Christians Are Soft Targets But Invincible

GOA, SEPT. 22, 2008, 12.00 Hrs (Dominic Mathews / CBCI News):

In view of the situation in Orissa and Karnataka where Christians have been selectively targeted and persecuted by religious fanatics who have discredited their own religion with such ghastly acts of violence, murder and rape, and have brought shame to the nation – spoiling its communal harmony and peace – let us consider these attacks on the minority Christian community and places of worship from the following perspectives.

Let me first express appreciation and gratitude to our Hindu and Muslim brothers and sisters who have denounced the atrocities and shown staunch solidarity to the Christians in moments of crisis and pain. They have bravely spoken and stood up for the truth and have proved, once again, that love and brotherhood is more powerful than evil and fanaticism.

1 The motives for violence are absolutely false. Even if there is a pinch of truth yet violence in any form can never be justified nor accepted, but it must be dealt with firmly by the governing authorities. The perpetrators first accused the Church for the deplorable murder of Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, in spite of the fact that the assassination of the Hindu leader and his four disciples was claimed to have been carried out by revolutionary Maoists. When this motive failed to justify their conspiracy against the Christians they sought to dress their motive with flimsy attire called ‘forcible conversions’.

Most people, even some learned ones, fail to comprehend the real meaning of ‘conversion’. Conversion is a “change of heart”. It is initiated by God himself in the person and is a lifelong process that is gradual, painful and one that makes the person realize at the end that he or she, created in the image and likeness of God, belongs to God alone. We all are children of the Almighty One. It is a gradual process because the mills of God grind slowly. It is painful because the person is called to detach himself from pride, worldly ties and ambitions; endure sufferings, persecutions, etc. And when the desire for wisdom of the world (that is conformity to the maxims and fashions of the world), wisdom of the flesh (that is the love for pleasure) and natural wisdom (that of philosophers) is replaced in the heart of man with love for “Eternal Wisdom” then he is graced to see his true belonging to God and seeks to do only His will – which is the twofold love for his Maker and his brother.

No one can forcibly convert the other. God alone makes possible the conversion whereby man is helped to make his pilgrim journey from darkness to light, from hatred to love, from falsehood to the truth, from revenge to pardon. In a nutshell, “from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:16) because the believer’s life is immersed in the mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many who seek the Truth and wish to live in truth. When you have found truth, “the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32). In short, conversion means to be “born anew” in the Spirit of Jesus in order to conform one’s life not to the dictates of the flesh but to those of the Spirit (cf. Jn 3:5-6; 1 Cor 15:45-50). And so, the Church does not indulge in any kind of inducements to convert people. She respects the uniqueness and freedom of each person in order to let God exercise his prerogative to liberate man from slavery of all kind, so that when he begins to experience a change of heart which he has never known before, man himself seeks Baptism in the Church and enters into the fold out of his own free will and not through coercion as alleged by the perpetrators.

The testimonies of two converts, a Hindu and a Muslim cleric (both Indians), are worth considering. For, “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35).

In his book, “Divine Harmony”, Aravindaksha Menon, a staunch Hindu narrates of his journey in search towards the truth. During his bad days he took asylum in the abodes of atheism and rationalism. But when these camps also began to suffocate him, his soul set out to comb the Hindu Scritptures for the absolute truth. And he arrived at the conviction that all the spiritual knowledge and awakening he had imbibed from the Vedas and the Upanishads were pointing at the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In his testimony he states, “I have come to the faith of Jesus Christ studying the Hindu scriptures. Not inspired by the Bible, not inspired by any Christian priest or friends.”

Mario Joseph (formerly known as Maulavi Sulaiman, a Muslim cleric) speaks of his quest in search of God in his book “In Search of You”. He reveals in the book, “Truly if you searched for truth, truly the truth will come in search of you.” His was a rough, stony pilgrimage. After offering a brief description of the other religions in the world, he says, “The essence of all religions is contained in the words of Jesus. In the depth of Hindu, Islam, Jewish religions Christ lives.”

2 The Church has received a missionary mandate from Christ. She proclaims the gospel message of salvation in Jesus tirelessly and fearlessly amidst persecutions. Through education institutions, selfless service to others, uplifting of the poor and marginalized ones, emancipation of Tribals and Dalits to escape conditions of slavery, the church brings to whole of humanity the message of God’s love and mercy manifested in Jesus: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Irrespective of caste, creed and nationality, Christians see the Presence of Jesus in their brethren who suffer injustice, oppression, sickness, in the poor, the weak and even in their persecutors – praying for their conversion of heart, notwithstanding the hatred that is meted out by them.

Since Christian culture is that of love, pardon, tolerance, non-violence, justice; to foster peace and harmony among the people of God, this brings one to question the radicals: i) why don’t they engage themselves in the service of others? That is to say, care for unwed mothers, orphans, lepers, poor, aged, sick and dying people and please God rather than fan the fires of hatred which will ultimately consume them in it. The creature must not confront his Creator. And, ii) why was the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated? Did he convert to Christianity? No. He followed Jesus’ teachings, the path of non-violence, tolerance, denouncement of worldly riches and things.

3 The damage to church property and life, the burning of innocent victims, the brutal beating of converts, priests, nuns and raping of nuns, must be condemned. But, worst still, what is abominable is ordering a priest to have sex with a nun in public, saying, nuns and priests do it. A shame, scandal and scar on the nation. Words cannot express the profound pain at such immoral attitude shown by these pervert fundamentalists. Disgusting!

4 Notwithstanding the persecutions, Christianity continues to grow because it is watered by the blood of its martyrs: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (Jn 15:20). The Church of Christ has always triumphed (and continues to do so) over the evil forces because of Jesus’ assurance: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). Therefore, though Christians may be soft targets yet they are invincible! For the Cross is a sign of victory over evil and death, and Christians are “Cross-bearers”. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us…” (Rom 8:35-39).

5 In the context of the persecutions and to make known the power of God let us reflect on the life of the Apostle Paul. Before his conversion, Saul persecuted Christians, breathing threats and murder against the Disciples of Christ. He was on his way to Damascus to bring the followers from there when suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him and he fell to the ground and he heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” Saul became Paul after his conversion to the Lord and was baptized. From a persecutor of the Christians Jesus made him an Apostle (Acts 9:1-19). In the year dedicated to Paul let us not lose heart because of the recent trials and persecutions but rather anticipate in hope the reign of Jesus (“In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).

Finally, let us consider “prayer” as the ultimate weapon (together with penance and sacrifices) for the conversion (change of heart) of the persecutors: “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk 1:37). We can offer to God the Eucharistic celebration in atonement for the sins of our persecutors, pleading to our heavenly Father in the words of Jesus from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). We can also recite, fervently and properly, the Rosary which has the power to vanquish the devil. And we can pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet invoking God’s mercy on the ignorant radicals. God’s delay is not God’s denial. Like Paul, the persecutors of today can become disciples of Jesus tomorrow – God willing!

Dominic Mathews