The above statement is one that we hear too many times in society. It is the times that it goes left unsaid but is acted upon that is really disheartening. “It’s just religion, or faith, or church” is born from an understanding that matters of spirituality are to be easy, enabling, and unobtrusive in our lives. Faith, especially the study and practice thereof, are regulated to a low priority. It is a co-opting of the culture in which we live that marginalizes faith altogether; a culture that Dr. Stephen Carter called “The Culture of Disbelief” . This culture has thrown God out of our public institutions. God is not allowed in our public schools. He is not allowed in the public square. This has gone on for so long that most Americans have also pushed Him out of their lives. What happens? We get the gratingly inane “I am not religious, I’m spiritual” (aka : “I do what I want and God will have to just rubber stamp it…I don’t take orders from God or some church…I give them“) Take a look at what is happening in our country. Watch it crumbling. It is nothing new. In the Old Testament, Israel rotted from within as it pushed God to the periphery. They relied on their wealth and power (sound familiar?) and pushed God’s protecting hand aside. Without that protection, they fell apart, were crushed by their enemies, and all the power and wealth in the world could not save them. We are on that same path. Did our power and military might spare us 9/11 or the two subsequent wars that happened as a result? Did our wealth stave off this prolonged recession? Push God away and we push His protection away!
What is true in the macrocosm of society is equally as true in the microcosm of our parish and our families. Our pursuit of the secular has practically wiped out the pursuit of the eternal. All too often the pursuit of the eternal is regulated to one hour (or shorter) on Sunday. That is only if something else doesn’t crowd it out. Education? That’s another subject altogether. If we think that 4-5 hours of religion class, IF the child goes to Catholic school, and 1 hour if they don’t, suffices for their training, then we are fooling ourselves and essentially answering a good part of the reason why our youth lose interest and wander away in disturbingly large numbers. It’s hard to have a deep abiding relationship with someone you barely know. Is there any parent who believes 1 hour of science a week suffices to help their child? How about 1 hour of math? How about one hour of spelling? Or English? Or History? How then, is one hour in class enough when it comes to the teachings of our faith? Of course not! Let me go one step further. Religion ’class’ is not like other classes. In the other classes, we are not giving them information so that they can have a personal relationship with math, science, or any of the other disciplines. In religion class, or PSR, or confirmation ‘class’ we are more about telling them how God has revealed Himself over the ages so that He might be known, served, and loved at least to some degree to which He knows, serves, and loves us. In all of these ‘classes’ we are dispensing knowledge so as to lead to a relationship with God. Just because ‘it’s only religion’ does not mean we can give it a minimal effort.
Our Christian development and education do not end once we have ceased ‘classes’. If they do, then we can expect nothing but a minimalist attitude towards faith and the application of faith to our daily lives and on how we set priorities in our lives. “It’s only religion”. whether spoken or unspoken, will lead to an eventual turning away from the faith. We cannot reject that relationship with God here and now and expect that somehow all will be just peachy in the afterlife.
So what does this mean? Let us start with what is the parish’s responsibility. The parish has a responsibility to provide the material, the teachers, the time, the space to help parents teach their children how to develop that relationship with God. The parish has a responsibility to make sure the materials and solid and truthful. It is our job to provide opportunities. However, as I said during the homily on Good Shepherd Sunday , while it is my responsibility to make sure that the fields the flock are nourishing from are the fields of the Lord, I cannot make anyone attend anything. You have to want it because you recognize the necessity for a deep abiding relationship with God and the equally pressing need to pass on that same fire to your children. We have provided classes for our youth in both the parochial and public schools (in which under the best of circumstances we can only show them the tip of the iceberg), for our high school students in confirmation.
We tried to provide classes for our Freshman and Seniors. Both failed because of lack of participation from the youth who had other things to do. I have provided most Wednesdays to have adult education. I used top notch programs and books. I am no slouch as a teacher. The response was minimal at best. I am offering a bible study using, again, top notch material. 21 people out of 400+ families we have this parish signed up. Am I to believe that the other 400+ families are biblical experts who know the Bible so well and are able to defend their faith so well that they do not need help? We brought in one of the foremost speakers on evangelization this Spring when Patrick Madrid came in. Fewer than 80 parishioners showed. Am I to believe that all the others know their faith so well and are so practiced at evangelization that they didn’t need help? We have a well stocked parish library by the women’s restroom in the back of Church, it has been there for over a year. I have stocked it with solid materials, surrendering hundreds of books from my private library, all in the hopes of providing educational resources for my parishioners. I have repeatedly spoke about the opportunities we have in the diocese for our youth to spend a week coming to know that relationship with God better. The same goes for the Mission trip. The response has been underwhelming. If it seems I am complaining a bit, I am. It seems like there is always something else to do…some class…some sport…some practice…some game…something else that is more important on the food chain of our lives. We are trying to live up to our responsibilities to provide both material and opportunity. This is a common problem in all parishes!
What is your responsibility? To respond positively. To admit that we need help in understanding. To purge this horrid ‘it’s just religion’ when it comes to how we respond, how our youth respond, and each sets their hierarchy of priorities. After all, it isn’t just religion, it’s our eternal relationship with God in the balance. Relationships take time and effort, they challenge to change for the better. If God doesn’t say ‘it’s only humanity’ when it comes to us, how can we say ‘it’s only religion’ when it comes to Him
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
I Assume it will continue: Parents and Catholic Formation of Youth
I Assume It Will Continue
This week school ends for the summer. Our students will hopefully spend more time with their first and best teachers of the ways of the faith: their parents. There are values and matters of faith that we have tried to instill so as to help parents build more on the foundations they set with their children. It is my expectation as a pastor that those lessons of faith continue to be practiced:
1) In this school, we have taught your students the centrality of the Eucharist in the identity of a Catholic. We have had mass most weeks 3 times with your child. In those masses, I have spent hours teaching your children the basics of the Catholic faith and how those teachings concretely apply towards how they live. While I do not expect that they will continue to come to weekday mass, it is my expectation that they do on Sundays and Holy Days as per the teachings of the Church. We had, most months, time for your children to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration, again to stress the importance and centrality of the Eucharist in our lives. We do have an Eucharistic Adoration chapel where you as a parent can continue this work and bring your child before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at your convenience. I assume that they preeminence of the Eucharist in your child’s life will continue to be taught and modeled by your own behavior.
