Weekly Reflection 062903AD

June 29, 2003AD

Feast of Sts Peter and Paul

Peter and Paul

Amazingly, Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died the same day. Amazingly, they died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Amazingly, according to church tradition, both St Peter and St Paul died the same day as well, June 29, c.67 AD.

Just as Adams and Jefferson were committed to colonial independence from England, they differed on the implications of the new republic. Just as Peter and Paul were committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they differed on the implications of the New Covenant.

Both agreed that Jesus is Lord (the earliest profession of faith or creed which we still proclaim). The Jewish Messiah was, indeed, the universal Savior of all. The Jesus Movement began as a sect within Judaism, which was very pluralistic at the time of Jesus. The first followers of Jesus spoke Aramaic or Hebrew. However, shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus, Greek speaking Jews (known as Hellenists) also came to follow Jesus. (St Stephen was an example of a Hellenist).

It was from the Hellenists that the universal outreach of the Gospel took off in the Gentile world. The problem arose when Gentiles (non-Jews) wanted to become part of the Jesus Movement as well. Did their baptism into Christ constitute their incorporation into Judaism as well? Some Christians said no. Gentiles had to become Jews first and follow the Law of Moses as well as to be baptized.

Others such as St Stephen and St John said that the question was moot. The Jesus movement was soon to be a separate entity from Judaism.

Peter and Paul were the moderates. They felt that baptism was sufficient for Gentiles. However, there had to be respect for the Torah (as it was re-interpreted by Jesus). Just about every strand which came to form the Christian Scriptures contains a form of the Royal Law, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

At Jerusalem, around 49 AD (20 years after the Resurrection), Paul and Barnabas presented the question to the Jerusalem Mother Church, whose leadership was Peter, John and James (the relative of the Lord). They decided that baptism was sufficient, However, respect for Jewish traditions had to be maintained for Jewish taboos against food used in pagan sacrifices, of strangled animals and from blood. Also, Jewish precepts on marriage degrees of relationship had to be respected.

However, the implications of this varied. At Antioch, when some strict Jewish Christians visited, Peter respected kosher laws not to upset them. Prior, Peter waived kosher laws when dining with Gentile Christians.

Paul challenged Peter’s inconsistency and said that you can’t have it both ways. There was a dispute in Antioch and it seems that Peter won the day. However, the question remained as it appears in Paul’s letters.

Peter and Paul were the moderates on the question and yet, it took a while for a consensus to develop. The tradition of the Church is that these two moderates who were also giants experienced reconciliation when Jesus called them to heaven on the same day, June 29, c. 67 AD.

There was indeed pluralism in the early Church. No need to fear it, because maybe this is God’s Way of drawing us to new insights. Peter and Paul both agreed that Jesus is Lord and that was what counted, in the first century and the twenty-first as well. 062903 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 062203AD

Sunday,, June 22, 2003AD

Corpus Christi

Today Is about Us

We celebrate this weekend the Solemnity of the Body of Christ (known as Corpus Christi, a holyday in many countries of the world).

The Body of Christ represents the following: 1) the Resurrected Body of Jesus Christ now; 2) the Church, Which is Christ’s Body in space and time; 3) the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is the outward sign of the Body of Christ Which constitutes the Church. It’s all about us.

At the start of another summer season, please remember that no matter where you are, GOD COMES FIRST, even on summer Sundays. The Sunday Eucharist is our way of re-connecting with God the Father, Jesus and with one another throughout the world and the ages. God is the Ground of our Being every moment of our life. Our personal God likes to be remembered and thanked periodically. Our God has told us that the Lord’s Day that particularly is significant for this purpose. Let’s not disappoint God.

“Familiarity breeds contempt”, as Courtney Randall says, and we should remember certain protocols. 1) Please try to come on time for Sunday Mass. (YOUNG PARENTS, WE ARE NOT SPEAKING ABOUT YOU HERE!! DO THE BEST YOU CAN). When adults consistently come late to the Sunday celebration, what might they be saying, not only about God, about the Word of God,( Which late arrivals are not hearing) and for the Church already gathered and whose hearing of the Word late arrivals might disturb?

In addition, bathroom needs should be addressed in advance, if possible. (Emergencies obviously occur.) However, if one anticipates a bathroom visit, perhaps another spot in the church closer to exits accessible to bathrooms might be the courteous thing to do. (Recently, at a Lutheran funeral which lasted 45 minutes, not one person left the church. Can Catholics match that or is there a physiological reason preventing Catholics from so doing?)

A sign of reverence, upon arrival at church, (either a genuflection or a bow to the tabernacle) is appropriate and traditional. However, after one has received the Eucharist in communion, there is no need to genuflect or reverence the tabernacle or altar because YOU HAVE NOW BECOME THE TABERNACLE YOURSELF.).

With God’s Help, make an effort to join in congregational singing. As St Augustine says, “The one who sings prays twice.”

Thank God and you, the Community of St Patrick in Armonk remarkably remains (95%, at least) until the end of Mass. We love it when you remain as long as you want.

With God’s Help, make an effort to join in congregational singing. As St Augustine says, “The one who sings prays twice.”

