Weekly Reflection 092902AD

September 29, 2002AD

27^th Sunday in Greentime

Our Attitude in Christ

We celebrate our Annual Fall Festival this weekend as well as the beginning of construction of our parish center. With God’s Help, we try to transform our lives in Christ Jesus.

However, we realize that our parish campus, particularly our parish church, is only a secondary point of our transformation. The most significant place is our own homes, our domestic churches. Our parish church becomes a meeting place, a “church-ing” (as a verb) place for all your domestic churches, viz., your own homes, as we re-enforce one another as we gather each weekend.

A winning nurturing, symbiotic relationship in Christ should develop between domestic church (your home) and our parish church (the home of our home churches). With God’s Help, we are transformed into Christ when we are at work, with our friends, in school, wherever we are. As St Teresa of Avila, said, “Christ has no hands but yours, no feet but yours, no tongue but yours, no heart but yours”. St Paul tried to communicate in inspired, yet humanly inadequate, language that we live in Christ Jesus and we are to offer our daily lives (24-7-365) as our daily liturgy. Our daily lives are a thank-offering for all God’s gifts.

We hear today a hymn, known as Carmen Christi, “Christ’s Song”. Paul tells the hearers of the letter that their attitude must be the attitude of Christ. They are to adjust their attitudes to the Christ’s attitude.

With God’s Help, two attitudes of Christ grow in us. First, we will become people of humility. (Humility is based on the same etymological root as humanity. The root word is humus, a Latin word for soil or earth.) Humility is a reminder that no matter what, we are dust and to dust we shall return. If this is not humbling and human, what else can be? However, the great proviso in all this is the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ that we share through our baptism into Christ.

The second attitude that will grow in us is obedience to God. (Obedience is based on the same etymological root as audial. The root word is audiere , Latin verb “to hear”.) Obedience means behavior in accordance to what we have heard. We hear the Gospel of Christ. With God’s Help, we try to behave as we obey the Gospel.

Two points remain to be highlighted. First, Jesus Christ does not have to adjust His attitude to mine. In humility and obedience, when necessary, with His Help, we try to adjust our attitudes to conform to His. Whenever we act on the job, whenever we exercise our franchise, whenever we share our values with our children, our attitude must be the attitude of Christ. Second, whether at our fall festival or in our upcoming parish center, these are secondary and auxiliary to how we act as church whenever we leave 29 Cox Avenue and are off campus in the mission fields of the week ahead. 092902 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 092202AD

September 22, 2002AD

26^th Sunday in Greentime

The Big 4-0 for Vatican 2!!

On October 11, we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican by Blessed Pope John XXIII (1958-1963). Just about everyone is of the consensus that Vatican II was the most significant Catholic event in the twentieth century. Anyone who was around before Vatican II and is around today can testify to the tremendous changes that occurred in our Church since those heady, euphoric days.

German Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner, wrote in the last century that Vatican II was the first truly ecumenical, viz., worldwide, council in the history of the Church because every continent in the world was represented in its ranks. However, his claim was challenged by those who said that Vatican II was only half an ecumenical council because 50%+ of the Church, women, were not represented in the ranks of participants.

One of the key ideas that Karl Rahner stressed on Vatican II was that it prepared Catholics better for the Church in the Third Millennium. He spoke of several characteristics of a Third Millennium Catholic. 1) Catholics would recover more of what was germane to our Catholicism, to our belief that Jesus is Lord. We will learn to distinguish the essentials of faith. 2) Devotions and pious practices of the past will remain. However, they will focus on what is essential, not on peripherals. At Vatican II, the Spirit spoke to the churches in recovering the centrality of Christology, of the Eucharist, of the Scriptures, of the Church in the Modern world. 3) Rahner said that the individual will be called to respond to the Mystery of God in a grace-filled faith response. (This is one of the places where Rahner stressed that “the Christian of the future will have to be a mystic.” This does not mean someone who walked on air. Rather, Rahner meant that each of us will be more aware of the personal call of the Infinite in our everyday existences, wherever we live our lives. (Cf. below)) 4) Nevertheless, Catholics will still be called to live in mutual support of one another in community. Our presence at the Eucharist strengthens others. Others’ presence in church community strengthens us. The presence of all of us inspires the people who pass and see that we gather to celebrate and live our faith in Jesus.