2) In this school, we have taught them the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and its central role in maintaining a healthy Catholic identity. Most months, we had time set aside for your child to go to Confession so that their spiritual lives might be continually bolstered by the grace of God. I will assume that these lessons and the practice thereof will be continued to be taught and modeled by those who promised to do so when they willingly brought their child to be baptized. I will assume that the life of repentance and grace will continue.
3) In this school, we have taught your child the importance of prayer. The day is speckled with prayer in the individual classrooms, together as a student body, and in the already aforementioned times provided for your child to pray. Prayer is also part of that central core of catholic identity. It is my assumption that parents will continue this by praying together as a family and encouraging their children to a deeper prayer life and practice of the faith.
4) In this school, we have taught your children the importance of a devotion to the Blessed Mother and in following her example of faith. Your child prayed the Angelus after lunch everyday. Your child prayed the rosary. These are among the ways we tried to teach and model this central aspect of Catholic identity. I can only assume that their primary teachers, the parents, will live up to the responsibility they took upon themselves at their child’s baptism.
5) The teachings of the Church we have taught in their religion classes. It should not be limited to there. It is primarily the parents duty to teach these things as they do teach other parts of the identity that children have. We have a large parish library. I am investing a good chunk of this parish’s money in expanding that library to now include books aimed at children and teens; books about the lives of the saints and how to be a better Catholic. I will be teaching a 24 part series on the Sacred Scriptures every Wednesday through the summer. We are offering Vacation Bible School, a youth mission trip, Christpower, Camp Maccabee, Camp Siena as ways of bolstering the lessons learned in the classroom. I can only assume, again, that those parents who have taken the responsibility of raising their children in the ways of the faith, as they said they would during their child’s baptism, will joyfully make use of these things to bolster their child’s faith and make it a priority, not allowing other pursuits (some worthy, some not) to crowd out such time and effort. I can only assume that those parents for whom Catholic identity is important will joyfully make use of these things for themselves in order to help them become better teachers and help their children become better Catholics.
5) In this school and other education programs we have taught them the importance of selfless service. Anyone who heard me preach more than for 5 seconds knows that I place a premium on such service as it shows an imitation of the life of Jesus Christ. I can only assume that parents will bolster this life of selfless Christian service by the volunteering they do both within the parish and with other charitable entities.
Please do not think I am being too forward with assuming all this or that this a poor attempt at sarcasm or complaint. We do what we do in education systems to bolster the religious training that is started and modeled within the family. I understand the Church’s teachings on the nature of the Church and what she has to say about its most basic building block, the domestic church, also known as the family.
Several weeks back I reminded parents that they have the God given responsibility of being shepherds who lead those entrusted by God to them in the ways of the Good Shepherd. Parents should be at least as attentive to the spiritual development of those placed in their care as they are the academic and physical development of their child. If it seems I am being pushy about this, I am. The stakes are far too high, both in this life and in the life to come, for the spiritual development of our youth not to be the priority it needs to be. I can promise you I will continue to be insistent on this matter.
The development of our youth into the next group of shepherds is a high priority for me. It needs to be an high priority for all have the role of shepherd for the next generation. The elements of prayer, education, service, and sacramental involvement are all necessary to produce not just shepherds, but good shepherds. As I told the kids at the last school Mass of the year: They are taking a few months off from school, not their faith.
This week school ends for the summer. Our students will hopefully spend more time with their first and best teachers of the ways of the faith: their parents. There are values and matters of faith that we have tried to instill so as to help parents build more on the foundations they set with their children. It is my expectation as a pastor that those lessons of faith continue to be practiced:
1) In this school, we have taught your students the centrality of the Eucharist in the identity of a Catholic. We have had mass most weeks 3 times with your child. In those masses, I have spent hours teaching your children the basics of the Catholic faith and how those teachings concretely apply towards how they live. While I do not expect that they will continue to come to weekday mass, it is my expectation that they do on Sundays and Holy Days as per the teachings of the Church. We had, most months, time for your children to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration, again to stress the importance and centrality of the Eucharist in our lives. We do have an Eucharistic Adoration chapel where you as a parent can continue this work and bring your child before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at your convenience. I assume that they preeminence of the Eucharist in your child’s life will continue to be taught and modeled by your own behavior.
2) In this school, we have taught them the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and its central role in maintaining a healthy Catholic identity. Most months, we had time set aside for your child to go to Confession so that their spiritual lives might be continually bolstered by the grace of God. I will assume that these lessons and the practice thereof will be continued to be taught and modeled by those who promised to do so when they willingly brought their child to be baptized. I will assume that the life of repentance and grace will continue.
3) In this school, we have taught your child the importance of prayer. The day is speckled with prayer in the individual classrooms, together as a student body, and in the already aforementioned times provided for your child to pray. Prayer is also part of that central core of catholic identity. It is my assumption that parents will continue this by praying together as a family and encouraging their children to a deeper prayer life and practice of the faith.
4) In this school, we have taught your children the importance of a devotion to the Blessed Mother and in following her example of faith. Your child prayed the Angelus after lunch everyday. Your child prayed the rosary. These are among the ways we tried to teach and model this central aspect of Catholic identity. I can only assume that their primary teachers, the parents, will live up to the responsibility they took upon themselves at their child’s baptism.
