Providing False Witness - Oklahomily.com

By David Jones

It isn’t true that “you only hurt the ones you love.” As human beings we have the unfortunate capacity to hurt anyone, friend or foe, at any given moment. Such is the fallen nature that we inherited, and it is that nature as Christians we strive to overcome through the graces given to us by Jesus through the sacraments of the Church. Yet it is true that when we inflict pain, hurt and humiliation upon others, more often than not they are inflicted against the ones we care for most: our friends, our family, and our co-workers. The people with whom we identify.

In today’s readings (Tuesday, October 18) there is sadness in the words of Saint Paul to Timothy when he says: “Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonica …” (2Timothy 4:10). There are few things more discouraging than friends and co-workers who turn against you, or leave you alone with the work which you started together. In this case Demas, of whom we know very little, has turned from his new love, Jesus Christ, and his friend, Paul, and is pursuing more earthly interests.

The phrase “enamored of the present world” speaks volumes.

A couple of sentences later, Paul raises the red flag for Timothy about a coppersmith named Alexander, who “did me a great deal of harm.” It's possible that there was physical harm involved, but perhaps the harm was even greater than that. Paul said that Alexander publicly obstructed his preaching. A worst-case scenario is that Alexander, perhaps an old friend from Paul's early tent-making days, pretended to convert to Christianity and then betrayed him, either to Jewish worshippers in Greece, or to Roman authorities, or through sinful actions.

Paul warns Timothy: “You, too, be on guard against him.” Was Paul being judgmental? Perhaps, but it was a judgment of practicality based upon sad personal experience. Besides that, Paul did not warn Timothy in order to take revenge upon Alexander, for he said: "the Lord will repay him according to his deeds."

The scriptures today, as so often happens, directly target the heart of some of the secular news today as regards the example of practicing faith among those who teach or attend Catholic schools.

This morning we read of the dismissal of a drama teacher from Loretta High School in Sacramento, California, after she was photographed escorting women into a local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Someone sent a copy of a picture to the local bishop, who ordered her termination. The report, by a local Fox TV news affiliate, makes it fairly obvious that Planned Parenthood contacted the station:

         'It's very disappointing," said Katharyn McLearan of Planned Parenthood.

          Planned Parenthood says Bain volunteered once a week to help clients past abortion protestors who picketed here several times a week.

          "It's very daunting to have people yelling at you and she was here to be a friendly face. She would wear a Planned Parenthood vest, just really welcome them in," said McLearan.

To its credit, the news account accurately reports the bishop’s rationale and the school’s position:

          But, Bishop Wiegand's dismissal order said that Bain's, "public participation in the procurement of abortions is morally inappropriate and unacceptable."

          "We can't have it," said Dom Puglisi, Catholic Schools superintendent. Puglisi says teachers can hold private beliefs, but their public actions can't conflict with the teachings of the church.

         "Parents have made a commitment to send their children to a catholic school so they have certain expectations on us," said Puglisi.

If there was any doubt that the teacher’s public support for Planned Parenthood’s abortion activities was going to cause problems, sooner or later, you have to read no further than a quote from an unnamed sophomore student:

          A Loretto sophomore says weighing the actions of a popular teacher when they conflict with religious beliefs can be tough for many students,"you don't want to go against your faith, but then there's someone you really like and so it's hard, you don't know what to do."

“You don’t want to go against your faith, but …”

“You don’t know what to do …”

These are words that can lead to greater knowledge of one’s faith in action, or to rebellion. It is a sign that this is a teachable moment. Now that the teacher’s dismissal is public knowledge, let’s hope that the bishop speaks forcefully and clearly, especially to the Catholic community and to the school students, about the reasons this was necessary.

