“Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word ‘love’ is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite….
“Charity is love received and given. It is grace (charis).” —Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 3, 5
I was googling available Catholic parishes in the Chicago area this past weekend to find one close to where I was staying and to determine Mass times. I found that the parishes in the town where I was located had “reviews” posted by individuals who had attended there. Some parishes were labelled “contemporary”, another “traditional”, or “nothing extraordinary.”
Amazing isn’t it how we want to label and categorize and in some ways divide the Body of Christ.
St. Clement I, a pope in the early years of the Church had this to say about disunity in the Church, and I quote, using my English translation:
“Why the contention, fury, discord, schisms and war among you? Do we not have one God, and one Christ, and one Spirit of grace given to all of you, one vocation in Christ? Why the ripping and shredding of the members of Christ? Why do you rebel against your own body and come to a point of delirium in forgetting you are members of one another?
“Recall the words of Jesus our Savior. He said, ‘Woe to that man! It would be better if he were not born rather than bringing scandal to one of my elect. It would be better if a huge millstone were on his neck and he were submerged in the sea rather than bring one of my elect to evil.’
“Your divisions have diverted many, have thrown many into discouragement, many into doubt, and all of you into sorrow, and your disunity continues even now….. it is a dishonor that we must eliminate immediately. Let us throw ourselves at the feet of the Lord and beg him with tears… that he may restore us to his friendship and re-establish us as a magnificent and chaste fraternity of love.” — St. Clement, “Letter to the Corinthians”
It seems the ancient Christians did as we now do. DIviding themselves up according to loyalties to individual priests or teachers and casting judgment on the others. St. Paul of course warned us of this too, when he chastized the early churches for their overriding allegiance to him, or Peter, or Apollos.
It is Jesus Christ who unites us. We follow him. We are his disciples. Those who lead us do so in his name, with his message and his grace.
The Old Testament reading from Samuel this morning in the Office of Readings is a continuation of the story of David’s sin — his arrangement for the murder of Urriah the Hittite so he could cover his sin of adultery and obtain what he wanted, i.e., Bathsheba (Urriah’s wife). Nathan tells him the parable of the poor man whose only lamb was taken from him by a rich man, and how David was that kind of sinner that he himself proclaimed deserved death.
I suspect none of us are guilty of murder, but I suspect most of us are guilty of wanting and taking unjustly the goods of this world that we really don’t need, but simply want, and in doing so we deprive a poor man or woman of the only possession they may have to their name. We do this a lot blindly, given the social structure of economic sin that exists today. Have we done this with open awareness too? I passed a few beggars on the street yesterday in Chicago and gave them nothing. Easy to rationalize my reasons, not so easy to look them in the eye and offer them what in some sense may have been rightfully theirs.
The social teachings of the Church need our careful study and attention. Then we need to take it all to prayer. Finally, we need to take action. That seems to be the hard part.
There are a lot of Urriah’s out there. There are a lot of Nathan the prophets too. Let us listen to both. And act justly.
The past couple of days I have been in Chicago, so I haven’t had time to post. Just saw a great fireworks display. Must have walked seven miles total today, so I am tired. I am always amazed at the ethnic diversity in Chicago, and how it all seems to weave together these days.
On an unrelated note, I am also amazed at the amount of attention Michael Jackson’s unfortunate death has been getting. No doubt he was a musical genius, but it seems to me that so much more about Mr. Jackson left little if anything to be admired. Why isn’t Farrah Fawcett receiving at least as much attention. She tried I am told to turn her cancer struggle into a positive teaching opportunity for the common good. I am not so sure Mr. Jackson did the same with his struggles. He seemed quite a bit more into himself and his world.
We celebrate today the feast of Thomas the Apostle. Doubting Thomas, as we are apt to say so often. St. Gregory the Great’s words today about this man are worth considering. Again, my translation from the Italian.
“What, brothers, do you read into this situation? Do you see it purely as Thomas absent by God’s choice, and then returning hearing of the Lord’s resurrection, and then doubting, and doubting then touching the Lord, and touching then believing?
“No, it didn’t happen by chance, but by divine design. The Lord’s clemency worked here in a marvelous way, since this disciple, with his doubts, while he was touching the wounds of the Lord’s body, was healing in us the wounds of unbelief. The unbelief of Thomas brought greater benefit to us in our wounded unbelief than did the faith of the other disciples. (Italics mine.)….The disciple that had doubted and then touched, has become the witness to the truth of the resurrection….
“Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen.’ (John 20: 28-29) Yet the apostle Paul says, ‘Faith is the foundation for things we hope for, and proof of things we do not see.’ It is clear that faith is proof of things one cannot see. Things we see do not require faith; they, rather, are things of knowledge. But if Thomas saw and touched, how can could Jesus have said, ‘Because you have seen, you believed.’?….. The divinity of Christ we mortals cannot see. Thomas saw then a true man and declared that he was the God we cannot see.” — St. Gregory the Great, Hom.26
Thomas’ doubt brought ironclad assurance to all of us so many years later that Jesus truly rose bodily from the grave and that he is in fact the Son of God. Thomas’s doubt was by divine plan. Through him we can believe.
St. Gregory’s comment on how St. Thomas unbelief brings us greater benefit than the faith of the other disciples is an extraordinary statement I had never considered before. Good food for my meditation today.
We read today in the Office of Readings about King David as he transported the Ark of God. It says:
“David and the whole house of Israel made merry with all their might with songs and citharas, harps and tambourines, sistras and cymbals before the Lord.” (2 Sam. 6: 5)
Can you imagine the scene? Dancing and playing and singing with all their might before the tabernacle of the Lord? Would that we delight so in the presence of God. Tabernacles of the Lord are in every Catholic Church. Do we find delight when before the New Ark of the Lord? Is joy part of what we experience?
I heard a recorded sermon this morning as I was driving to work. It concluded with a story of a man who died from cancer, and how though in a coma, he awoke when the priest held the Body of Christ over him. The man was able to receive communion and then spoke his last words, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
Words of joy before the presence of the Lord. The man momentarily danced with all his might.
“Is it not time that we pray for one another’s conversion?” — Solanus Casey, OFM
“Are you not able, my Lord, to include everything in a single sentence and say, ‘Give us, O Father, all that is necessary?’ To Him who knows everything, nothing more needs to be said. O eternal Wisdom! For you and for your Father this would be enough; in fact in this way you prayed in the Garden of Gethsemani.” — St. Teresa of Avila in The Way of Perfection
The whole institution of marriage is threatened nowadays. The rates of cohabitation, homosexual couples seeking to marry in more and more states, the trivialization of marriage by so many others — all these threaten marriage.
As my one of my moral theology professors is apt to say, “A clouded intellect leads to a weakened will, which unleashes disordered passions.”
Let’s keep our thinking clear about what we know from human nature and from our faith. I do not have the time to go into the natural law and marriage. I’ll post on that later.
I would like to review some basic teachings our our faith about marriage.
What is God’s plan for marriage? Both men and women share in the divine image, and share in God’s power with equal dignity, though in complementary ways. The union of a man and a woman in marriage is an imitation in the flesh of God’s generousity and fecundity. (CCC, no. 2335)
What is the marital covenant? It is a covenant freely entered into by a man and a woman that imposes on them the obligation to keep their marriage indissoluble. (CCC, no. 2397)
What is the bond in marriage? The bond in marriage is both conjugal and procreative. Conjugal mutual love and fidelity is the unitive aspect of marriage. The procreative aspect concerns conception, birth, and education of children. In other words, the marital bond is for the good of the spouses and the transmission of life. (CCC, no. 2363)
How can spouses nurture their marital covenant and not tarnish the dignity of each other? One way is the development of the virtue of chastity. It enables one to offer, as gift, one’s entire self to another. In order to truly give yourself to your husband or wife, you must develop self-mastery. A chaste spouse in one who becomes a witness to fidelity and loving kindness. (CCC, no. 2397) Marital chastity is the right ordering of the gift of sexual relations, i.e., desiring union with your spouse so as to offer the gift of your entire person, body and spirit.
Hopefully, all of us married folk are working on all of this. It is a work in progress, I am sure.
I’ll post more at a later time…..
“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” — 2 Tim. 4:7
Let us pray that each of us may sincerely say this on the day of our death. And may each of us in our lifetimes bring at least one person to faith, to knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Pope Paul VI gave a powerful homily in Manila, the Philippines on November 29, 1970. His life was endangered by an assassination attempt on that trip, the occasion which led to then Msgr. Paul Marcinkus probably saving his life, later becoming an Archbishop and then head of the Vatican Bank. You probably know the rest of the story — all the controversy and suspect that surrounded Marcinkus thereafter.
Back to the homily. It is really powerful. Here it is in part.
“Not to preach the Gospel would be my undoing, for Christ himself sent me as his apostle and witness. The more remote, the more difficult the assignment, the more my love of God spurs me on. I am bound to proclaim that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of him we come to know the God we cannot see. He is the firstborn of all creation; in him all things find their being. Man’s teacher and redeemer, he was born for us, died for us, and for us he rose from the dead.
“All things, all history converges in Christ. A man of sorrow and hope, he knows us and loves us. As our friend he stays by us throughout our lives; at the end of time he will come to be our judge; but we also know that he will be the complete fulfillment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity.
“I can never cease to speak of Christ for he is our truth and our light; he is the way, the truth and the life. He is our bread, our source of living water who allays our hunger and satisfies our thirst. He is our shepherd, our leader, our ideal, our comforter and our brother.
