Preached on June 25, 2017. 

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.

India eventually 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.

And 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 could only be made by someone who recognized a distinction …

between … the life of our bodies … and the 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 this 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.

Two of the first martyrs of the Church were:

St. Peter, who was our first Pope … and

St. Paul who was “The Apostle” to the Gentiles. 

Paul was beheaded … Peter was crucified.

Both of them accepted death … rather than deny their devotion to Jesus Christ.

They are ... just two of many ... who died for their belief in the Risen Jesus.

You must know that all of the early Popes and a great many of the early Christians were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ.

How were they able to do that?

How could they be willing to give their lives for their beliefs?

It had to be that they had a clear understanding of the distinction between:

the life of our bodies ... and the life of our spirit.

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.”

Now, whenever Jesus speaks of Gehenna, He’s referring to Hell …

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

So, Jesus is saying in effect, “Don’t be afraid of someone who can kill your body;

only be afraid of someone who can kill your body and your soul.”

And who is it that can kill your soul?         The Devil.

The Devil hates you … and so, he’s doing everything he can …

to take you away from God …

and that can only happen if you allow him to kill the Divine Life in your soul.

The devil is sneaky. He is cunning. And he is powerful. He isn’t after your body. He wants your soul. He wants you to be eternally separated from God just like he is.

It doesn’t take but a minute to realize how awful it would be to be separated from the love of God forever. 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 finite anyway, whereas their spiritual life was eternal.

Many of the early Christians suffered terrible deaths rather than deny their faith in Jesus.    During the 3oo years immediately following Jesus’ Resurrection some   12 different Emperors (Trajan, Hadrian, Decius, Valerian) endorsed harsh persecution of Christians, with many being thrown to wild animals in the Coliseum, or be-headed or crucified.

And many of these Martyrs went to their death while singing their praises to 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 is an Eternal Reward for all those who love Him and remain true to Him.

The promise of gaining Heaven is a great incentive for us to be faithful to God.

Plus, in our Gospel today, the  Lord Jesus, who always gives us more than enough,  offers us yet another incentive to be true to Him. He says, “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!

Jesus wants us to be His witnesses in this world.

One of the best models we have is St. Paul, who spoke about Jesus every day!

We can do the same for God has given us all the things that we need to do this.

• We have the Holy Scriptures, which tell us of God’s plan and promises.
• We have The Holy Spirit, who reminds us and guides us in all truth
• We have the Church, which forms us in the Moral Law of God
• We have the Mass, which unites us in the Body and Blood of Christ.
• We have the Sacraments, which bring us 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.

For example, they never had the New Testament ... 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 just like the early martyrs of the Church. 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 here in our Second Reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans where he reminds us of the Good News of our salvation in Christ, announcing:

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

This Good News is 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.”

In other words, 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 ...

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

following the death of our mortal bodies ...

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

will go to live in His perfect love in Heaven … forever!

We need to let the immensity of this truth, this Good News, sink into our minds and hearts. Because when we do, we will naturally want to share it with others.

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

In the Responsorial Psalm we just prayed we said,

“I have become an outcast … because zeal for your house consumes me.”

Let’s let zeal for the promise of Heaven consume us! Let’s contemplate the Good News of our salvation in Christ and allow it to well up inside us and move us to be courageous witnesses of God.

And as we go, we need to remember that we’re not alone.   The Lord is with us!

The Prophet Jeremiah assured us of this in our First Reading saying,

 “The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion.”

We’re never alone … Jesus is always at our side.

So remember His words today where He says, “Do not be afraid.”

And remember Jesus’ promise to acknowledge us before the Father ...

 if we acknowledge Him before others.

It’s up to us to take Jesus up on His promise.

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 witness of Jesus Christ?

Are you courageous enough to speak about Him to others?

If not, then through the intercession of St. Peter and St. Paul, ask God for the grace to be able to share the Good News of our salvation in Christ with others.

Jesus calls us to be bold witnesses.

What have you got to lose?       Just your body.

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!

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 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.

This good man is 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 ...

with our eyes focused on having life that never ends …

that will begin when Jesus introduces us ... to His Father!