5) The teachings of the Church we have taught in their religion classes. It should not be limited to there. It is primarily the parents duty to teach these things as they do teach other parts of the identity that children have. We have a large parish library. I am investing a good chunk of this parish’s money in expanding that library to now include books aimed at children and teens; books about the lives of the saints and how to be a better Catholic. I will be teaching a 24 part series on the Sacred Scriptures every Wednesday through the summer. We are offering Vacation Bible School, a youth mission trip, Christpower, Camp Maccabee, Camp Siena as ways of bolstering the lessons learned in the classroom. I can only assume, again, that those parents who have taken the responsibility of raising their children in the ways of the faith, as they said they would during their child’s baptism, will joyfully make use of these things to bolster their child’s faith and make it a priority, not allowing other pursuits (some worthy, some not) to crowd out such time and effort. I can only assume that those parents for whom Catholic identity is important will joyfully make use of these things for themselves in order to help them become better teachers and help their children become better Catholics.
5) In this school and other education programs we have taught them the importance of selfless service. Anyone who heard me preach more than for 5 seconds knows that I place a premium on such service as it shows an imitation of the life of Jesus Christ. I can only assume that parents will bolster this life of selfless Christian service by the volunteering they do both within the parish and with other charitable entities.
Please do not think I am being too forward with assuming all this or that this a poor attempt at sarcasm or complaint. We do what we do in education systems to bolster the religious training that is started and modeled within the family. I understand the Church’s teachings on the nature of the Church and what she has to say about its most basic building block, the domestic church, also known as the family.
Several weeks back I reminded parents that they have the God given responsibility of being shepherds who lead those entrusted by God to them in the ways of the Good Shepherd. Parents should be at least as attentive to the spiritual development of those placed in their care as they are the academic and physical development of their child. If it seems I am being pushy about this, I am. The stakes are far too high, both in this life and in the life to come, for the spiritual development of our youth not to be the priority it needs to be. I can promise you I will continue to be insistent on this matter.
The development of our youth into the next group of shepherds is a high priority for me. It needs to be an high priority for all have the role of shepherd for the next generation. The elements of prayer, education, service, and sacramental involvement are all necessary to produce not just shepherds, but good shepherds. As I told the kids at the last school Mass of the year: They are taking a few months off from school, not their faith.
Friday, April 6, 2012
So you hate bullies, do you?
I was watching a story on an upcoming movie, "Bully" and it was saying how 18 million kids are bullied this year (that we know of). It is a sad indictment on this country, but where does it come from? Did 20th -21st Century kids invent bullying? No, it has been around as long as humanity as been. Bullying is part of the human condition as long as there exists one person who out of selfish motivations needs to feel as if they are superior to another. The bully needs to be number one. They need to be the center of attention. They will get that attention any way they can. Maybe it is by gossiping or verbally running down another person. Maybe it is by exposing another person's faults while ignoring their own. Maybe it is by making blanket statements about entire groups. Maybe it is joining a group and using intimidation to get one's way. Maybe it is physical attacks. However it happens, it is ugly. It has one focus, to quiet, bring into submission and , if necessary, destroy anyone that gets in the way of them. Now, with the internet and 24/7 TV, Facebook and other social media, bullying has found all new avenues beyond grade school taunts. It is easy to focus on the bullying that children do to one another. It is sad to see a crying child or a scared child. There is something in good people that wants to see such things stop. However, the kids are mimicking behavior they already see. You want to stop children from bullying? Then you better start with their teachers...the adults who model and revel in the behavior. That is a tall order as it is so pervasive in our society.
Let's start with politics. Politics has become more and more an exercise in sheer bullying. Ad hominum attacks are as common as milkweed pollen. Politicians, political pundits, and entertainers make their stock in trade on it. For example, I am not one who thinks that Sarah Palin is presidential material, but the way she was personally savaged was disgusting. Worse yet, the attacks on her children, including her infant son with Down's Syndrome, were unbelievably gross. If one wants to disagree with her views, that is fine. Knowledgeable adults should be able to rationally debate ideas. Personal attacks are a sure sign of a lack of knowledge. People laughed at these horrible jokes and attacks and said she and her family were fair game as they entered the public arena. Would you like to guess why a lot of good people want nothing to do with politics or refuse to run for office? Smear campaigns are just another version of adult bullying. Whether that comes in the form of a conservative radio show host publicly calling a college student a slut or a late night 'comedian' referring to female conservative politicians as words I just refuse to even use...it is bullying either way. If the radio host commentator wanted to debate the testimony of the college student...fine..that is challenging an idea. If the late night 'comedian' wants to debate the politics of these women...fine. Name-calling is a form of bullying. It is also in politicians who paint entire groups with disparaging names, make blanket (and mostly false) statements about the other political party, presume to know the motivation of someone else, and use tragedies to their advantage to push their agenda (and call their opponents heartless). It is political activists who see intimidation and other bullying tactics as fair game in pushing ahead their agenda. Our kids see this. They hear it. They see it glorified in the media and lionized by pundits.
How about the way we entertain ourselves? Why do we laugh when a person is mocked in the entertainment industry? Why do we allow stereotypes to carry the day? Whether it is the starlet who is getting raked over the coals because of her outfit, or the person made fun of because they are too thin or too fat, or the actor who made a big mistake, or the singer who had a meltdown after years of harassment from the paparazzi? How about the hate filled statements directed at certain groups and the return fire sometimes offered back? Watch you favorite TV show and see the stereotypes and bullying fly! Our kids watch these shows and know certain groups can be called anything and everything and it not only considered fair game but as hugely entertaining as well. How many of our shows, music, video games, and such encourage aggression against weaker people? If we really want to keep our kids from bullying, then perhaps we should quit feeding them a steady diet of it!
