Monthly Archives: December 2016

An invitation from Pope Francis: a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

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Pope Francis raises Book of Gospels as he celebrates Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica at VaticanBoth of my parents were converts.  My father grew up in the Presbyterian Church and my mother grew up as a Southern Baptist.  There is a story told in my family that once, not long after my father’s conversion, my two great aunts from Mississippi (both spinsters and staunch Presbyterians to boot) visited my grandfather.  Noticing some dust on the cover of the family bible, one great aunt is said to have remarked, “I guess if this Bible cover was not so dusty Jack would never have converted.”  I am not sure how my grandfather and grandmother replied although I would wager that a bit of a chill went through the room.

I, for one, am very grateful for my parents’ conversions and acknowledging that my views would differ from my great aunt’s in this regard (i.e. seeing my father’s conversion to Catholicism as a fulfilling of his faith journey and not a loss); I do believe her remark about the family Bible carries an intuition of truth.  There is a power and a grace to be found in Sacred Scripture.  The Bible is God’s holy word and within it we encounter our risen Lord.

In his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera given at the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis brings to summation the Holy Year and puts forward his hope that the work of mercy will continue and be ever-strengthened in the Church.

(The Holy Year) must continue to be celebrated and lived out in our communities. Mercy cannot become a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church; it constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father. (MM, 1)

The Holy Father reflects on how best to continue the work of mercy and he puts forward some specific thoughts for discernment by the Church – mercy should be celebrated and at the heart of every Eucharistic celebration and every homily, every encounter involving the sacrament of anointing should be guided by mercy and certainly mercy should be found in abundance within the sacrament of reconciliation.  Here the Holy Father grants the authority for every priest to forgive the sin of a procured abortion.  This permission given even gained the attention of the secular media for at least a day or two.

What did not garner as much attention though is an invitation that the Holy Father extended to the Church in his apostolic letter.  It is an invitation worthy of consideration and it is why I began this article by sharing the story of my two great aunts.  The Holy Father invites the Church to consider a Sunday, “given over entirely to the word of God”.

Why not just mandate such a thing?  Certainly the pope has the authority.  Here, I believe, Pope Francis is demonstrating a pastor’s wisdom.  Some things within the Church – especially those liturgical and devotional – are best established and encouraged from the foundation up rather than the top-down.  Pope Francis is inviting the Church into a dialogue regarding this possibility and he is giving his permission as the successor of Peter for this dialogue, this possibility, to occur and to even grow organically from within the life of the Church.  He is encouraging an idea to grow.

It is an idea already present within the full life of our faith and specifically rooted and expressed for our time in the document Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council.  Here are three quotes from the final chapter of that document which demonstrate this.  “It follows that all the preaching of the Church, as indeed the entire Christian religion, should be nourished and ruled by sacred Scripture.” (DV, 21)  “Access to sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.” (DV, 22)  “Just as from constant attendance at the Eucharistic mystery the life of the Church draws increase, so a new impulse of spiritual life may be expected from increased veneration of the Word of God, which ‘stands forever’.” (DV, 26)

Below are the two paragraphs of Misericordia et Misera specifically devoted to this invitation.  The first paragraph can be viewed as a summation of Vatican II’s Dei Verbum, the second is the invitation given by the Holy Father to the Church universal.

The Bible is the great story of the marvels of God’s mercy. Every one of its pages is steeped in the love of the Father who from the moment of creation wished to impress the signs of his love on the universe. Through the words of the prophets and the wisdom writings, the Holy Spirit shaped the history of Israel as a recognition of God’s tenderness and closeness, despite the people’s infidelity. Jesus’ life and preaching decisively marked the history of the Christian community, which has viewed its mission in terms of Christ’s command to be a permanent instrument of his mercy and forgiveness (cf. Jn 20:23). Through Sacred Scripture, kept alive by the faith of the Church, the Lord continues to speak to his Bride, showing her the path she must take to enable the Gospel of salvation to reach everyone. I greatly desire that God’s word be increasingly celebrated, known and disseminated, so that the mystery of love streaming from this font of mercy may be ever better understood. As the Apostle tells us clearly: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).

