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What does it mean to Jesus? The Eucharist.

02 Sunday Jun 2024

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A priest friend of mine tells the story that when he was in high school, he had a friend by the name of Carl that he hung around with.  Carl, it seems, could be kind of high maintenance and awkward, often saying inappropriate things at the worst times.  Carl was hanging around the house one day and was going on and on about wanting to go out and do something. Finally, my friend, who was not in the best of moods having to put up with Carl, had enough of this and was quite rude in telling Carl to stop bothering him and that he was not going to go out!  After Carl left, my friend’s mother – who had heard all of the exchange – came to my friend and said, “You need to be nicer to Carl.  He has been a good friend to you for a long time.”  Parents have a way of saying things that just stay with you and my priest friend still remembers what his mother said.  The story resonates with me because I once had a similar situation when I was in high school and took a friendship for granted. 

One of the truths of this little story is that friendship takes work, friendship is going to challenge us and friendship is sometimes going to make us do things that we would rather not do.  The old hymn tells us that we all have a friend in Jesus and this is true.  There is no one who will ever love us like Jesus loves us.  There is no one who will ever be as faithful to us as Jesus is faithful but we all know that sometimes it is hard to listen to Jesus because Jesus will challenge us, Jesus will make us take a serious look at our ways and our attitudes, Jesus will be present to us in a fullness of love that we may not feel we deserve.  Sometimes it is hard to go to Jesus, sometimes it is hard to come to Mass, but this is where the challenge of my friend’s mother comes in for all of us, “You need to go.  He has been a good friend to you for a long time.” 

We often talk about and reflect on what it means for us to receive the Eucharist – the very Body and Blood of Christ – and this is appropriate.  We receive Jesus himself!  We are being transformed, nourished and strengthened through this receiving of the Eucharist, being and becoming a part of the Body of Christ.  But, I think another question worthy of reflecting upon is, What does it mean to Jesus for us to receive the Eucharist?  This past Holy Thursday, I was struck with this question and the awareness that came from it.  For Jesus, it means everything!  Jesus loved his disciples to the very end and even as he accepted the will of the Father to walk to Calvary and the cross, he so wanted to remain with his friends.   His giving the Eucharist is his remaining with us.  Jesus is that greatest of friends who truly wants to remain with us, to be with us.  In the Eucharist, he gives himself to us.  What does it mean to Jesus?  I think it means everything. 

One further thought.  The Church teaches that it is a sin to miss Sunday Mass – a sin that must be confessed.  The Church also teaches that the Eucharist should be received at least once a year.  The Eucharist can be received more often and should if possible but at least once a year.  Holding these teachings together, the Church is telling us about the importance of the Eucharist as well as the importance of coming together, gathering together in worship.  Being community and church is important.  I share this because I believe that we are living in an epidemic of isolation.  People are more and more isolated from one another and because of this bad things are happening.  Studies are coming forward that are demonstrating that the more isolated a person is the less quality of life and quantity of life that person has. 

It is important to be Church.  It is important to receive the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity.  The Eucharist calls us together and this is truly needed in our lives and in our times.  Are we who gather for worship perfect?  No.  Do we have a perfect friend in Jesus?  Yes.  And for our friend it means everything that we receive and welcome him in the Eucharist – his very body and his very blood.    

How to handle Calumny

11 Monday Mar 2024

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In his recent homily (found on Word on Fire) for the third Sunday of Lent, Bishop Robert Barron offers succinct reflections on each of the Ten Commandments.  He rightly (I believe) connects the breaking of the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” with the sin of calumny.  Calumny, the willful spreading of false statements about another person in order to damage their reputation, is rife within our society and given safe haven, it seems, especially on social media.  Bishop Barron, both in his insight as a theologian and pioneer in ministry via social media, is in a unique vantage point to note this besetting sin of our age and to call it out.  Which he does. 

The point of reflection for this post is how are we to handle calumny when it comes our way?  Which, more than likely, it will at some point or even points within our lives.  I offer four thoughts for consideration. 

First, be grateful.  Yes, it’s a paradox but we have a God who delights in paradox and frankly, life if full of paradoxes.  The silver lining in the dark cloud of calumny is that you quickly learn who your true friends are.  “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that has found one has found a treasure” (Sirach 6:14).  Isn’t it best to know where the sturdy shelter is during a time of turmoil than be left out in the cold by false friends who turn away from you just because of something they have heard or something that they suppose to be true about you which is not?  Calumny can actually clear the weeds of false friendship out of one’s life which makes the true, faithful friend all the more apparent and valued.  Being receptive to the lies of calumny also demonstrates a profound lack of intelligence.  Judging another person because of what others say before even knowing the person oneself or even choosing to believe lies about another person rather than one’s own experience of the person is intellectual sloth, plain and simple.  Who wants a stupid friend?  There is a silver lining. 

Second, be civil.  If calumny is a besetting sin of our time, if there are victims of calumny then that means there are perpetrators of calumny.  I call them “wormtongues” after the pathetic character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”.  (Grima Wormtongue is the court official who whispered lies into the ears of King Theoden in order to steal away life and keep the king paralyzed in doubt.)  Wormtongues lack true moral authority and courage (think of internet trolls) and they think that the way to build themselves up is to tear other persons down.  Don’t sink to the level or actions of wormtongues.  Don’t be naïve to them or their machinations, know them for who they are, but be civil in the face of their incivility.  Choosing to respond civilly even in the face of hostility and lies is an act of moral courage and strength.  Be civil. 