On the other side of the country, a Long Island Catholic school principal takes a courageous stand against debauchery, decadence and the continuing idolatry of affluence by cancelling the school's prom. Again the report comes from a secular TV news source:

          Kenneth M. Hoagland had heard all the stories about prom-night debauchery at his Long Island high school: Students putting down $10,000 to rent a house in the Hamptons for a weekend bash. Pre-prom cocktail parties followed by a trip to the dance in a limo loaded with liquor. Fathers chartering a boat so their kids could go out on a late-night "booze cruise."

          Enough was enough, Hoagland said. So the principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School fired off a 2,000-word missive to parents at the start of the school year informing them that the Catholic school would no longer put on the spring prom.

          "It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake - in a word, financial decadence," Brother Hoagland said, fed up with what he calls the "bacchanalian aspects" of the prom.

          "Each year it gets worse - becomes more exaggerated, more expensive, more emotionally traumatic," he added. "We are withdrawing from the battle and allowing the parents full responsibility.”

The high school, he said, was “willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy.” Brother Hoagland explained that he began “a dialogue on the future of the prom last spring after it was discovered that 46 Kellenberg seniors made a $10,000 down payment on a $20,000 rental in the Hamptons for a post-prom party. When school officials found out, they forced the students to cancel the deal; the kids got their money back and the prom went on as planned.

“But Hoagland said some parents went ahead and rented a Hamptons house anyway.”

This should be totally shocking. But we are not shocked. It is no surprise because in Oklahoma we hear of similar incidents where parents go to great lengths and expense to make sure their children are placed in potentially compromising circumstances or, as Catholics used to say, “the near occasion of sin.”

You have to question the priorities of a parent like the father who was quoted as saying several parents were considering an alternative prom separate from the school. "This is my fourth child to go through Kellenberg and I don't think they have a right to judge what goes on after the prom," he said. "They put everybody in the category of drinkers and drug addicts. I don't believe that's the right thing to do."

As Catholics we are supposed to stand for the values of Jesus Christ. They are not the values of the modern culture. In fact they are values which clash -- and should clash -- with culture, which is why we call them “counter” cultural.

As Catholics we are supposed to be the anti-Culture leaven, Christ’s active presence among the living of this world, to be witness to the Light of Christ.

We go to Mass on Sunday to be emboldened by the Word, fortified with the Eucharist, and sent with the grace of the Holy Spirit into the world to be Christ to others. But Mass attendance, while vitally important, is not enough. We have to recognize that the only way we can give effective witness is to commit to living our faith in public.

The un-churched and those Christians, like Demas, who are “enamored of the present world,” will not stand out in parish parking lot to see whether we are at Mass. Instead, they will observe us in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the grocery store. They will look for signs of road rage from us. They will see whether we switch price tags on merchandise, or return items for refunds -- after we have used them. They will listen to our words to see if we gossip about and condemn others.

They will keep a sharp eye on us with their hypocrisy detectors set on maximum, for nothing makes the worldly happier than to catch a committed Christian acting just like everyone else. And they will closely watch our children to see if we have been good parents or poor parents.

The scandal of Catholic students engaging in decadent, bacchanalian behavior is a poor reflection of a community’s commitment to Gospel values. It is also a reflection of whether we are doing an effective job as parents of ministering within the domestic Church, teaching our children the Faith and reinforcing the teachings of the greater Church.

Each of us needs to ask: What kind of job am I doing as an individual to represent Christ? How am I doing as a parent in teaching my children to represent Christ?

Do not worry that you are being judgmental. Self-examination is an absolute necessity for the committed Christian, and good judgment is based on an informed conscience. If you are not sure of the answers to those questions, may I respectfully suggest that you might want to talk it over with your priest, or a deacon, or at the least someone of mature faith whom you sincerely respect.

Also pray for the ability to discern your strengths and weaknesses as a witness and teacher for Christian values. Ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to grant you wisdom and faith. Seek Mary’s help so that, as she once taught the child Jesus by word and example, so too we might emulate her example with our own children.

Peace.

(Published Tuesday, October 18, 2005)