Father Koch: The Church remains Christ present in the world
December 11, 2019 at 1:59 p.m.
We live at a time when the world is rife with the cult of personality. We exaggerate the importance of celebrity, and easily get caught up on the latest news, musings and lifestyle choices of those who are aptly called “idols.” While much of this obsession results from the never ending flow of media in our lives, the tendency to become enamored with those deemed greater than ourselves is part of the human condition. Emperors, pharaohs, conquerors, generals, kings and queens occupy the thoughts of artists, musicians and the ordinary folk from the dawn of civilization.
Claimants to even more exalted status – even to divinity itself – likewise appear from the beginnings of history. It should prove to be no surprise, then, that there have always been people who, for whatever reason, believe that they are separate from the human condition, and are somehow more deeply connected to the universe or to God than are the rest of us.
A quick internet search reveals that right now there are nine men, living in different parts of the world, who have any number of serious disciples who believe that they are the second coming of Jesus. This is itself a remarkable phenomenon. Whatever it takes to actually believe such about oneself is interesting enough, but then to be convinced that someone else is actually the glorified Jesus, is a whole other psychological mess beyond imagination. This is not unique to our times – there have been hundreds of messiahs over the centuries – and I was surprised to only hear of nine at present.
The messiah-phenomenon was present at the time of Jesus. Besides John, whom some believed to be the Messiah, there were other dynamic teachers and wonder-workers at the same time as Jesus claiming messiahship. The apostles encounter several of these figures in the first proclamation of the Gospel. They had to demonstrate how Jesus is different than other cultic and mythological figures of known in their time.
During Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist, while in prison, sent two disciples to further discern who Jesus is relative to the other dynamic preachers and miracle workers concurrently active in Judea.
Like the ancient peoples, it is easy for us to lose focus. There are many different voices clamoring for our attention. We can turn on the television, the radio, or a Podcast of some person claiming a special role as a minister or pastor of a community – usually one which he or she founded – and get drawn to their charisma, while overlooking their lack of a true charism: the gift that comes from communion with Christ and his Church.
Currently, we are confronted with a neo-atheistic movement, which carries more of a sense of agnosticism, leaving people to fall in a new category called now, “the nones.” Yet, these people who claim no “religion” are still prone to idol worship – even to the point of self-aggrandizement – as they still need to seek someone outside of themselves who helps to provide them with a sense of meaning. This can cause us to lose focus and to judge as equal those things which are indeed not at all similar.
It is the works and words of Jesus Christ and him alone that is and should be the focus of our lives. We understand and grow in faith in and through the Church and the teaching authority given to that Church. While in recent times we have been attentive to the sinfulness present with the Church, and not without just cause, we have subsequently lost a sense of her holiness. It is the work of the Church, not merely as a social institution, but as the Body of Christ present in the world, that should resonate with us, just as Jesus’s responded to the disciples of John: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
We find our hope, our comfort, and our consolation in knowing Jesus Christ, present in the world, who accomplished the greatest miracle of all – resurrection from the dead to insure us the path to eternal life.
While Advent prepares us for Christmas, we are always being called to make Christ present in the world, as we ready ourselves for the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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We live at a time when the world is rife with the cult of personality. We exaggerate the importance of celebrity, and easily get caught up on the latest news, musings and lifestyle choices of those who are aptly called “idols.” While much of this obsession results from the never ending flow of media in our lives, the tendency to become enamored with those deemed greater than ourselves is part of the human condition. Emperors, pharaohs, conquerors, generals, kings and queens occupy the thoughts of artists, musicians and the ordinary folk from the dawn of civilization.
Claimants to even more exalted status – even to divinity itself – likewise appear from the beginnings of history. It should prove to be no surprise, then, that there have always been people who, for whatever reason, believe that they are separate from the human condition, and are somehow more deeply connected to the universe or to God than are the rest of us.
A quick internet search reveals that right now there are nine men, living in different parts of the world, who have any number of serious disciples who believe that they are the second coming of Jesus. This is itself a remarkable phenomenon. Whatever it takes to actually believe such about oneself is interesting enough, but then to be convinced that someone else is actually the glorified Jesus, is a whole other psychological mess beyond imagination. This is not unique to our times – there have been hundreds of messiahs over the centuries – and I was surprised to only hear of nine at present.
The messiah-phenomenon was present at the time of Jesus. Besides John, whom some believed to be the Messiah, there were other dynamic teachers and wonder-workers at the same time as Jesus claiming messiahship. The apostles encounter several of these figures in the first proclamation of the Gospel. They had to demonstrate how Jesus is different than other cultic and mythological figures of known in their time.
During Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist, while in prison, sent two disciples to further discern who Jesus is relative to the other dynamic preachers and miracle workers concurrently active in Judea.
Like the ancient peoples, it is easy for us to lose focus. There are many different voices clamoring for our attention. We can turn on the television, the radio, or a Podcast of some person claiming a special role as a minister or pastor of a community – usually one which he or she founded – and get drawn to their charisma, while overlooking their lack of a true charism: the gift that comes from communion with Christ and his Church.
Currently, we are confronted with a neo-atheistic movement, which carries more of a sense of agnosticism, leaving people to fall in a new category called now, “the nones.” Yet, these people who claim no “religion” are still prone to idol worship – even to the point of self-aggrandizement – as they still need to seek someone outside of themselves who helps to provide them with a sense of meaning. This can cause us to lose focus and to judge as equal those things which are indeed not at all similar.
It is the works and words of Jesus Christ and him alone that is and should be the focus of our lives. We understand and grow in faith in and through the Church and the teaching authority given to that Church. While in recent times we have been attentive to the sinfulness present with the Church, and not without just cause, we have subsequently lost a sense of her holiness. It is the work of the Church, not merely as a social institution, but as the Body of Christ present in the world, that should resonate with us, just as Jesus’s responded to the disciples of John: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
We find our hope, our comfort, and our consolation in knowing Jesus Christ, present in the world, who accomplished the greatest miracle of all – resurrection from the dead to insure us the path to eternal life.
While Advent prepares us for Christmas, we are always being called to make Christ present in the world, as we ready ourselves for the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.