We cannot be selective about which bullies have to quit bullying. We can't say the kids have to quit but the adults can continue. We can't say that bullying needs to stop unless the bully agrees with my positions or makes me laugh. We can't say it is okay to bully some people but not others. We can disagree about issues and even agree to disagree. That is fine. But we do not need to personally attack to win. My Catholic faith (as it is 'on paper' and not as it is sometimes practiced) tells me that every single person must have their dignity respected, even if we disagree. I can say this or that action is good or bad, but I cannot make the jump to saying therefore the person/s who do such are evil. That is not my call. On this Good Friday, when we see that God was much more interested in saving us than attacking us, maybe learning the lessons of Christ are that important.
Let's start with politics. Politics has become more and more an exercise in sheer bullying. Ad hominum attacks are as common as milkweed pollen. Politicians, political pundits, and entertainers make their stock in trade on it. For example, I am not one who thinks that Sarah Palin is presidential material, but the way she was personally savaged was disgusting. Worse yet, the attacks on her children, including her infant son with Down's Syndrome, were unbelievably gross. If one wants to disagree with her views, that is fine. Knowledgeable adults should be able to rationally debate ideas. Personal attacks are a sure sign of a lack of knowledge. People laughed at these horrible jokes and attacks and said she and her family were fair game as they entered the public arena. Would you like to guess why a lot of good people want nothing to do with politics or refuse to run for office? Smear campaigns are just another version of adult bullying. Whether that comes in the form of a conservative radio show host publicly calling a college student a slut or a late night 'comedian' referring to female conservative politicians as words I just refuse to even use...it is bullying either way. If the radio host commentator wanted to debate the testimony of the college student...fine..that is challenging an idea. If the late night 'comedian' wants to debate the politics of these women...fine. Name-calling is a form of bullying. It is also in politicians who paint entire groups with disparaging names, make blanket (and mostly false) statements about the other political party, presume to know the motivation of someone else, and use tragedies to their advantage to push their agenda (and call their opponents heartless). It is political activists who see intimidation and other bullying tactics as fair game in pushing ahead their agenda. Our kids see this. They hear it. They see it glorified in the media and lionized by pundits.
How about the way we entertain ourselves? Why do we laugh when a person is mocked in the entertainment industry? Why do we allow stereotypes to carry the day? Whether it is the starlet who is getting raked over the coals because of her outfit, or the person made fun of because they are too thin or too fat, or the actor who made a big mistake, or the singer who had a meltdown after years of harassment from the paparazzi? How about the hate filled statements directed at certain groups and the return fire sometimes offered back? Watch you favorite TV show and see the stereotypes and bullying fly! Our kids watch these shows and know certain groups can be called anything and everything and it not only considered fair game but as hugely entertaining as well. How many of our shows, music, video games, and such encourage aggression against weaker people? If we really want to keep our kids from bullying, then perhaps we should quit feeding them a steady diet of it!
We cannot be selective about which bullies have to quit bullying. We can't say the kids have to quit but the adults can continue. We can't say that bullying needs to stop unless the bully agrees with my positions or makes me laugh. We can't say it is okay to bully some people but not others. We can disagree about issues and even agree to disagree. That is fine. But we do not need to personally attack to win. My Catholic faith (as it is 'on paper' and not as it is sometimes practiced) tells me that every single person must have their dignity respected, even if we disagree. I can say this or that action is good or bad, but I cannot make the jump to saying therefore the person/s who do such are evil. That is not my call. On this Good Friday, when we see that God was much more interested in saving us than attacking us, maybe learning the lessons of Christ are that important.
My Thoughts on Good Friday
Why is the cross necessary? Because man refuses God’s love. We sin. We do awful things to one another. We heap inhumanity upon inhumanity. Each act is an act of rebellion against God, who created us for so much more and better. In our selfishness, we rebel against God. Justice would demand that the fitting penalty for rebellion be served, namely death. If justice were not served, there would be no purpose to not sinning; if we were to receive an a reward independent of our actions, then our actions would mean nothing and our need to promote good would be non-existent. No loving God would bring us into existence just for his amusement of watching us suffer and beat each other as if creation were no more than God’s Coliseum to watch us suffer in some sick gladiatorial engagement. No. Quite the opposite, our faith tells us it grieves God when we heap our selfishness upon each other, and deep in our hearts we feel that same distress and pain in watching man’s inhumanity to each other. How could God allow into heaven such a rebellious species? Would we not rebel in heaven as we rebel on earth?
Since God refuses to give up on his creation, but also knows that justice demands punishment for our rebellion, He sends His only Son to give us a new way of life knowing full well that His words would sting our ears. Where man had rebelled against God, now man would rebel against the world. In Christ, Jesus redeems us and foments a rebellion against the world and its master, the devil. He dies the execution method of a rebel in Roman times, crucifixion…a death so horrific that it would make people think twice about rebelling. The fury of the world knows no mercy and brought that fury down in full force against Jesus. In the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”, the one scene that is scorched into my mind more than any other is the scourging. Jesus is first caned. Welts and blood cover Him as He is beaten to the ground. The Romans laugh as they make sport of Jesus, thinking Him defeated. Then He does something…He stands up…an act of rebellious defiance against the world. The Romans become enraged and bring out the cat-of-nine-tails (a whip with 9 ends, each with a razor on the end) and brutally beat Jesus within an inch of His life. The whipping is halted lest Jesus dies before he makes it to the cross. It occurs to me that each blow Jesus takes in our stead, so loathsome is our rebellion to a loving God. He willingly does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. The offering of His Body and Blood at the Last Supper would earlier that day would know come to its bloody zenith.
