Weekly Reflection 103005AD

Sunday, October 30, 2005AD – 31^st Sunday, Greentime

Are You Talkin’ to Me?

We know from the Gospels that Jesus and some of the religious authorities of His time locked horns on several occasions. As we reach Jerusalem with Jesus and the 12 in Matthew’s Gospel, we recall the expulsion of the money changers from the temple which occurred shortly after that Palm Sunday procession into the city. Recall that, during this event, Jesus was proclaimed as “David’s Son” and “Hosannas” were proclaimed to celebrate His arrival into the Holy City. The gospels which we have been hearing for the past several Sundays involved a challenge to what Jesus was doing from various segments of the religious elite.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes to work on the scribes and Pharisees, who tried to interpret the Law of Moses for the people in an overly-scrupulously effort (from their own viewpoint) to guarantee the stability of the Jewish religion. (It is important to know that whatever Jesus said in the confrontation reported in today’s Gospel was past down through several generations before the Author of the First Gospel composed Mtt 23, whence our Gospel today arises.) During that time, in 70 AD, the Roman armies had destroyed the city of Jerusalem, including the Jerusalem Temple. As a result, after the cataclysm of 70 AD, there were only two viable alternatives for Jews in a “temple-less” setting. 1) The Judaism of the scribes and Pharisees had now morphed into rabbinical Judaism. 2) The Jewish Messiah People (aka Christians) who followed Jesus of Nazareth were still a force within Judaism. (In addition, this group now had affiliations with Gentiles who were, in other parts of the world, accepting Jesus as Lord.

There was an obvious clash between these two remaining Jewish groups after 70 AD. The scribes and Pharisees did all in the power to purify and strengthen Judaism in the post-70 AD days. Since so many Gentiles had now become affiliated with Christianity and since Christians were taking Jesus’ Gospel of non-violence seriously, relations were strained between rabbinical Judaism and Christianity. This strain is reflected in today’s Gospel.

It is important for us to remember the perennial nature of Jesus’ denunciations of those who use religion in any way for self-aggrandizement. For the Jewish authorities then, the important thing was to maintain at all costs the Jewish traditions. In the contemporary world, all “religious” people are under a caution from this Gospel today. Whenever the religion becomes an idol in itself, Jesus’ denunciations start to kick in again. To paraphrase Jesus in another place, “Religion exists for the human person; the human person does not exist for religion.” In these traumatic days, it is important for all, (practicing Catholics, included) to heed Jesus warnings to the religionists of His time. Look at it either way. We are either sinful converts or converted sinners. All of us!! 103005 AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 102305AD

Sunday October 23, 2005AD – 30^th Sunday, Greentime

A Thought to Take to Heart

We hear Jesus’ response to the question of the Great Commandment. Jesus gives a unique spin in His response, when He plugs into a tenet of what should be a “global ethic”. It is wise to listen to Jesus and hear Him again, maybe, for the first time. Jesus combines 2 of the best known Hebrew scriptures. He quotes the Shema Y’israel” where the faithful Jew acknowledges that God is God alone Who demands a total response for all.

Reflecting more and more on Jesus’ Gospel, we learn that He teaches us that God is in us now and we are in God now. We call this the Divine Indwelling. How much our fast paced culture moves at a non-stop, noisy and numbing pace that we tend not even to have the time to reflect that every moment of life is a religious moment because God is always in us and we are always in God. There is Transcendence, Infinity and Mystery in human existence. As one theologian said, “The human person is a question that only the Mystery of God can answer adequately.”

A Christian monk named Dorotheos spoke of what has been called “Dorotheos’ circle”. The monk describes our lives as a circle in which God is the central, focal point. All of us begin our lives on the circumference of the circle. As we draw closer to the Divine Center, we draw closer to all the other spots of the circle as well. The reverse is also true. The closer we draw to the other spots of the circle, the closer we draw to the Divine Center.

Maybe, this is why Jesus fused the Shema Y’israel with the great commandment to “love one’s neighbor as oneself.” By loving our neighbor’s, we draw closer to God.

The three great religions of the West all contain a variation of what Catholics call the Golden Rule from the Sermon on the Mount in St Matthew’s Gospel. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. For this is the Law and the prophets.” (Mtt 7.12). In the Jewish Talmud, the pious Jew is told, “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.” Islamic teaching is similar, “Do unto all men as they should do unto you, and reject for others what you would reject for yourselves.” Similar versions of the Golden Rule appear in Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism and Taoism.

