From Archbishop Chaput, the keynote speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast this morning also attended by President Bush:
"Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, which is the birthday of the Church. In Catholic churches around the world, lectors read the following passage from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: "No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’
except by the Holy Spirit."
**
**“Now, that may sound like the right way to read it, but it’s wrong. That passage should
really be read this way: "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord!’ except by the Holy Spirit.” It’s the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that enables us to make this profession of faith; that gives us the kind of energy and zeal to live our lives based on our faith in Jesus Christ.
We need to understand that in the early Church, those words - “Jesus is Lord” - were a political statement. The *emperor *claimed to be Lord both in the private and public lives of the citizens of the empire. When Christians proclaimed Jesus as Lord, they were proclaiming the centrality of Jesus not only in their personal lives, but in their public lives and their decision-making as well.That took real courage. And it had huge consequences for their lives. Jesus was hung upon the cross because of his claim of Lordship. Christianity was illegal for the first 250 years of the Church’s life because Christians proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord.”
Americans re-elected President Bush because most voters saw him, and see him, as a man of dedication and a leader deserving of our respect – but he is not “Lord.” **Our political parties -whether Democratic or Republican – are not “Lord.” Congress is not “Lord.” The Supreme Court is not “Lord.” And neither are we “Lord”; nor our spouse or friends or possessions or talents. None of these people or things is Lord. Only God is God, and only Jesus Christ is Lord. **And Christ’s relationship with each of us as individuals, and all of us as the believing Catholiccommunity, should be the driving force of our personal lives and for all of our public witness -including our political witness.
(emphasis by jlw)