It would be beneficial if every Christian community, on one Sunday of the liturgical year, could renew its efforts to make the Sacred Scriptures better known and more widely diffused. It would be a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God, so as to appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people. Creative initiatives can help make this an opportunity for the faithful to become living vessels for the transmission of God’s word. Initiatives of this sort would certainly include the practice of lectio divina , so that the prayerful reading of the sacred text will help support and strengthen the spiritual life. Such a reading, centered on themes relating to mercy, will enable a personal experience of the great fruitfulness of the biblical text – read in the light of the Church’s spiritual tradition – and thus give rise to concrete gestures and works of charity.(MM, #7)

Could this be the beginnings of a liturgical feast for the Bible?  What would it look like?  I am not sure and I do not know if even the Holy Father knows but he is inviting the Church to the possibility and even encouraging a faith-filled creativity.  As both a Christian disciple and a pastor of a parish in the belt buckle of the Bible Belt – where there is such a strong emphasis on Scripture in the surrounding churches – I find this invitation of Pope Francis to creatively dream of such a day to be both exciting and necessary!  One of the great gifts of the Second Vatican Council was in reminding us that the Bible belongs to every member of the Church, that it should be picked up and read and that within Sacred Scripture we encounter Christ.  The Bible is much more than just proof texts for the sacraments and devotions.  A day given over entirely to the Bible would not lessen our sacramental identity as Catholics but would rather root our identity deeper in an awareness that we are a people of both Word and Sacrament!

A day devoted to the Bible would also be a strength and support for the ongoing work of mercy.  “I greatly desire that God’s word be increasingly celebrated, known and disseminated, so that the mystery of love streaming from this font of mercy may be ever better understood,” writes the Holy Father.  God’s word is a “font of mercy” which opens our minds in greater awareness, our imaginations in new possibilities and our hearts in greater charity.  Or, as expressed in Dei Verbum, “This nourishment (of Scripture) enlightens the mind, strengthens the will and fires the hearts of men with the love of God.” (DV, 23) 

Pope Francis, through his life as a Jesuit and priest is someone steeped in the Ignatian spiritual tradition of entering Scripture.  The Holy Father speaks from experience when he refers to Scripture as a “font of mercy” and he is here inviting the whole church to continually turn to this font.

It is a simple and beautiful invitation that the Holy Father puts forward in his letter – a day given over entirely to the Word of God – and within this invitation is found the possibility of innumerable graces and blessings.  I am praying how the parish I serve might answer this invitation of our Holy Father.  I would encourage all members of the Church to take to heart this simple and beautiful invitation of our Holy Father.

Christmas, 2016

25 Sunday Dec 2016

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birth-of-jesusCaesar demanded a census and the whole world was in motion and turmoil.  People and families around the empire travelling to their own town.  The emperor had spoken and therefore it had to be! 

Joseph and Mary – humble, poor, obedient to authority – travel to Bethlehem, even with Mary near child-birth.  They register for the census but the gospel does not specify one thing; did they register before the birth of Christ or after?  Did their census notation say, “one Jewish couple expecting a child” or “one Jewish couple with newborn male”?  I tend to believe that Joseph and Mary registered with the census before the birth of Jesus because it would be consistent with God’s way of working throughout scripture.

Let the powers of the world flex their muscle and show all their strength.  Peoples need to travel, life needs to be interrupted, Caesar Augustus wants a census!  God laughs.  God comes silently and humbly amidst all the turmoil of the time.  God even uses the great emperor’s project to accomplish His plan.  Who today remembers the census that Caesar ordered?  Yet all time and history celebrates the birth of the son of Mary.  Christ coming after the census is fulfilled demonstrates who is really the Lord of history.

Caesar in the exercise of his power and might through the census was trying to grasp and claim the entire empire.  “These … all these lands and peoples … are mine!” is what Caesar was saying through his census.  Christ being born after the census shows that he does not belong to the power of Caesar nor to any worldly-power yesterday or today.  Jesus will not go down in history as a small notation in a Roman emperor’s census, rather he will be revealed as the very one who ushers in God’s Kingdom to which all the kingdoms and powers of the world must submit. 

