3rd Sunday of Lent

In today’s first reading we hear God speak from the midst of the burning bush: “I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heard their appeal to be free…” So begins Israel’s long journey to freedom in the Promised Land.

While we all know the story of the Exodus, we often forget that God’s people had a particular reason for their journey into the desert. Moses says to Pharoah:  “We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord God…” In other words, the freedom Israel sought more than any other was religious freedom – all other freedom is built on this.

Today, we live in a country where religious freedom is under threat. This may sound melodramatic, and indeed, we are not living in slavery as the people of Israel were. Yet basic liberties of conscience can no longer be taken for granted. Only last week, Ed Balls, the Schools Minister, declared that, if the Children, Schools and Families Bill currently before Parliament becomes law, Catholic shools will be compelled to teach secular dogmas contrary to the Catholic Faith. As he said:

If you are currently a Catholic school … you could choose to teach only to children that contraception is wrong, homosexuality is wrong. That changes radically with this Bill.

And he went on to spell out exactly what this would mean in practice:

They must give both side of the argument. They must explain how to access an abortion. The same is true on contraception as well.

Rather bizarrely, the secular media has portrayed the controversy over the Catholic, Schools and Families Bill as some sort of victory for the Catholic Church, as the Government has conceded that matters such as abortion, sexual activity and so on can be taught ‘in a way that reflects the school’s religious character’. Mr Balls comments, however, reveal how little such a concession is worth. Notwithstanding their ‘religious character’, faith schools would have to teach their pupils where they can acces abortion, would have to demonstrate how to use contraception and would be obliged to teach about civil partnerships as a form of ‘stable relationship’ equivalent to marriage. Clearly schools obliged to teach in this way would no longer be Catholic – they might still be allowed to hang a crucifix in the classroom, but they would no longer be teaching the Catholic Faith.

It is still possible that this particular Bill will be rejected by Parliament, and we should all pray that this happens. But, in the current climate, further threats to our religious freedom are bound to arise. This is a time for all of us, as a Catholic community, to reflect deeply on the gifts of faith – to remember that, five centuries ago, brave men and women died to keep the Catholic faith alive in this land – and to ask whether we too are prepared to stand up and be counted. The Gospel reading today warns that God’s patience is great but not endless: like the fig tree in the parable, we must begin to bear fruit – or we will be judged and found wanting.