Our celebration of Corpus Christi is multivalent. The Eucharist unites us with Jesus’ disciples throughout the world and the ages. A reminder of our connection with some who risked life and limb at times for what is available at our convenience should make us more cognizant of the need that we never neglect our weekly gatherings or we downplay its significance in our lives. 062203 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 061703AD

June 17, 2003AD

A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words:

A Meditation for Trinity Sunday

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Weekly Reflection 060803AD

Sunday, June 10, 2003AD

Pentecost Sunday

Who’s in a Word?

Today, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the fiftieth day and the conclusion of Easter. We participate in the Paschal Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of the Lord during this 50 day, 7 week celebration in a special way. However, for a Catholic, it is always Easter. Indeed, as Pope John Paul tells us, “Every Sunday is Easter.”

We conclude the Lenten-Easter-Pentecost cycle today. The slogan for Ash Wednesday is “Remember that you are dust and unto dust, you shall return.” The slogan for Lent is “repent and believe in the Gospel.” The slogan for Easter Sunday is “Jesus is Lord”. The slogan for Pentecost is “Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father sent Me, so I send you.”

Can we focus on the Spirit today? The word for spirit in Hebrew is ruach (and it is a feminine noun). The word for spirit in Greek is pneuma (and it is a neuter noun). This is important because Hebrew and Greek are the two biblical languages. The word for spirit in Latin (not a biblical language) is spiritus (and this can be a masculine or feminine noun).

In the two biblical languages, the word for “spirit” is used in several ways. 1) It can refer to one’s life’s breathe. We know that from the Genesis creation story in which “YHWH formed man from the clay of the earth and breathed in his nostrils and man became living.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus breathed upon the disciples (all the group) not some of the group. 2) Spirit can refer to the wind or the air. In the Genesis creation story, “In the beginning, the earth was a formless abyss and the Spirit of God whirled above the waters.” In John’s Gospel, “the wind blows where it wills. We don’t know whence and whither it blows.” 3) Spirit can refer to the “energy” that God gives ordinary people to do extraordinary things. In the Hebrew Bible, frequently, the Spirit of God comes upon a prophet or a king. In the Christian Bible, the Spirit comes upon all on Pentecost.

It is appropriate that the person and the word for “Spirit” is multivalent. After all, we always need to remember that all human language (even inspired, biblical language) is inadequate to express totally the Mystery of God. It is refreshing to remember that we can use words only to a degree and that they point us in the direction of the Mystery of God and the human person’s relationship to the Mystery.

As we celebrate the conclusion of Easter today, this is the exactly why it takes us 50 days (not one day) (7 = perfection; 7x 7 = infinity), to celebrate what God has done for us through the call to snap out of it and to repent, our sharing in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus through baptism and the outpouring of the Spirit upon all (not some). Not one day would be sufficient to celebrate our share in Jesus Christ.

That is also why it is important for us to be born again and again and again because it was not just Easter once, but it is Easter once and for all as we continue to live our life in Christ. 060803 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 060103AD

Sunday, June 1, 2003AD

Seventh Sunday of Easter

What If?

Today, three words dominate our second reading. 1 John tells us, “God is Love and the person who remains in love remains in God and God in that person”. The three words are God, Love and remain. How are they applicable practically to the everyday life of a Catholic?

What do we mean by the word “God”? What do we mean by “Love”? What do weremain in Love and in God” mean?

Blessed Juliana of Norwich wrote back in the thirteenth century that while most Catholics could handle the idea that God was almighty and that God was omniscient, most could not fathom that God is Love. She asked how differently we might behave if we believed John’s words.

Certainly, Jesus wants us to be a community that celebrates God as Love as we deal with one another. Our community, however, is structured and sometimes, perhaps, structures become obstacles, if not ends, in themselves. Down through the course of history, structured communities, church and state, have sometimes idolized the structures meant to guarantee the communal life.

An example of this appears today in our first reading with the prayers and the casting of lots for the successor of Judas. The method of prayer and casting lots was not uncommon in the Hebrew tradition. Peter did not pull the idea out of a hat.

The number “12” had to be restored after the defection of Judas as a sign of God’s fidelity to Israel. The reason that the new member had to be a male was simply that Jesus had chosen 12 males as the restoration of the 12 Patriarchs in Israel’s tradition. The 12 were an audio-visual that God remained faithful to Israel by calling them to repentance.

Certainly, St Luke sets us up in the selection of Matthias as the replacement of Judas. He gives us three different names for his rival, Joseph, Justus and Barsabbas. With such nomenclature, and the mere mention of “Matthias” as the other candidate, one would anticipate the election of former, rather than the latter. God’s ways are not our ways.

The 120 present constituted the 11, Jesus’ relatives and friends, the women who had come up from Galilee with Jesus and Mary, His mother. During the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost, the group prayed and cast lots, expressing their trust in God to make the proper selection. The dark horse won.

If we want to maintain the apostolicity of our Church, perhaps, we might re-visit the idea of the “Matthias principle”. After conversation among the entire community, consultation and collaboration of the choice of worthy candidates for church leadership, Catholics could pray over and cast lots. If we are a community that really believed that God is almighty, omniscient and Love, then, we might trust God to make the selection for us. It has happened before. 060103 AD jfq