The Word of God enters the world unexpectedly.  Information is power.  A census – a measurement of peoples – gives information and therefore it gives the emperor great power and control.  Yet right beyond the boundary of Caesar’s knowledge occurs the greatest event in all of human history and Caesar misses it.  Caesar has no knowledge of it.  The first ones who do come to know of it?  Not Caesar but rather the lowly shepherds – the poor and the insignificant ones in the eyes of the world.  It is to them that the angel appears and tells of this new thing that God has done!  “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people … a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”  (Lk. 2:10-11)  It is not abstract and isolated ideologies and theologies cut off from everyday reality that grasp the ever-new work of God, rather it is simple people of faith – the poor and the humble.

The lessons of Christmas are so profound and so necessary.  Despite the turmoil of any age and the raw exercising of power, God is at work accomplishing his plan.  This babe born in Bethlehem is the one to whom all knees must bend and all hearts must bow and when we can do that, then peace and joy will be found!  In Christ, knowledge comes humbly – knowledge for the pains of our world and the pains of our hearts.  Abstract and isolated ideologies quickly become cold, hard and dictatorial.  This is not God’s way.  God reveals himself to the poor and the humble and God chooses to abide with them. 

Lord Jesus, we welcome you.  Heal our world.  Soften our hearts.  Help us to know the newness of your peace.  You are Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever and Prince of Peace.  Lord Jesus, you choose to be born in your time and in your way.  May we be humble and poor enough to recognize you when you come to us.

Thank you Jesus for loving us.           

St. Joseph and Corporal Desmond Doss

18 Sunday Dec 2016

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doss-300x236The movie “Hacksaw Ridge” is a powerful and true story about a man holding firm to his convictions in the face of strong opposition.  Desmond Doss was a conscientious objector in World War II.  Guided by his Christian faith and a personal vow he made to God, Doss would not pick up a gun but he wanted to help his country in the war effort as a medic.  The first half of the film is about the opposition he faced in the army itself.  He was viewed as a coward and his superiors and even fellow soldiers tried to force him out.  The second half of the film is about how Doss proved his courage in the face of battle.  When his unit was forced to retreat due to an overwhelming onslaught of Japanese soldiers, Doss remained and under the cover of night and early morning rescued seventy-five wounded soldiers.  His prayer throughout that heroic effort, each time he went back onto the combat field was, “Dear God, let me get just one more man.”  Corporal Desmond Doss was the first and only conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic bravery above and beyond the call of duty.

I recently read in a commentary that in Christ, “God works his plan not in the extra-ordinariness of miracles or in the mystery of esoteric magic, but in the ordinariness of mercy and in the mystery of compassion.”  In today’s gospel (Mt. 1:18-24) we are told how the birth of Jesus Christ comes about.  Mary is found with child.  Joseph, a righteous and merciful man, decides to divorce her quietly.  But, in a dream, an angel comes to Joseph and tells him to have no fear; that the child is conceived through the Holy Spirit and the child will reveal that God is with us.  Joseph took Mary into his home.

It is important to remember that both the annunciation and Joseph’s dream were private.  Only Mary saw the angel Gabriel.  Only Joseph had the dream.  We know the rest of the story but then, at that moment and in those confusing days, it was not known.  There must have been gossip.  The scandal of a pregnancy outside of marriage and the foolishness of Joseph taking Mary into his home when a truly righteous man and observant Jew would have done no such thing!  The stigma probably did not end with the birth of the child either.  It probably always hung around the Holy Family, it probably followed Joseph to his death bed and it was probably whispered about Christ his whole life.

In the gospels Joseph speaks no words but his actions and willingness to live by his convictions whether understood by other people or not say volumes about the foster-father of our Lord.  Both Mary and Joseph, in their own way, said “yes” to God and they entered into that mystery of mercy and compassion where God’s will is known and made manifest.  Yes, there were some signs that we will hear of in the next few weeks – a shining star, a vision of angels, wise men from the East – but for the vast majority of the world all was ordinary but in that “ordinary” the most extra-ordinary was occurring.  God was coming to be with us.

There is a scene in “Hacksaw Ridge” when the troop is retreating and Corporal Doss is at the top of the ridge.  He cries out, “God I cannot hear you!  What do you want me to do?”  There is a silence for a moment as the medic sits in the violent ordinariness of war and then he says for the first time of seventy-five times, “Dear God, let me get just one man.”  Corporal Doss then runs back into the battlefield.  It was not esoteric or other-worldly it was just the mystery of mercy and compassion being lived in the moment. 