In Lumen Gentium, Light of Nations , the principal document on the Constitution of the Church, the bishops spoke of the Mystery of the Church in its first chapter. Then, in a striking way, in its second chapter, the bishops described all the baptized as the “People of God”, called by God in Christ to respond in faith and compassion to the Call of Christ in our daily lives. Interesting about this second chapter is the fact that it was only in the third chapter that the bishops spoke of the hierarchical structure of the Church. The stress is placed upon baptism as the sacrament of entry into the People of God, the Body of Christ.

In another lesser known document, Apostolicam Actuositatem, “Apostolic Activity”, the “Decree of the Apostolate of the Laity”, the bishops present some principal themes of the notion of the “People of God” from Lumen Gentium as applicable to the everyday lives of Catholic people. The bishops implement another term from the Constitution on the Church, viz., the “universal call to holiness”. All the People of God are commissioned in baptism to respond to the call of holiness which Jesus announced to all of us, not some of us.

We hear excerpts from St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians for the next few Sundays. He speaks with affection to a group of Jesus-Movement people who live in what today is Macedonia, north of Greece. They seem to have been his favorite community. At least, he speaks of them with great affection.

He urges them (and us) to “conduct (them)selves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” It is important to remember that this letter was addressed, as was the Letter to the Romans from which we heard during the summer, to all the Christic community, not just some. (Paul, indeed, does mention bishops and deacons in his letter. Indeed, read the following greeting:”Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons”. The letter is addressed to people like ourselves. (The community at Armonk probably is ten times larger than the community at Philippi addressed by St Paul.

He expected a lot from them and apparently, he was not disappointed. He does not do much chiding and admonishing as he did to other Christian communities, particularly the communities in Corinth and in Galatia.

St Paul and Pope Paul VI and the Bishops at Vatican II join together in asking us to conduct ourselves the same today. The bishops stress the fact that most Catholics (the Laity) spend most of the time away from the church edifice. However, that does not mean that their lives are not religious on Sunday and secular the rest of the week. The bishops ask us to focus on our families and upon our careers as the fora in which the laity can mediate the Presence of Christ in the world. The bishops used the familiar Pauline image of the body as a representation of our community in Christ and with one another. They make an interesting point that no part of the human body does not have a role. “No part of the body is passive.”

As St Paul told the Romans and us a few weeks ago in Rom 12.1, quoted in the Decree on the Laity, “Offer your bodies (lives) as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship (leiturgia, liturgy)”. A footnote from the Decree on the Laity says, “The passive apostolate of the laity of merely leading a good life is no longer sufficient today. The laity must be able and willing to defend Christian belief in the face of atheism, materialism and general immoral and amoral philosophies. 092202 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 091502AD

September 15, 2002 AD

25^th Sunday in Greentime

490 & Then Some…

The “Everybody” figure of St Peter appears on the scene again today. He asks (for us) how many times we must be willing to forgive one who sins against us. He thought that his seven times was more than generous. Once again, Jesus teaches Peter and Everybody (including you and me) that something more than numbers are on the table for discussion.

Jesus does not want His disciples to be enablers by constantly overlooking injuries. We need to stand up for what is best, both for the perpetrator as well as ourselves. That is why Jesus has just explained how we are to deal with deviant behavior in our community (both for the sake of the perpetrator as well as the community). However, the protocol that He gave us in last weekend’s Gospel is bracketed by 2 parables of God’s Forgiveness, viz., the Lost Sheep and today’s Gospel, the Unmerciful Servant.

This parable speaks of an Oriental relationship between the king (the patron) and the employee (the client). In traditional societies, patron-client was a powerful relationship. The employee could be compared to middle-management today, people who climbed the economic ladder, frequently in “survival of the fittest” style of behavior. The implication is that neither servant was a “blushing rose”. The first employee owed what someone calculated was 100,000 days wages (the talents mentioned) to his patron. He did not have a chance ever to repay what he owed. However, something happened to the king. “His heart was moved with pity”, says Jesus. God touched the king’s heart and gave him two-fold grace (extraordinary gift), viz., 1) he had pity on the servant and 2) he cancelled the entire debt. In a sense, the king was living Jesus’ petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The first servant lucked out.

