Monthly Archives: January 2022

The Church ministers best as “Church”

22 Saturday Jan 2022

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Image taken from internet. Copyright respected.

I have a confession to make … I am not a fan of superhero movies.  Don’t get me wrong, they can be entertaining (a good escape for a couple of hours) and the special effects are amazing but they are really just the same story over and over again – just repackaged.  Also, and here I will admit I may be reading too much into things, I feel that all of these superhero movies are grooming their audience (us) into the belief that we need a superhero to come along and save us when that is neither reality nor what we truly need. 

St. Paul did not need superheroes.  He had a Savior.  The Savior is real, superheroes are made up.  Paul instructs us in his letter to the Corinthians (Cor. 12:12-30) that we – through our baptism – are all part of the Body of Christ.  Christ is the head and we are the body.  We each have a role to play, we each have gifts to give.  Every member of the Body of Christ contributes – in his or her own unique way – to the building up of the Body of Christ and to the mission of the Body of Christ in our world.  We do not need a superhero to save us.  We have a Savior and he has made us into his body. 

The Church ministers best as “Church”.  As the “Body of Christ” in our world we are each to live our faith which means each of us taking responsibility for our faith and not waiting for some superhero to come along and save us.  Ever notice that in superhero movies – the hero swoops in, saves the day and then flies off.  There really is no relationship between hero and those who are saved.  Having a Savior, on the other hand, implies an ongoing relationship which does put honest demands on us and honest responsibilities which we must strive to live. 

The Church ministers best as “Church”.  The Church has done this in the pro-life movement.  From day one, the Church has been consistent in the message of the dignity of life in the womb and the dignity of the woman who carries that life.  All together the Church promotes life.  Clergy and laity in a variety of ways and settings and as different parts of the body of Christ does this.  The Church has been and will always be pro-life.  It is quite likely that Roe v. Wade will be struck down in some form or fashion soon.  It should be struck down.  It is a horrific law that has killed millions and destroyed millions of lives.  But the work of defending life will continue and we will do that work as church – helping those persons with unplanned pregnancies, caring for both children and parents, defending the dignity of the life of every person and working to ensure that dignity on all levels. 

Pope Francis, in his unique role as the successor to St. Peter, has invited each of us as members of the Body of Christ universal to listen to one another and to listen to the Holy Spirit by sharing our thoughts through the Synod process.  If you have not already done so, take the time to participate in the survey and attend one of the listening sessions that will soon be occurring in our parish.  The key word is “listening”.  We each are a part of the body; we each have a voice to share.  It does not mean we will each get our way or our thought is necessarily the “correct” one.  It does not work that way in the body, St. Paul demonstrates that, but we each are called to listen and to share. 

St. Dominic Church has ministered as “Church” powerfully in the ministry of St. Dominic School.  It is no easy thing to support and run a school.  What other churches in our area are doing it?  But this parish church – all of us together, in different ways and in different roles – has said that this is an important ministry that builds up generations and we will continue to strive to uphold and strengthen this ministry.  As Church this is being done. 

The Church ministers best as “Church”. 

Not to pit movie genres against one another but there is a wonderful line from one of the Harry Potter movies.  Dumbledore – the wise wizard – at one point remarks off-handedly, “I’ve never had much use for heroes.”  (Whenever I see someone trying to market himself or herself as a “hero” that others should look up to that, for me, is a huge red flag that makes me wonder what happened in that person’s childhood years.)

We don’t need superheroes who are not real.  We have a Savior and he has made us into his body.  The Church ministers best as “Church”. 

Yosemite Valley, John Muir, Antoni Gaudi and the Heart of Creation

18 Tuesday Jan 2022

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Yellowstone Falls

Last week I spent four days in Yosemite National Park continuing my quest to visit all of our country’s national parks.  (I am now at twenty-six parks visited.)  Each park – I have found – has its own particular beauty and awe.  What most struck me in Yosemite was Yosemite Valley itself.  Via the entrance road from El Portal, you weave into the valley catching hints of the surrounding mountains through the standing ponderosa pine trees.  Yet, it is only within the valley that you are brought into a full awareness of the enormity of the surrounding cliffs and mountains that loom large over the fields, river and forests.  One would think that the sheer cliffs and mountain rockfaces would weigh down on the valley and any person within it but the opposite is the case.  El Capitain and Half-Dome continually pull one’s line of sight upwards and beyond oneself.  Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Falls, even as they drop into the valley, beckon the viewer to look up to the source of their waters.  Even the tall ponderosa pines direct one towards the sky and what is above.  Every aspect within this valley draws the person upwards. 

John Muir named Yosemite Valley, “Nature’s Cathedral” and I cannot help but believe this upward movement of the valley is part of what Muir experienced himself and what, at least partly, stands behind his designation.  Cathedrals and basilicas – by design – are meant to draw the person upwards into the transcendent and that which is beyond oneself.  Interesting note – the basilica I found myself just naturally beginning to remember while standing in Yosemite Valley was La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.  On a tour of the famous basilica a number of years ago, I remember our group’s tour guide remarking how Antoni Gaudi based the design of the church not so much on the foundation sunk in the earth but rather on the movement of being drawn upward and this is witnessed to throughout the architecture.  I have no idea if Gaudi knew anything about Yosemite Valley but I believe what he sought to express through his design of La Sagrada Familia finds deep natural resonance in the wonder and upward movement of Yosemite Valley.

Both John Muir and Antoni Gaudi were men steeped in the Christian faith.  Muir’s father was a presbyterian minister who raised his children on the words of Scripture.  Gaudi was a devoted Catholic whose life and work were guided by his faith.  Both men were also devoted to the beauty of creation.  Gaudi saw his basilica as a reflection of creation and the wonder that the Creator has entered within creation by the incarnation.  Muir’s life was marked by an Old Testament prophet’s zeal for creation and humanity’s responsibility to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us. 

The fact that both of these men – coming from different parts of the world and from different life experiences – each had a sense of the wonder of creation and its upward movement AND were steeped in the language and thought of Christianity is no coincidence I believe.  The language of Scripture which speaks of both creation and Creator, the awareness of the sublime wonder of the incarnation and resurrection and the hunch of what that implies for all of creation as well as a felt knowledge of grace in ones own life were all truths deeply embedded in each of these men (given ample witness in their work and words) and this is what gave them both the intuition required to sense the upward movement of a creation both weighed in reality and set free by grace as well as the words needed to give voice to that movement whether that be through the language of soaring architecture or the stirring words of essay, written letter or fireside conversations with an American president. 

Half Dome

Christianity, when not manipulated by a perverse ideology of selfish domination, offers a person the awareness needed to truly listen to the heart of creation.  This is expressed throughout the scope of Scripture and witnessed by a Savior who himself was fully attuned to all of the wonder and nuances of creation – just reflect on how he continually drew on creation to teach us about the Kingdom. 

John Muir heard the heart of creation reverberating through Yosemite Valley.  Antoni Gaudi heard the heart of creation and gave it voice in the soaring spires of La Sagrada Familia.  Another Christian by the name of Paul also heard it and this reflection will end with his words: 

“For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord by because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that all of creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.”  (Rom. 8:19-22)