We should neither disdain the ordinary nor the choice to live our convictions of faith in the ordinary.  Mary, Joseph and a host of witnesses like Corporal Doss show how God is found and his will is made known in the ordinary – whether understood by other people at the time or not. 

St. Joseph, foster-father of our Lord, pray for us. 

St. Joseph, help us to learn your humility, your conviction and your wisdom.             

The danger of narrowcasting in the Church, shared again.

06 Tuesday Dec 2016

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studio-broadcasting-camps-2(In light of the recent news events demonstrating the danger of false stories, I am reposting this article originally written in 2014.  We need to be discerning and prudent in all things media-related.)

There has been a trend developing in our national news media and you have probably noticed it. It is the move from “broad-casting” to “narrow-casting”. Charles Seife, in his book, Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You So, How Do You Know It’s True?, lays it out quite clearly.

“Back when the Big Three ruled the airwaves, the nightly news had to perform a delicate balancing act. A news program had to try to appeal to the entire television audience – it had to be, quite literally, a broad cast – if it was to compete with the other two networks that were taking the same strategy. This meant that the networks couldn’t become too partisan or take an extreme position on anything, for fear of alienating its potential audience…

Then cable and the internet increased our choices. The Big Three kept trying to capture as big a slice of America as possible by staying centrist, but a couple of upstarts – particularly Fox News and MSNBC – realized that there was another possible strategy. Instead of trying to go after the entire American population with a broadly targeted program that appealed to everyone, you could go with a narrowly targeted program that appealed to only a subgroup of the population. Throw in your lot with, say, die-hard Republicans and give them coverage that makes them happy; you alienate Democrats and won’t get them as viewers, but you can more than make up for that loss by gaining a devoted Republican fan base … MSNBC did exactly the reverse …”

“So, what’s the big deal?” one might wonder. Let the conservatives have their Fox News and the liberals their MSNBC then everyone gets what they want. As Charles Seife argues in his book though we need challenges to our assumptions in order for our ideas and understanding to grow and evolve. True information can only be gained through this sometimes difficult but essential process. If all we get when we switch on the news is a presentation that is catered to our particular slant on the world then we get stuck in our own assumptions and we even become more radicalized. We do not get true information. Another quote from Seife’s book,

“With news and data that is tailored to our prejudices, we deprive ourselves of true information. We wind up wallowing in our own false ideas, reflected back to us by the media. The news is ceasing to be a window unto the world; it is becoming a mirror that allows us to gaze only upon our own beliefs.

Couple this dynamic with the microsociety-building power of the hyper-interconnected internet and you’ve got two major forces that are radicalizing us. Not only does the media fail to challenge our preconceptions – instead reinforcing them as media outlets try to cater to smaller audiences – but we all are able to find small groups of people who share and fortify the beliefs we have, no matter how quirky or outright wrong they might be. Ironically, all this interconnection is isolating us…”

Lack of true information, radicalization and isolation – this is a disturbing and dangerous mix that, I would argue, we are witnessing the affects of throughout our world today. That is a larger discussion but my purpose for this reflection is to wonder how much this trend of “narrow-casting” has moved into the life of the Church. I would point to the wide-ranging reactions to the recent preparatory meeting of the upcoming Synod on the Family in Rome as a prime example. The way I read them, reactions posted in journals, on the internet and the blogosphere were often extreme and catered to a particular slant. There was a lot (and continues to be a lot) of noise regarding the preparatory meeting in these pieces but not much true information … at least from my reading.

Call me crazy but I have a hunch that Pope Francis knows what he is doing and that the Holy Spirit is in the midst of the Church. Maybe our United States “American” (I say this because this is the only cultural context I can speak to) tendency to interpret an event (i.e. the Synod on the Family) only by catering to a particular viewpoint is more of a reflection of a deficiency in our culture than a reflection of what actually transpired in Rome? Maybe we have become more conditioned by narrow-casting than we realize?