Even if all religions cannot agree on basic theologies, certainly they all agree on a basic “global ethic”. It seems clear that all want to be treated with basic humanity; therefore, it is incumbent upon all to treat others with basic humanity as well.

It will take nations and ethnic groups longer to arrive at this consensus, but please God, for the sake of the future of our human family, we have to try. One European theologian said that if, after their turbulent history, especially two debacles in the twentieth century, France and Germany can get along, then so can other traditional rivals.

Personally, each of us can commit each day to heed Jesus’ fusion of Love of God and Love of Neighbor. It is hope for the future. Try, with His Help, to live the Shema and the Global Ethic as the fusion or integration of our own lives. It makes sense to love the Creator by loving and treating creation as we would be treated. 102305AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 101605AD

Sunday, October 16, 2005AD -- 29^th Sunday, Green

To God What Belongs to God

It was risky business for Jesus to proclaim the Coming of the Kingdom of the God (the God of Life). Such talk raised the hackles of the ruling power of Rome. It ultimately brought Him to Good Friday (and Easter Sunday)!

For the Pharisees, (liberal) Jewish laymen to join forces with the Herodians (lackeys of Rome’s flunkey King Herod), Jesus must have upset many folks across the spectrum. What Jesus proclaimed in His famous teaching today is that what is Caesar’s is Caesar’s, but WHAT IS GOD’S IS GOD’S. By the juxtaposition of Caesar with God, God clearly is the One about Whom Jesus is concerned. God (the God of Life) Alone is Absolute. All else is relativized by the God of Life.

The implications of this confronted St Ambrose of Milan and St Augustine of Hippo back in the beginning of the fifth century. They tried to grapple with the question of the relationship between the demands of God and the demands of an officially Catholic Roman Empire (after 395 AD). What happens when the Catholic Empire makes demands that possibly conflict with the demands of the God of Life? How does one render to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s if it conflicts with rendering to God what is God’s?

The just war theory was used in 2002 AD by the Pope John Paul II in correspondence with government leaders on the Iraq question, took shape in response to the legitimate question raised then and now.

Sts Ambrose and Augustine taught that for a war to be just all the following conditions had to be met: 1) it must be a war of self-defense; 2) it must be a last resort; 3) it must be declared by a legitimate authority; 4) the good accomplished must exceed any harm done; 5) there must be a reasonable chance for victory; 6) just means must be used.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII spoke of the dangers of ABC (atomic, biological, chemical) Warfare In the modern era. In addition, Blessed Pope John XXIII wrote in Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) on Holy Thursday, 1963, “In this age of ours which prides itself on such much development, it is irrational to think that modern warfare is an apt means of settling dispute”. Pope Paul VI spoke his famous words at his United Nations speech in October, 1965, “No more war, war never again.” Pope John Paul II spoke often about war in the modern world. He said, “In the past it was possible to destroy your opponent’s town. Now, you can destroy your neighbor’s planet.”

In the past year, Catholics have commented on the startling relevance of Sunday readings to what was happening in the world and how to react. It continues today.

In 2005AD let us pause and re-evaluate our attitudes. What does it mean today to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and TO G0OD WHAT IS GOD’S? 101605AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 100905AD

Sun, Oct 9, 2005AD -- 28^th Sunday, Greentime

“In Christ Jesus” Means More Than We Know

“In Christ Jesus” is a term which St Paul uses over 150 times (twice this weekend) in his letters. What exactly does the term mean to St Paul and his adult audience who heard his letters proclaimed in house churches in the 1st century as well as here in Armonk in the 21^st century?

Humble folks realize that the more we know, the more we know that we don’t know. This is known as the medieval doctrine of ignorantia docta , viz., “learned ignorance”. (Oriental traditions call the concept “Beginner’s Wisdom”.) When someone tells you that he or she has cracked the language about the Infinite or our relationship with the Infinite, be careful! All language about the Mystery of God is ultimately inadequate. Humble folks know that liberating truth.

Quoting St Paul, Pope Benedict writes that Jesus is the Exemplar of Humanity, the Last Adam. As a result, the blueprint of Jesus exists in each person. Members of the Jesus Movement are called to lives of inclusive election, by which we proclaim the permeation of Creation by Christ Jesus to all whom we meet.

Maybe, this is what St Paul means so frequently when he tells his Jesus Movement communities that they exist in Christ Jesus. Maybe, this is what the Christian Church means when we use the triad expression, “Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ.”