However, he did not extend the same mercy to a second servant, who owed him a mere fraction of what he himself owed. It was also calculated that the second debt was tantamount to 100 days wages. (Here, the first servant was the patron and the second was the client.)

The first servant should have rejoiced in the King’s grace-filled generosity by doing the same with the second servant. However, he suffered the consequences of the King’s wrath when the King discovered what happened. Now, the first servant was worse off than he had been before because he was imprisoned before he did the impossible.

Jesus’ moral is that God our heavenly Father will do the same to Peter (and Everybody) if we do not reciprocate God’s pardon of us with our pardon of others. This is serious business.

Some have said that violence is the blind-spot of Christianity. Mohandas Gandhi said that the only people who do not understand that Christianity is a non-violent religion are Christians themselves. WW2 hero, General Omar Bradley said that we have cracked the atom, but we have not cracked the Sermon on the Mount.

However, sadly, we might go one step further. Jesus teaches us that whoever nurses anger in his (or her) heart has broken the fifth commandment because grudges can lead to violence. In addition, almost directly in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, which is directly in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer is the petition that God forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us. If the “as” is understood numerically, many of us might be in big trouble. Frequently, grudges last for years. Frequently, people forget the reason for the grudge!!

Wise people know that it is good to move on. The Treaty of Rome in 1956 was the beginning of the European Common Market (EEC) which is evolving into the European Community. Earlier than that, a group of French and German Catholics decided to form Pax Christi which evolved into the International Catholic Peace Movement. There are the four following purposes to this Catholic group of former enemies who now pray together for peace: 1) to meet together for fellowship in peace; 2) to pray for peace; 3) to study peace; 4) the work for peace. Teilhard de Chardin said that it was obvious that nature is converging to unity. Marshall McLuhan said that the world is becoming a global village (because of improvements in transportation, communication (and now, in technology)).

Pope John Paul II in his Message of Peace on January 1, 2002 AD alluded to the terrorist attacks upon our nation last September 11^th. 1) He said that it is incumbent to identify the guilty accurately. He said that it is important not to lump together all people of similar ethnic, racial or religious backgrounds as accomplices and/ or abetters of aggression. 2) He spoke of the fact that terrorists frequently get recruited in situations where injustice is rife and human rights are downplayed. 3) He said that the pillars of peace were two-fold, one of justice and one of forgiveness. In Christian thought, forgiveness is the opposite of resentment and revenge, not of justice. 4) Therefore, We should pray for peace as we pray for justice and freedom and forgiveness as well as the strength to teach and live these Gospel realities. 5) Some may respond that people cannot live this way. The Pope says that for the sake of the future human family that we must try. Catholics believe that through baptism we are joined to the Victory of the Crucified and Risen Lord, Who has conquered all obstacles. With the Help of the Spirit, we can at least try to see the necessity and possibility that God is offering us the Help that we need to do what seems impossible. 6) It will be a short-term loss to the one who forgives and yet, it will be a long-term victory for both sides when the spiral of hatred and violence is broken with God’s Help.

John Paul did not say this in his New Year’s letter but psychologists tell us that one’s letting go of anger and grudges is good for one both psychologically and physically. (Have you ever noticed road rage and see the raging driver, then, do something in anger his- or herself?) Psychologists tell us that we do ourselves a favor when we try to curb our anger. Jesus teaches us that it can be done.

We are reminded in this section of Matthew’s Gospel that forgiveness is characteristic behavior for a disciple of Jesus because forgiveness is characteristic behavior for God. True, we are not to be doormats or enablers for people. In addition, we have a right to legitimate self-defense. However, we are not to keep a running record of grudges and anger either.

The petition in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer is for forgiveness and the strength to forgive others. After the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we must forgive one another if we are to receive forgiveness ourselves. At the conclusion of the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus says that we will be handed over to the jailers as well if we do not forgive our brothers from our hearts. Gulp!!!! 091502 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 090802AD

September 8, 2002AD

24th Sunday in Greentime

2, 3 or More – Then and Now

The Jewish people believed that YHWH dwelt in the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple.