Pope Francis is not a product of United States “American” culture. I do not think that he has been conditioned by narrow-casting. I think he asked the participants at the meeting in Rome to speak boldly from their hearts because he knows what Charles Seife knows. True information is only gained through the difficult process of having assumptions challenged – if the assumptions are true then they will only grow stronger through this process, if not then they will fall by the wayside. Pope Francis values true discussion because he values true information. Isn’t true information what we want any leader (particular the Pope) to have?

Catholic means “universal”. I do not believe that there is space for narrow-casting in the Church. In fact, I wonder if it might even be a sin against the unity of the Church. Seife lays out the fruits of narrow-casting: lack of true information, radicalization and isolation. All of these harm the Body of Christ.

Come, Holy Spirit and enkindle within us the fire of your love and strengthen your Church that she might be a humble and authentic witness of the gospel!

“Arrival” and catching the language of God.

03 Saturday Dec 2016

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arrivalThis last week I saw the movie “Arrival”.  I found the movie to be very thought-provoking.  I do not want to ruin the movie for anyone so I will not delve too deeply into the story but the heart of the movie is about language, thought and even time.  The movie asks a simple question; “If aliens arrived on earth how would we communicate?”  Especially if the aliens were so different physiologically from us and did not communicate by sound as we do.  The movie centers on a  translator and her work to overcome this barrier.  At one point in the movie there is a discussion about how learning another language might actually effect and even change a person’s way of thinking.  Learning a new language helps us to think differently and to see the world differently.  

In biblical thought, a prophet is not a fortune-teller or someone who can somehow magically tell what is going to happen in the future.  Rather, a biblical prophet is someone who lives a deep relationship with God and who is able to read the signs of the times from that perspective.  To make use of the discussion in the movie – a prophet is someone who has caught a bit of the language of God and is able therefore to think differently and to see the world differently.  A prophet is someone who begins to see as God sees and to dream as God dreams.  

In today’s gospel (Mt. 3:1-12) we are given the figure of John the Baptist.  The man whom Christ himself called the greatest of prophets.  John is this uniquely charismatic figure drawing huge crowds from all over Jerusalem, Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.  He proclaims the coming Kingdom of God and he calls his listeners to repentance.  Almost as if to provide a contrast, the gospel brings the Pharisees and Sadducees into the picture.  They approach the baptism of John not as a true spirit of repentance but because it looks good before the crowd who they knew held John in high regard.  John’s eyes were on the promise of eternity and the mercy of God because he had caught the language of God while the eyes of these religious authorities were only on what looked good in the moment and what would seem pleasing to others.  John’s eyes were on the ever new possibility of the Kingdom of God precisely because he had caught the language of God. 

We could say that John already saw and set his life by the vision offered by the prophet Isaiah in the first reading (Is. 11:1-10).  John saw that day when the one would come on whom the spirit of the Lord would rest and who would judge rightly and who would strike the ruthless and bring forth justice and through whom the wolf and the lamb would be guest of one another.  In the Jordan River, John would baptize the one who is himself the incarnate Word of the Father. 

In Christ, the language of God is fully revealed and spoken and it overcomes all the sad divisions of our world.  Isaiah’s poetic use of imagery is all about the divisions and fears and animosities of life being overcome – “the cow and the bear shall be neighbors … the baby shall play by the cobras den …” – all this shall occur through Christ. 

And it continues through his body, the Church.  In Christ the role of the prophet is not ended, it is multiplied infinitely!  Through our baptisms we are all called to be prophets!  In the Eucharistic Prayer entitled, “Jesus, the Way to the Father” we find these words, “Grant that all the faithful of the Church, looking into the signs of the times by the light of faith, may constantly devote themselves to the service of the Gospel.” 

To be a prophet is not to somehow magically see into the future but to live in deep relationship with God and to read the signs of the times from that perspective.  The prophet learns the language of God fully revealed in Christ.  The prophet allows that language to change his or her own pattern of thought and the prophet lives by the ever new possibility of God’s Kingdom which says that all the sad divisions of our world and our individual lives can be healed and can be overcome.  

To learn a language changes the way we think.  The prophets caught the language of God, John learned it and even baptized the Word incarnate and, now, the Word is given and spoken to us. 

We can live differently.  We can live through the very Word given to us as God intends.