In his DVD series “Catholicism”, Fr Robert Barron stands in a church in France and reflects on very old altarpiece of the crucifixion. Its depiction is painful to see, but Fr Barron makes a point of saying that this is a portrait of the happiest man to ever live. It is striking when he says it. He is absolutely correct, though. On the Cross, we see a man victorious. Satan could not deter Him by temptations towards worldly honor, worldly wealth, worldly power, nor worldly pleasure from the Cross. On the Cross, Jesus soundly refutes these temptations and conquers them. By His obedience, man no longer need be a slave to worldly pleasure, power, wealth, or honor…instead he can freed from such things and thus open to so much greater with God. When Jesus says, “It is finished’, they are not the words of a defeated would be king, but the words or a victorious king…one who has come to do exactly what he was sent to do. This is why Good Friday takes its name. Jesus pays the price for our transgressions and thus breaks any hold Satan would have on us. In the death of Jesus, we are set free.
Thus the last act of Good Friday: will we live as men and women set free from the hold of worldly power, wealth, honor, and pleasure? Will we turn our backs on rebellion and choose to freely love? Will we live the life of Christ? We live in a world pockmarked by selfishness: every act of bullying, of greed, of envy, of disrespect for the integrity of another person, every act that rips away another’s dignity, of lust, of wrath...all proof that man still will reach out to be enslaved by the world. Will we forge our own chains of slavery or allow the death of Christ free us from such chains. Through the actions of Good Friday, we remind ourselves that we are created and meant for so much greater than this world can promise…let us embrace that Cross and by it be freed from rebellion, be freed from selfishness, and share in the victory of He who conquers it! A Blessed Good Friday to all.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thoughts on Holy Thursday
Today we begin the Sacred Triduum, those three days when we focus upon the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It begins with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper this evening. This Mass celebrates the two sacraments founded on that night of the Lord’s Supper: Holy Orders and Eucharist, thus tying them intimately together. Both flow from the same base: agape, that is, self-giving and self-sacrificing love. Both are bound in the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
Holy Orders are founded at the last supper in both the command to the Apostles ‘to do this memory of me’ and in washing their feet and its attendant command to ‘as I have done for you, you should do for others.’ Both of these lead to the same point about the ordained priesthood in that it is to be a life of selfless service by which that first Eucharist is both made present and forcefully lived to the purpose for which it is given. I shall back to Holy Orders in a moment, for to understand the reason for Holy Orders is to understand the Eucharist first.
In the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, the Last Supper is the Passover meal. In the Gospel of John, the Bread of Life discourse (John 6) is placed deliberately in proximity to the Passover. Why? If we go back to the Passover, what happens? Moses and the people of Israel are commanded to sacrifice a spotless lamb, mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood, eat the lamb with proscribed dishes, and to do this on the night when God would strike the House of Egypt for its enslavement and cruelty to the people of Israel. The blood redeemed the first born in that household. That very day (remember, Jews measure days from sunset to sunset, not midnight to midnight) Israel would be freed from its enslavement and start its long journey to the promised land. In the instructions for the meal, God tells Moses that the people of Israel are to do this as a perpetual remembrance (zachar) so that every age of Jews throughout time might perpetually receive the same freedom and direct help from God as did those Jews around their tables in Egypt as long ago. To this day when Jews celebrate the Passover, they do not view what they do as a re-enactment of the first Passover, but as a direct participation in the only Passover. If we do not understand this very basic understanding the Passover, then we will not understand the Eucharist.
Recall what John the Baptist refers to Jesus as: the Lamb of God. Fully human and fully divine, He is the spotless lamb to be sacrificed as a redemption for humanity. No more than the lamb in the Passover sacrifice had done anything meriting death had Jesus done anything meriting death or punishment. Yet, just as the Passover lamb takes upon itself the sins of the firstborn deserving death, so the sacrifice of Jesus takes upon Himself the sins of humanity and suffers the death we have merited. In both cases, eternal justice is served. But as in the Passover sacrifice the lamb wasn’t merely slaughtered then chucked to the side, but was consumed instead, so the Lamb of God is not merely chucked aside but is consumed as well. Why? The sacrifice was not finished until the sacrifice and the one for whom it was sacrificed were literally one and thus the one for who the sacrifice had been sacrificed could attain the benefits of the sacrifice. Without the consumption of the sacrificial victim, the purpose of the sacrifice was in vain. This is why in John 6, Jesus says, ‘Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life within you! Why say something so bold and then give us no way of fulfilling this teaching?
We turn to Mathew, Mark, and Luke for that answer. In their passages, we see how Jesus intends for the bold proclamation in John to be fulfilled. He takes two very common elements in both the Passover meal and in Jewish life: unleavened bread and wine. He then proclaims the bread to be His Body and the wine to be His Blood. These are rather dramatic statements. He takes the bread of a people in flight (unleavened) and proclaims it His Body. Why? Unless those who follow Christ could partake of His Body they would have no benefit from the sacrifice of the Cross and hence no life. He then takes wine and proclaims it as it Blood, for the same reason. His Blood would seal this new covenant relationship which gives us access to eternal life. Had Jesus meant that the bread and wine were symbols or representative of His Body and Blood, then would He have not said as much? He doesn’t though. This IS my Body, this IS my Blood. Later that day he would be sacrificed on the Cross. Now we have the ability, through Christ, to participate directly in the one sacrifice of the Cross for as many times as we would need it. If we are honest, we need that grace as many times as we can get it, certainly at least once a week! How sad it is that anyone would see participation in the Eucharist as an uninteresting chore and infringement on their time! Our participation in the Eucharist is our thankful response that Christ poured Himself out for us so that we might both have the grace necessary to trudge through this life and have access to eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven! The Eucharist is part of that firm foundation on which our hope and peace lay. The Eucharist is the power source for the life of a Catholic!