“He is like us but more perfectly human, simple, poor, humble, and yet, while burdened with work, he more patient. He spoke on our behalf; he worked miracles; and he founded a new kingdom: in it the poor are happy; peace is the foundation of a life in common; where the pure of heart and those who mourn are uplifted and comforted; the hungry find justice; sinners are forgiven;and all discover that they are brothers.
“The image I present to you is the image of Jesus Christ. As Christians you share in his name; he has already made most of you his own. So once again I repeat his name to you Christians and I proclaim to all men: Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, Lord of the new universe, and the great hidden key to human history and the part we play in it. He is the mediator – the bridge, if you will – between heaven and earth. Above all he is the Son of God, eternal and infinite. He is the son of Mary his mother on earth, more blessed than any other woman. She is also our mother in the spiritual communion of the mystical body.
“Remember: [it] is Jesus Christ I preach day in and day out. His name I would see echo and reecho for all time even to the ends of the earth.” –Paul VI, Homily Manila 29 Nov. 70
Let us proclaim Christ in all that we do!
The governor of South Carolina has been in the news of late. You now know the story — an affair with a younger woman from Argentina; his deception of not only his wife but his staff and anyone else who seems to believe they have a right to know; his apology, etc., etc.
Being a clinical social worker for the past twenty-eight years, I cannot begin to count the number of times I have heard stories of this nature. It is very common. Why all the sensationalism, the shameful finger pointing and our self-righteous and feigned shock?
Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone!
Mind you, I in no way am suggesting marital infidelity is harmless or is acceptable behavior. Infidelity unleashes a torrent of emotion and is deeply hurtful, especially to the betrayed spouse and to the children.
But I am saying no one is exempt from the temptation and no one can honestly say, “I would certainly never do that!”
Quite frankly, the affair is seldom if ever the real threat to the marriage. What is fatal is misunderstanding what the affair is saying about the marital relationship. Until this is understood, the marriage is in jeopardy.
Let’s not throw stones. Let’s look in the mirror and tend carefully our marriages, grateful for the graces and blessings that our spouses can and do bring us.
Pope John Paul I took possession of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome on September 23, 1978. In his homily he spoke of the poor, his mother, his parish priest and the Christian community.
Here is an excerpt of the Vatican’s English translation of the Italian original.
“Some words of (the Syndic of Rome) caused me to think of one of the prayers that I recited as a child with Mamma. It went like this: ‘the sins that cry for vengeance in the presence of God are…. to oppress the poor, the defraud the workers of a just wage.’ In his turn, the Parish Priest questioned me at school on the Catechism: ‘Why are the sins that cry for vengeance in the presence of God among the more grievous and harmful?’ Reply: …’Because they are directly contrary to the good of mankind and are most hateful in as much as, more than others, they provoke the chastisements of God’ (Catechism of Pius X, 154). Rome will be a true Christian community if God is honoured by you not merely with a multitude of the faithful in the churchs, not merely with private life that is lived morally, but also with love for the poor. These, the Roman deacon Lawrence said, are the true treasures of the Church. They must be helped….without becoming humiliated and offended by ostentatious riches, by money squandered on futile things and not invested — in so far as possible — in enterprises of advantage to all…..it is diaconia, the service of guiding and governing.”
See: www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i/homilies/documents/hf_jp-i_hom_23091978_en.html for the entire homily.
It seems the Holy Father was acutely aware of the presence of the poor in the streets of Rome and also, as any tourist can attest, to the opulence of the Church’s structures and treasures. One can only wonder what he thought of eventually doing about all of that. His innate concern for the poor, his fear that they would be “humiliated and offended” by squandered ostentatious ecclesial riches is here evident. His diaconal roots are clearly articulated.
The Office of Readings recently have included the writings of St. Gregory of Nyssa. Today, he writes about our hope of seeing God. I’ve translated the final paragraph below:
“If those who have claimed that the vision of God is beyond our ability to sustain are themselves blessed, and if blessedness comes from seeing God, then certainly purity of heart, through which one is able to see God, is not an impossible virtue.” — St. Gregory of Nyssa (Homily 6; PG 44, 1267)
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Jesus himself told us this, and it is in many ways at the heart of the moral life. It is also at the heart of the spiritual life. It is at the heart of who we are and what we do as Christians. Perhaps we lose sight of the necessity to purify our hearts, of how this really is a prerequisite for ministry. A prerequisite for being Christian.
Our baptism sends us forth to do the work of Jesus. We need to see God, Jesus, in each and every person we meet. God is present.
Then on our last day we have the hope of seeing God face to face, directly and without veil, in complete purity, without stain, wrinkle or any sort of defect.
“The Lord be with you always and abe you with Him always and in every place.” — St. Clare of Assissi