They spoke of the Divine Presence as the Shekinah . After the destruction of their temple by the invading Roman armies in 70 AD, surviving Judaism struggled to cope. The principal response to this cataclysmic event was the development of rabbinical Judaism, whose ancestors had been the Pharisees. To this present day, when Orthodox Jews gather for morning and evening prayers, they require a minyan, a minimum of 11 men to represent the community. (God is considered the 12^th member, representing the 12 patriarchs). Shekinah is maintained.

For Matthew’s community, in which Jewish as well as Gentile elements were present saw the Divine Presence in a different way. It is Matthew who reminds us in three places that God is with the people, through Jesus, Emmanuel, God is with us. First, we are told that the angel announced to St Joseph that the child to be born would be nicknamed Emmanuel (Mtt 1.23). At the end, the Risen One announces that He will be with His followers always, even until the end of the world. (Mtt 28.20) In the middle of the Gospel, in today’s reading, Jesus tells His Disciples (then and now) that “where 2 or 3 come together in (His) Name, (Jesus is) there with them.”

The gathering is not necessarily liturgical. When we gather for prayer, religious education, for social gatherings as a parish community, Catholics take Jesus at His Word. He is present in our midst.

It is important for us, Third Millennium Catholics in the USA, to recall the Christian Shekinah, viz., that Jesus is present when we gather in His Name. The paucity of the numbers (2 or 3) simply reminds us that we are a communal religion. Catholicism is meant to be lived with God and with others. Jesus is present whenever as few as two gather in His Name.

The most radical, basic form of Church is the house church, viz., your family. Religious psychologists tell us, again and again, that the most important level of church is the family, the church of 2 or 3 or more who live at your house. Parish is next, and so on up the line.

We celebrate Homecoming Sunday today as all our house churches “church (as a verb) together” in our celebration of the Lord’s Day. Our religious education programs open today as we gather in small groups in Jesus’ Name for class. After Masses, we celebrate our Bagels’ and Coffee as we gather in Jesus’ Name in Wallace.

This fall, we celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the Convocation of Vatican II by Blessed John XXIII on October 11, 1962. Many say that the universal call to holiness was the Spirit-filled insight that continues to move the Church toward Vatican III. Even, in the smallest of situations when we behave as Jesus’ followers in His Name, Jesus is present in our midst. He says so. Think about it. 090802 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 090102AD

September 1, 2002AD

23rd Sunday in Greentime

Liturgy 24 – 7 – 365

All summer, we have been excerpts from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bible scholars say that Paul’s letters are usually divided into two sections. First, Paul teaches a truth about life in Christ; this is usually in indicative mood. Second, Paul teaches how Christians are to behave as a result of the truth of faith; this is usually in the imperative mood.

We begin the teaching section of Romans today where Paul stresses how Christians in Rome and in Armonk are to behave every moment of our life. He asks us to respond
”in Christ” to the free gift of salvation purchased for us through our sharing in baptism into Christ Jesus.

Important to remember that Paul wants each Christian in Rome (in Armonk) to offer his (or her) body as a living sacrifice, as a daily, existential liturgical offering. He means it, too.

God knows that we have many opportunities to offer good moments as well as bad ones to God through a life in the Spirit energized to act in Christ in every situation. As we begin a psychological new year after a hazy, hot, humid and rain-deprived summer, let us ask for God’s Spirit to offer our lives as a daily liturgy.

Jesus tells us in his rebuttal of Peter’s (Rocky’s) (Everyone’s) suggestion that God’s Ways are not necessarily our ways. “You think not as God does, but as human beings do.”

As we begin a psychological new year and as we near the first anniversary of 9/11, you and I have many opportunities to respond in our minds and hearts to Jesus’ challenging teachings to Peter and to all of us as well, 1) Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself (herself), take up the cross and follow Me. 2) Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 3) What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit one’s life? 4) What can one give in exchange for one’s life?

People on mountain tops in Caesarea Philippi (like Rocky), in Rome (like Paul’s audience in Rome in 55 AD) and in Armonk (like you and me in Armonk in 2002 AD) need to hear the Word of God again and again. With God’s Help, let Armonk Catholics make a life-offering, as a liturgy our every moment, 24-7-365 for the gifts given us first by a faithful God in Christ Jesus. 090102 AD jfq