We have the elements for this to happen, but the person is necessary as well. There has to be a person who can act in the Person of Christ so that the bread and wine we have can also become the Body and Blood of Christ. The Scriptures always had men set apart who were selected to be the mediator between God and His people. Hebrews reminds us that Christ Himself becomes that mediator. Yet He charges his Apostles at the Last Supper to ’do this in memory of me.’ This charge was given to a very specific group. The New Testament lest us know that this group of apostles and their successors, bishops, would be charged with the responsibility of making present to every age the Eucharist and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. This is the basis of Holy Orders, the fullness of which is in the Bishop, and then to a lesser extent to his priests. They are set apart , even changed on the most base level of their being (soul) so that they can be the spiritual conduit by which the Body and Blood become really present. Hence, the less priests there are, the less access to the Eucharist there is. But the priest is more than a sacramental dispensing machine. He is to be a witness…a profound witness. That witness is to be not towards power…but towards service.
In John, Jesus washes the feet of His apostles. In the time of Jesus, this was a bit scandalous. Feet, in his time, were seen as the dirtiest part of the body and more often than not were. Not only was the task of the foot washing of guest considered the chore of a servant and not a master, it was the job of the lowliest of servants. In washing the feet of His Apostles, Jesus shows them the depths of service; a service which will be given even more powerfully upon the cross. Jesus did not want His apostles to be the greatest and most powerful of overlords, but the most profound of servants. They were to follow His example (“As I have done for you, so you should do for others”) and thus give example to all followers of the life of selfless service every baptized person is called to be! At ordination, we are not ordained and changed so that we might be overlords, petty monarchs, or despots. We are to be of service as Christ was. This is the foundation of Holy Orders, seeking to serve instead of being served.
But this life of service is not restricted to clergy. It is to be embraced by all and anyone who calls themselves a Catholic. In our society, living a selfless life in wholly contrary to this culture and is, in fact, counter-cultural. Each of us is to model our life on Christ. Could you imagine just how different life would be?!
This the big question is this: “How do I mimic the selflessness of Jesus Christ that we celebrate this Holy Thursday? Does it get me out of my living room and to the Church this evening? Does it help me prioritize? How can I say I selflessly serve? There are always new chances if one has failed to this point…which is why we celebrate what we celebrate over and over again. As long as we draw breath, we can change more and more to what we are called to be. May God bless us all on this Holy Thursday.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
You Like Me, You Really Like Me!...or maybe not
Then, just off the heels of this epiphany came the sexual revolution. We might have had problems with this or that teaching of the Church, but now we were free to just let loose. What better way than to fornicate like bunnies and feel no tinge to that nasty old conscience! We could contracept our way into a new and freeing existence of all the benefits of marriage without having to marry. Women were told that marriage and family life weighed them down anyway, but why chuck that ball and chain and have to miss sex?! When that stodgy old Pope Paul VI put out Humanae Vitae..well we just had in black and white just how out of it the Church was. It wasn't just lay people either. Many of those priests and sisters who stayed, after so many left, adopted this new 'freeing' mentality and , well, woo-hoo, just went to town. In fact the less that you could act or even look like one of those nasty old relics, the better. Sure, some people got bent out of shape, but they were humorless puritans.
So we bolted from our faith, dumbed down...I'm sorry...breathed new life into the practices, and acculturated so much worldly wisdom, that assuredly now they would like us! 65% quit going to Church much at all or completely. It became fashionable to be a cafeteria Catholic, picking and choosing what teachings we liked or didn't challenge our favored sins. Surely, the world would love us now! Of course, the clergy decided that this would be a wonderful time to hand our detractors boatloads of ammunition (not to mention boatloads of money as well) and break their vows of celibacy with children, women, and men. Okay, it was a small percentage of the clergy...a really small percent...but we bought the narrative that most priests had all the sexual restraint of a teenage boy in a brothel with his dad's credit card. We bought the premise that most priests were gay or just really weird. Surely, the world will like us now! Our convents emptied out! Our seminaries emptied out! Surely the world would like as now! Yeah, not so much.
Catholics are learning that you never negotiate with someone who wants you dead. While those who abandoned their faith were lauded and gave themselves such non-offensive names like 'recovering Catholic" (get it? Like a recovering alcoholic? because Catholicism is a disease? Funny ! Oh never mind) and some became official spokesmen for the Church in the mainstream media and were trotted out like prize turkeys whenever a pope dared cross the pond and drop in. All the better if a former priest of sister..better yet if a current one who just show how worldly they were in trashing the pope. But for those who decided to stick it out, the attacks have been relentless. The more faithful we are, the more they hate us, and we have to happy with this. Really...happy?! The entertainment industry will continue to portray all clergy and religious as either dolts, Huns, gay, or criminals. The media will continue to portray faithful Catholics as insipid, ignorant, intolerant, hate filled, half breeds, hypocrites, and nitwits. The oh-so-smart academic types will continue to doubt our intelligence, our teachings, our rituals, and our faithful with little more than derision and scorn. Maybe even the government will continue to try to strip away our rights. SO WHAT!? My attitude is : BRING IT!
