On March 19th, 2026 (The Feast of St. Joseph) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that "history proves that, unfortunately and unhappily, Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan". His argument, poorly stated, is that in situations of global conflict moral superiority does NOT inherently ensure survival if one side is militarily stronger or more ruthless than the other.
Of course, he walked back the statement later but the damage had been done. The anti-semitic branch of the far right (the Carlsons and the Owens of the podcast sphere) jumped on that like a duck on a june bug.
I heard it for the first time this morning when I was listening to a homily at Mass. The visiting priest - a Franciscan Friar - was careful to establish why he was quoting it, assuring the congregation that no political statement was intended by his doing so, and he incorporated it nicely into his message for the day.
But, as always, it got me a'thinkin. Afterall, I am a Dominican and that's kinda what we do....think things through and discuss and contemplate and then we share the fruits of that contemplation with others.
so, here goes:
Christians do not have the same definition of 'winning' as those who are not Christians.
I imagine it is very confusing for those wondering about us. How exactly did we exist, underground, in a country like Japan or Russia or China or England? How is it possible that we can emerge after hundreds of years of baptizing our children in secret and praying the Rosary on our fingers while standing in bread lines or bowing in someone else's house of worship virtually unscathed and start building (or rebuilding) our Churches, establishing our schools and celebrating our feast days as though nothing had happened? That despite government laws and regulations designed specifically to wipe us out or ugly false religions crucifying our children in front of our eyes we exist, clinging to the Sacraments we can perform, handing on the Truth to our young ones and waiting patiently for a priest to appear to marry us, bury our dead and give us The Eucharist in the Mass.
Part of it is our Jewish Heritage - a heritage we sometimes overlook. To put it bluntly we were taught by the best how to survive no matter what and so....we do.
We are here. We have endured despite Empire after Empire, Kings or Queens determined to destroy us and secular governments convinced that all the evils of society could be eliminated if the Catholic Church was destroyed. We have endured despite pedophile priests and Q Anon catechists telling people Joe Biden and Pope Francis met once a month to cook and eat infants. We exist despite the military might of any and all countries and false religions determined to kill us. Heck, to paraphrase that one Cardinal who laughed at, who was it? Napoleon? We have survived OURSELVES.
The might of Jesus Christ and His Bride, The Church, is rooted in more than simple moral superiority. Lots of people can claim moral superiority to lots of stuff. Our might, our advantage, is that w stand until - until He comes again.
Is the Prime Minister right in that a country dedicated to God first and power second should be a strong one? Militarily, economically and philosophically strong in order to defend themselves and others when needed? Yes. Of course. Bad guys exist and defense is morally acceptable.
But don't mistake defeat on the battle field or in the boardroom as a true victory. Jesus is winning. It might not seem so from the looks of things but for those of us in the pew this morning, listening to that homily and preparing ourselves to receive Him in the Eucharist, we know the outcome.
See, we didn't just write the Book, we read it every Sunday and we know the ending.
Our side wins.
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