In the week gone by, the Church saluted St Francis, who, in the opinion of many, caught the vibrational field of Christ Jesus and proclaimed it so authentically that even after 800 years, the man from Assisi’s prophetic attitude continues to evolve.

During the Middle Ages, apparently enough people joined the Third Order of St Francis, a lay community that lived in the world that evolving city-states had to take into account that large numbers of their citizenry were sharing an alternate worldview, the vision of the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Jesus and updated by the Franciscan Movement.

In the 21^st century, each of us has all it takes (with God’s Help) to be Honorary Franciscans as well. Let us hope that most Catholics really do want to live peacefully and non-violently with one another, never returning injury for injury. Let us hope that most Catholics really want economic justice for one another and that we don’t blame the poor for being poor. Let us hope that most Catholics really want to live with all men and women as brothers and sisters, not as stratified societies based on status, class, wealth, race, or ethnicity. Finally, let us hope that most Catholics really want to do something about the fact that the ocean is slowly heating up around us and that more hurricanes and thinner ozone layers in the future might be caused by global warming.

Catholic ranks are already filled with men and women like this. We are all already “Honorary Franciscans”, Third Order Members even now.

St Francis caught the vibrational field in Christ Jesus through and with and in Whom we all live. We can catch Jesus’ vibes as well by paying attention more to the implications of the adult message that Jesus proclaims and the mediation of that message by people like St Paul and St Francis. As a simple sign of our intention, join those in our parish who pray the Prayer of St Francis at least 5x a day. Catch the Spirit! Feel the Vibes of Jesus! With God’s Help, go for the Big Picture! 100905AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 100205AD

Sunday, October 2, 2005AD -- 27^th Sunday, Greentime

Don’t Worry, Be Happy???

As St Paul speaks to the adult Christian community in Philippi, he could have used a song made popular a few years ago by Bobby McFaren, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. The song is still popular and still cheers us up. However, how many take its lyrics seriously? Also, does St Paul mean the same thing in his words to the Catholics of Philippi (and Armonk?)

St Paul understood that life in Christ is an ongoing project. In our early life, we get our “roots and wings” from our families and church and communities. In early adulthood, most of us “build our tower” and make our mark in life. In later adulthood, we must make “leaps of faith again and again” into the vicissitudes of life.

St Paul understood at all stages of life, Catholics need to hear the Gospel again and again. It is not that the Gospel changes; it is that we change as we journey through life. As Pope John Paul said, “We all need to hear the Gospel again – for the first time.”

The central mystery of the universe is the Paschal Mystery. Christ Jesus, the archetype of creation, experienced the Paschal Mystery, viz., death and Resurrection in Christ. Through Him, Catholics (and all others, although they probably don’t realize it) experience death and Resurrection again and again and again. All, especially Catholics, need to “leap in faith”, to “let go and let God”, to “bear the pains that are a part of every life” (even in the American Dream).

In the midst of life in Philippi and in Armonk, St Paul tells us, “Christ Jesus is near “. We recall Jesus’ own Words a few Sundays ago, when He says, “Wherever two or more gather in My Name, I am present with them.” Indeed, His nickname in St Matthew’s Gospel is “Emmanuel, God is with us”. Catholics believe that these words are true on good days as well as bad.

Curiously, we hear from Paul that two women were feuding in the Philippian Catholic community. He tells them to lighten up. We know that these folks also experienced alienation from outsiders as well as other turmoils in life. We can safely assume that they experienced disappointments, rejections, absurdities, fatal events in the life of family and friends, as well as the other turmoils of life. Sadly, we know from other Pauline letters that adult Catholics experienced in their relationships, at times, addictions, infidelity, and abuse. Yet, St Paul tells these folks in Christ to “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God…will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.

The fact is that these adult Philippian Catholics did not laugh St Paul out of town. They preserved this letter, as well as their Philippian Catholic Community, who still were around long after St Paul was martyred in Roma. These adult Catholics in Christ took Paul’s words seriously and with God’s Help, tried to live their everyday lives in the realization that in all things, “Christ Jesus is near” and that in Christ Jesus, they experienced the Paschal Mystery of death and Resurrection in Christ.

Both Jesus and St Paul saw the Gospel to be a Way of Life for grownups. Probably, as Philippian Christians rode their chariots home from the Eucharist each Saturday evening, they tried to explain Paul’s words to their children through their words and through their actions. In and with and through Christ, we have to do the same. 100205AD jfq