History shows that whenever we are persecuted is when we grow. When we take the moral high ground and stand our ground without returning their attacks with equal aggression, we prevail. When we are forced to defend our ground, we have risen time and again to the occasion. If this sounds defiant..well, that is the point! Truth be told, I don't want the world to like me and approve of me. I don't need their stamp of approval. I don't want to be the shape-shifting insecure about who I am person that allows the cool kids to dictate their likes and actions. In Luke, the Beatitudes bless those who are persecuted and curses those who are liked and approved of by the world. The Catholic who doesn't see their faith as something worth dying for is the Catholic who doesn't see their faith worth living for. So to Hollywood...bring it on! Music industry...bring it! Government officials...hit us with your best shot! Media...we're not scared of you! We came before you, we'll be here long after you. We have outlasted every kingdom, empire, and trend that has tried to destroy us. We have survived every foolish self-inflicted wound with which we have struck ourselves. That is because we have Christ promise that you would never prevail and crush us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We know already who wins the war...and it isn't you! So bring it...by the grace of God, we're ready!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Danger of Free
Perhaps the title is a little off...a better title might be the danger of expecting things for free. The debacle over whether the Church should pay for the contraception and sterilization of her employees has once again brought this discussion to a head. Even after the 'accommodation' which was nothing of the such, the administration decided that the insurance companies should give out free contraception and sterilization for employees of Catholic institutions. At least the administration is being consistent. They are also purporting free education, free college, free food (food stamps), free medical care, and the list goes on and on. On the surface this seems compassionate, that we provide for those who cannot for themselves. Seems to be consistent with Church and biblical teaching one could say. However, it is not nor it is good for the recipient if this deluge of free stuff creates a permanent bond of neediness and helplessness. Ideally, assistance should lead the receiver to an ability to stand on their own and not to a state of perpetual neediness. I will say here, that there are some exceptions to this rule; those with severe handicaps for example.
So why is it dangerous? The answer is on several levels. First, when a country is divided into a country of providers and a country of takers, it will foment division. When free things are given to the able bodied without expectation of it being temporary, it robs the person of the reason to get back on one's feet. Why work when I can receive the necessities of life for free? However, the help slowly becomes not enough. The person will inevitably want more and more. Why? Because there is something within most people that wants to be in a better position tomorrow than they were today. If I can get this sum through no effort now, why should I not receive more through no effort tomorrow? One will look at how those who have worked hard receive and become envious than they can move ahead and thus provide for a better tomorrow. This provokes envy on the part of the person who receives for free. Instead of seeing how this happens, the entitlement mentality takes over and the demands increase. This entitlement mentality will spread like a cancer to all parts of the human person, producing a like effect on on all parts. The entitlement mentality spawns a learned helplessness and a voracious neediness that cannot be satiated. No amount of other people's wealth will satisfy the bottomless pit of entitlement...free is no longer a gift...it is an expectation.
Along with this expectation and its attendant helplessness comes an absconding of responsibility and accountability for one's life and one's actions. The favorite question of the entitled is "who are you to judge me?" This only flows from a person who is first unwilling, then dives into unable, to accept responsibility for the results their lifestyle engendered. It's not my fault I am poor...the rich man stole it from me. It's not my fault I don't have a good education, the government didn't spend enough money on me. It's not my fault I have a child out of wedlock, I didn't get free contraception and personal servant to make sure I used it. It's not my fault. Nothing is my fault. Everything is someone else's fault. The lasting damage of everything being free is the damage it does to human integrity and dignity.
This goes into the spiritual as well. As nothing is my fault, I am owed even heaven. The practice of faith, since it requires effort, is laid aside. Here is where the phrases that start with "My God... doesn't judge, doesn't make demands, doesn't require, loves me no matter what and will allow me into heaven no matter what and if he doesn't...well then HE is unfair and lacks mercy." The role of faith, if one is to engage in it is to coddle, stroke the ego, entertain, and make me feel special. The role of God is much like the role of everyone else...to give me stuff without question, condition, or expectation of results. Is it any wonder as entitlement has grown in this country, church attendance has plummeted? There is a direct and logical correlation!
The reception of free stuff, though, is built upon a total deception. Nothing is free. All the benefits received, someone else pays for. In this country, for example, the loads of free things comes out of the pockets of the producers...those who work hard and pay taxes. The 'free' contraception and sterilization insurers of Catholic institutions comes from the premiums collected from those institutions and their employees. Even our faith, a free gift from God, came at the cost of the Cross. Someone pays. That is life. Because someone pays means there are people who do accept responsibility and accountability for their actions. Those are the people who make things work. When they give, it is not so as to fulfill some mandate or law, it is to give freely from themselves for the sake of another, which is a positive act of love. This reality needs to be responded to by the receiver.
When I was a child and would receive gifts from my grandparents for either Christmas or my birthday, my parents had the full expectation that a thank you note would be written to the giver of the gift. My parents wanted me to understand that what was given to me was not tribute brought by subservient grandparents to their royal grandchild who was owed at least whatever they brought, but a gift from a loving grandparent. I think about, from time to time, how much smoother things would have gone in my youth had I realized all the free stuff I received (food, clothes, housing, etc) I actually had because my parents worked hard and made sure their children were taken care of. They taught me to be quick with thanks yous. Whether that thank you is directed at the servers for serving Mass, the multiple volunteers who make this parish work, the friends whose support and friendship I know I have...that thank you helps me to focus on my blessings and not on my lack of luxuries. Finally my thank yous to God remind me that all I have is pure gift from God, not tribute God gives me because I am such a wonderful person. In short, thankfulness is the antidote to entitlement. If you don't think so, watch what happens when an entitled person is told how thankful they should be for what they have.
Entitlement, by its nature, breeds division born from greed , sloth , and envy. It pits people against people in a bull rush for their piece of the pie. It breeds class warfare and assuredly crushes any nation that embraces it as a way of life. It destroys the bond between man and God. Thankfulness has the opposite effect. It binds into an intertwined union specifically because it causes the person to move beyond the self. Finally thankfulness draws us ever closer to God because it opens our eyes not to just what God can do but what God has done. As God gives all things for free, our hearts should be overwhelmed with thanks and drawn ever closer to God. If we can start there, then perhaps we could be thankful in the public realm as well.
