And the Christian story is so compelling and joyous because it is the ultimate tale of the triumph of Good over evil, and it actually happened. Through the self-sacrifice of Christ, God has brought sinful humanity from the brink of ultimate defeat—the loss of our souls forever—to share in the victory of Christ. And again, the Christian story is not just a man-made myth or a fairy tale—Christ is truly risen.
Well, this last week, I celebrated mass with our school children. And I shared with them how since I was a young boy, I have enjoyed reading stories and watching movies like those written by Tolkien. How in his first book, called “The Hobbit”, this unlikely character Bilbo Baggins goes on a long journey with a group of long-bearded dwarves to recover a magical treasure from the clutches of an evil dragon named Smaug. The journey was treacherous and the dragon was formidable, but in the end Bilbo succeeds in recovering the treasure, not because he was physically stronger than the dragon, but because he and his friends were courageous and they used their minds to outwit the evil beast.
And I brought up the story of Bilbo and the dragon, because Tuesday was the feast day of St. George. And you may know that there is an ancient legend where St. George overcomes a dragon. According to the Legend a dragon was terrorizing a village, demanding tribute of trinkets and livestock, and when the villagers ran out of treasures and animals to appease the dragon, the cruel creature demanded the blood of a princess. So, the valiant Christian solider George, comes to the maiden’s rescue and courageously goes to face the foul and dangerous beast—slaying it with his mighty lance.
St George has been venerated by the Church for 1700 years. Churches, Kings, Cities, States, Countries, and Beatles have been named after George. Pope Francis whose birthname is Jorge is named after the great saint. For not only courageously confront a literal dragon, at least according to legend, he also stood up to the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Around the year 303 George was martyred for courageously refusing to renounce his Christian faith and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.
St. George is always a wonderful saint to celebrate. For he models for us courage in defended the weak and the poor from the powers of evil, and that courage witnessed in standing up to the Roman Emperor—proclaiming with his life that Jesus Christ is true God, and that eternal life is obtained by becoming Jesus’ disciple.
St. George is also an important saint to invoke and emulate as we face our own dragons. Each of us face our own dragons, don’t we? Dragons such as selfishness, impulsiveness, laziness, resentment, disordered desires and ideas, foolishness. Dragons that want us to cower in fear instead of sharing the Gospel. Dragons that demand the tribute of our time, talent, and treasure instead of giving them to God.
But George’s story is so powerful because it is a reminder that when the life of Christ is within us, dragons can be defeated.
Tolkien wrote that we tell legends and fairy stories to children not to prove the existence of dragons. Children, he wrote, know that dragons are real. Those stories help children learn that dragons can be defeated.
And St. George triumphed over the dragon through the power of goodness, courage, and self-sacrifice. George’s life is a reflection of our Lord’s own triumph—his crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate triumph of goodness over evil. Jesus has defeated the greatest of dragons—saving all of humanity from the clutches of Satan. And the Lord’s work isn’t done. For he wishes to continue to slay powerful dragons in the world through us—to bring deliverance and peace through us.
But the great dragons of our own time cannot be defeated apart from Christ. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” he teaches in the Gospel this weekend. So, we must remain attached to Christ through constant prayer, and adherence to church teaching, and the sacramental life, and moral righteous living, and works of charity.
Now, the secular world foolishly believes that it can defeat the evils afflicting humanity without God. But biblical illiteracy, separation from the Church, dismissal of Church teaching, all allow the dragons—like war, perversion, broken families, drug epidemics—to multiply, despite our best efforts.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, writing on the topic of war, points out that the secular institutions can issue peace treaty after peace treaty, but unless individuals put an end to the civil war within their own souls—where we pridefully oppose the goodness and holiness that God wants for us—humanity will continue to be afflicted with war and the greed and injustice that lead to war. Unless our own dragons are dealt with by the power of Christ—we will have no hope for real peace in the world.
But, so many of the Saints bear testimony to the transformation that comes through union with Christ and the good we can do when united to Him. St. Paul in our first reading, went from being a passionate anti-Christian, a hunter of Christians, an agent of the great dragon, to a passionate and courageous preacher of Truth--one who suffered for Christ and his saving Gospel.
The conversion of St. Paul is a reminder that we should pray and work for conversion of those who are hardened toward Christ and his Church. For if Paul can experience conversion, anyone can, by the grace of God. We exclude no one from the call to conversion. And likely, the most effective means of the conversion and spread of the Church, is when we are more deeply united to Christ in the humble works of charity, in sharing the gospel calmly, patiently, but of course, honestly.
What can I do this week, to draw closer to Christ so to bear fruit that will last? What dragons in my own mind and heart, have I been too lazy or afraid to allow Christ to conquer?
How do we know we remain in him? If we keep his commandments and love one another. May we be generous in our faithfulness and in our love for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment