alone has the power to send us to Heaven or Hell.

You know, one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is Holy fear. We often soften that to just wonder and awe of God.   But no, Jesus wants us to have Holy Fear.

St. Catherine of Siena wrote, “Our gentle Savior wants:

that we fear Him and not worldly people ... be immersed in the Blood of God’s Son ... there you will lose all slavish fear and keep only reverential fear.

What can the world or the devil ... do to those who live in God’s immeasurable love?       Nothing!”

Let’s let zeal for the promise of Heaven consume us and fill us with Holy Fear!

Let’s contemplate the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ and

allow it to well up inside us and move us to be courageous witnesses of God.

We’re free to acknowledge Him before others or not acknowledge Him before others.  

It’s a choice we make everyday by the way we live,

by the things we say ... and the things we do. 

Are you a bold witness of God?

What have you got to lose?      Just your body ... not your soul!

Remember Mahatma Gandhi, who worked for peace and boldly told his oppressors:

“You can starve me, you can beat me, you can cut off my arms, you can even kill me.”

Well they did!    They did kill him!

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30^th, 1949 ...

when a guy walked up to him and shot him 3 times in the heart!

So they took his body ... but they never touched his soul.

That good man acknowledged God before others ...

and is surely in the hands of God ... and will be forever.

Let’s do the same.

Let’s use ...

the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, the Church, the Eucharist and the Sacraments

to strengthen ourselves to live through these times of persecution.

Remember Jesus’ words:

“Everyone who acknowledges Me before others,

I will acknowledge before my Heavenly Father!”

Let’s live with our eyes focused on having life in the Spirit ...

that’s life that  never ends. …

that’s the life that begins when Jesus acknowledges us ... before His Father!