This country is a mess. Our politicians, for years, have garnered votes by promising this or that to voters, making what they promise sound like it is for free. It isn't. The government has no monies of its own without the taxes and fees they gather. Every food stamp, every subsidy, every free to you item was paid for by the taxpayer and the consumer. I would hope those who are on the take would understand this and quit demanding more free stuff on someone else's dime. If they want more, then perhaps ( and I know this is a novel idea) get off your butt and work...no person should revel in a parasitical relationship with the world around them. Nothing is free on this planet, So buck up and get moving and quit demanding everyone else bring you tribute because you simply are owed it because you happen to breathe in and breathe out. Now, I will step off my soapbox!
So why is it dangerous? The answer is on several levels. First, when a country is divided into a country of providers and a country of takers, it will foment division. When free things are given to the able bodied without expectation of it being temporary, it robs the person of the reason to get back on one's feet. Why work when I can receive the necessities of life for free? However, the help slowly becomes not enough. The person will inevitably want more and more. Why? Because there is something within most people that wants to be in a better position tomorrow than they were today. If I can get this sum through no effort now, why should I not receive more through no effort tomorrow? One will look at how those who have worked hard receive and become envious than they can move ahead and thus provide for a better tomorrow. This provokes envy on the part of the person who receives for free. Instead of seeing how this happens, the entitlement mentality takes over and the demands increase. This entitlement mentality will spread like a cancer to all parts of the human person, producing a like effect on on all parts. The entitlement mentality spawns a learned helplessness and a voracious neediness that cannot be satiated. No amount of other people's wealth will satisfy the bottomless pit of entitlement...free is no longer a gift...it is an expectation.
Along with this expectation and its attendant helplessness comes an absconding of responsibility and accountability for one's life and one's actions. The favorite question of the entitled is "who are you to judge me?" This only flows from a person who is first unwilling, then dives into unable, to accept responsibility for the results their lifestyle engendered. It's not my fault I am poor...the rich man stole it from me. It's not my fault I don't have a good education, the government didn't spend enough money on me. It's not my fault I have a child out of wedlock, I didn't get free contraception and personal servant to make sure I used it. It's not my fault. Nothing is my fault. Everything is someone else's fault. The lasting damage of everything being free is the damage it does to human integrity and dignity.
This goes into the spiritual as well. As nothing is my fault, I am owed even heaven. The practice of faith, since it requires effort, is laid aside. Here is where the phrases that start with "My God... doesn't judge, doesn't make demands, doesn't require, loves me no matter what and will allow me into heaven no matter what and if he doesn't...well then HE is unfair and lacks mercy." The role of faith, if one is to engage in it is to coddle, stroke the ego, entertain, and make me feel special. The role of God is much like the role of everyone else...to give me stuff without question, condition, or expectation of results. Is it any wonder as entitlement has grown in this country, church attendance has plummeted? There is a direct and logical correlation!
The reception of free stuff, though, is built upon a total deception. Nothing is free. All the benefits received, someone else pays for. In this country, for example, the loads of free things comes out of the pockets of the producers...those who work hard and pay taxes. The 'free' contraception and sterilization insurers of Catholic institutions comes from the premiums collected from those institutions and their employees. Even our faith, a free gift from God, came at the cost of the Cross. Someone pays. That is life. Because someone pays means there are people who do accept responsibility and accountability for their actions. Those are the people who make things work. When they give, it is not so as to fulfill some mandate or law, it is to give freely from themselves for the sake of another, which is a positive act of love. This reality needs to be responded to by the receiver.
When I was a child and would receive gifts from my grandparents for either Christmas or my birthday, my parents had the full expectation that a thank you note would be written to the giver of the gift. My parents wanted me to understand that what was given to me was not tribute brought by subservient grandparents to their royal grandchild who was owed at least whatever they brought, but a gift from a loving grandparent. I think about, from time to time, how much smoother things would have gone in my youth had I realized all the free stuff I received (food, clothes, housing, etc) I actually had because my parents worked hard and made sure their children were taken care of. They taught me to be quick with thanks yous. Whether that thank you is directed at the servers for serving Mass, the multiple volunteers who make this parish work, the friends whose support and friendship I know I have...that thank you helps me to focus on my blessings and not on my lack of luxuries. Finally my thank yous to God remind me that all I have is pure gift from God, not tribute God gives me because I am such a wonderful person. In short, thankfulness is the antidote to entitlement. If you don't think so, watch what happens when an entitled person is told how thankful they should be for what they have.
Entitlement, by its nature, breeds division born from greed , sloth , and envy. It pits people against people in a bull rush for their piece of the pie. It breeds class warfare and assuredly crushes any nation that embraces it as a way of life. It destroys the bond between man and God. Thankfulness has the opposite effect. It binds into an intertwined union specifically because it causes the person to move beyond the self. Finally thankfulness draws us ever closer to God because it opens our eyes not to just what God can do but what God has done. As God gives all things for free, our hearts should be overwhelmed with thanks and drawn ever closer to God. If we can start there, then perhaps we could be thankful in the public realm as well.
This country is a mess. Our politicians, for years, have garnered votes by promising this or that to voters, making what they promise sound like it is for free. It isn't. The government has no monies of its own without the taxes and fees they gather. Every food stamp, every subsidy, every free to you item was paid for by the taxpayer and the consumer. I would hope those who are on the take would understand this and quit demanding more free stuff on someone else's dime. If they want more, then perhaps ( and I know this is a novel idea) get off your butt and work...no person should revel in a parasitical relationship with the world around them. Nothing is free on this planet, So buck up and get moving and quit demanding everyone else bring you tribute because you simply are owed it because you happen to breathe in and breathe out. Now, I will step off my soapbox!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)