Be faithful.  Here we encounter a deep mystery of our faith.  Not only do we have a God who is Truth and who calls us to live in truth in our relationships and to not bear false witness but we have a God who also fully endured the scourge of calumny himself.  Jesus, throughout his ministry, had to endure the whispers of lies and doubts about who he was and his true motives.  “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” (Mt. 9:34) This whispering became a consistent and hellish roar directed straight at our Lord throughout his passion from the agony in the garden and the running away of the disciples to the mocking of the soldiers during the scourging to the crowd calling for his death to insults even as he hung on the cross, “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Mt. 27:40).  Jesus knows full well the pain of calumny. 

Here is a spiritual exercise for those times when one is experiencing the pain of calumny: pray over a Gospel passage where Jesus is enduring the pain of calumny, place yourself in the scene and just be there as faithful friend for our Lord.  We cannot take the pain away, but Jesus so values our presence and our friendship.  Just be there in that moment as friend for Jesus.  Graces will come from that prayer. 

Finally, be open to leaving by knowing your fixed point.  Throughout his ministry, Jesus moved from town to town, sometimes because he knew that forces were aligning against him and lies were being told but that his hour had not yet come.   Throughout all this movement, Jesus always remained rooted in his relationship with the Father.  His relationship with the Father was his fixed point.  When we know our fixed point everything else becomes secondary.  As Christians, our fixed point is that each of us is a beloved child of God with a dignity and worth.  If this is not being respected, if lies are being told, then we have the freedom to move on from a particular group and its relationships, from a specific social setting and even from a certain location.  Knowing our fixed point brings a freedom that the sin of calumny cannot overcome. 

Calumny is a sin and it is a besetting sin of our time.  It is a sin that will probably come our way in one form or another but it can be endured with dignity and grace and we can know that our Lord, who himself endured the pain of calumny, walks with us in friendship and that this too shall pass.    

Finally, if you are a wormtongue, if you are a perpetrator of calumny, stop it.  You are breaking the Eighth Commandment which is a sin before God for which you will be held accountable.  You are tearing your brother and sister down; you are helping to tear our society apart and you are demeaning yourself in the process and that is pathetic.  Don’t be a wormtongue.  There is no dignity in being a wormtongue.    

Blessings – a reflection on “Fiducia supplicans”

06 Saturday Jan 2024

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Christ healing woman with a flow of blood. Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter. Rome, 4th century. Image may be subject to copyright. 

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.  She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had.  Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.  She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.  She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”  Immediately her flow of blood dried up.  She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.  Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”  But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”  And he looked around to see who had done it.  The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling.  She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.  He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”  (Mk. 5:25-34)

There has been a lot of talk about blessings in the Catholic Church these past few weeks since the issuance of Fiducia supplicans.  The concern seems to center upon what is the nature of a blessing and is every blessing offered by a member of the clergy a tacit sign of approval of the supplicant’s state of life, in particular couples in irregular situations.    

My reading of the document as well as the recent clarification issued is that no, every blessing offered is not a sign of approval and (this is what I find freeing about the declaration) it does not weigh upon the clergy to determine a person’s precise moral state when offering a “pastoral” blessing as opposed to a blessing given in a liturgical context. 

When a couple comes forward to get married in the Catholic Church there is a process of determining the couples’ freedom to enter into marriage as well as their readiness and this is appropriate as that sacramental celebration is tied to our Church’s teaching about the nature of marriage.  Liturgical blessings carry the weight of the Church’s teaching and are public in nature so, yes, it is on the church’s minister to ensure that blessings offered in a liturgical context are not in contradiction to the teaching of the Church. 

But blessings offered in a liturgical context are not the only type of blessing.  This is the key distinction offered by Fiducia supplicans.  Pastoral blessings which, the declaration specifies, are more private in nature and occur in the moment, do not carry the same weight of responsibility upon the clergy.  As I have read the declaration, the recent clarification and differing commentary I have been drawn to the gospel passage shared above.  It was a very public moment – the crowd was pressing in upon Jesus.  Our Lord knew nothing about the lady and her state in life.  Her faith and trust merited the outpouring of blessing and healing and our Lord confirms this, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

A couple of days before Fiducia supplicans was issued,I was in the neighborhood Lowe’s store in search of bird seed.  At one point, gawking in front of the plethora of Christmas yard art decorations, I was approached by a woman with a small child.  The woman, in broken English, asked for a blessing.  I had never met this woman.  I did not have to ask about her state in life.  I did not have to ask about her marital status nor did I ask if she was in a state of grace.  Standing in the aisle at Lowe’s, I responded to her request and I prayed a simple blessing.  It was certainly a public space but also a very private moment – a simple blessing that I think went unnoticed by the other shoppers milling about.   

The distinction in blessings made by Fiducia supplicans is valid and it is also freeing.  It is not on the clergy, in that moment, to have to carry the weight of judge rather, it is enough to be a humble believer and shepherd.  Might pastoral blessings and their true intent be misused?  Possibly, but any misuse does not necessarily discredit the valid request and the valid giving of a pastoral blessing – a cry for God’s mercy. 

I understand that these thoughts are written in the context of U.S. culture with the freedoms that we enjoy and value and that there are different contexts in different cultures that clergy need to honestly weigh out and consider.  God’s blessings and guidance upon those shepherds as they strive to care for the flock entrusted to their care.

There are moments for the clergy to be judge, safeguarding what the Church treasures.  Fiducia supplicans affirms this but the declaration also teaches that there are moments for the clergy to be fellow believers themselves who are also shepherds trusting in the abundant mercy of a God who works in ways we cannot even imagine.