Weekly Reflection 112909AD

Sunday November 29, 2009AD

First Sunday of Advent

Think and Thank and Think Again

A New York theologian, Sister Elizabeth Johnson, is a professor at Fordham. She has represented the Catholic Church in different dialogues with religious traditions throughout the years. Several years ago, she spoke to the USA Catholic Bishops and suggested to them that they consider the possibility of adding something to our church calendar to celebrate the gift of creation, God’s primordial revelation. Her proposal did not meet with success. Perhaps, we can take her suggestion informally this particular weekend, bracketed by Thanksgiving Day and the First Sunday of Advent.

We speak now of a “Common Creation Story”, viz., most seem to accept the fact that the universe had a beginning. (Both astrophysics and the Book of Genesis agree with that reality.) We might think of the universe, focusing particularly on our wonderful “garden planet”, as a basic reason for which to say thanks to the Creator. We bring the religious dimension directly into our TXG when we recall that St Paul wrote 2,000 years ago, that Christ is the pattern of creation.

(Traditionally, TXG Day has been a day in which we tended to concentrate on the blessings that God bestows upon us (not all of us, though, as we need to be reminded of periodically) here in the USA. There is no reason why we cannot broaden our base, not stopping at national boundaries. The entire world is God’s gift to us. Why not focus on the gift of the planet this TXG weekend?)

A few years ago, a Saudi Arabian astronaut was aboard the space shuttle going to the orbiting space station. He commented that in his wonder at the planet from the space shuttle, the first day he was taken with the vision of Saudi Arabia from space. The third day, he was taken with the vision of his continent. On the fifth day, he was taken with the vision of the entire Earth.

Most of us will probably not have the opportunity to view the planet from space. Still, peering out the window of a flight over the Atlantic or Pacific doesn’t hurt either. We are the first generation in history to have such views of the world that have been there for thousands of years. As Psalm 19 proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of the Lord; the sky proclaims its Builder’s craft. One day to the next conveys the message; one night to the next imparts the knowledge.”

Several years ago, Fr Thomas Berry, stirred up a mini-controversy when he said that people raised in an urban environment were deprived of a realistic view of the universe. He cited the fact that people in cities could not look up into the heavens at night to realize how truly vast the universe is. The interference of artificial lighting in cities hinders the process. On the contrary, those who lived in more rural settings had a natural advantage on appreciating the vastness and the wonder of the universe.

Jesus’ words in the Gospel today take on an even deeper meaning, “The powers of the heavens will be shaken.” As a result, Jesus urges us,“ Be vigilant at all times.”

Maybe, the fact that we do not wonder sufficiently at the universe contributes to the fact that there is so much waste in the world as we live today. In our common life in the world today, we might remember the formula, EARTH > environment, economics, energy. Fr Berry said it is common sense to remember, as a rule of thumb, “Trees do not need us; however, we need trees.”

In 1983, our USA Catholic Bishops coined a new expression that has caught on among conscientious Catholics and others. They spoke of the new moment in human history. What they meant in 1983 was that since 1965, approximately, the two superpowers of the times, the USA and the USSR, had the capacity to wage MAD, viz., Mutually Assured Destruction. They said, “People today are capable of undoing (on this planet) what has been doing for the past 4 billion years in the creation of the earth.” In the 26 years which have elapsed since they spoke those prophetic words, the new moment has expanded to the impact of environmental pollution. Who thought that, for example, cutting down the rainforest in Brazil could affect our weather all over the world? As Father Berry also said, “In 1912, there were 1 million autos in the world. In 2000, there are over a billion. When did the automobile become an environmental, energy and/ or economic problem? What about when China and India get on the road as well in greater numbers?

Following Sister Elizabeth Johnson’s suggestion, maybe we can focus this TXG weekend on giving thanx for the wonder of Creation (look up into the skies in awe), with the author of Psalm 19, the particular beauty of the “garden planet” of the solar system, if not the universe, our own nation and the bounty in our own lives. At the same time, give thanx in wonder. However, remember Jesus warning when we think of the waste that our complacency can be causing without even realizing it. 112909AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 112209AD

November 22, 2009AD

Christ the King

God Is The Story

Our daily Mass community gathers daily from Monday through Friday to get the day off to a good start. Daily, we offer the entire community as an opportunity to enhance our weekly gathering on the Lord’s Day. Daily Mass provides time to worship our Creator and Sustainer in a less formal, regimented way. Try to join us when you can. Several of the younger members of the community join us periodically and we are always glad when you are here. (Because of concern for the three E’s, viz., economy, ecology and energy, we are gathered in the Ladychapel, adjacent to the Religious Education Complex.)

We try with God’s Help to focus on Vatican’s emphasis upon the People of God and the tripartite call to all Christians to be priestly, prophetic and pastoral. Our daily community tries to respond to the call of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), called by Blessed John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. We stress the three principles of Vatican II through an adherence to aggiornamiento (bringing up to date) and convivienza (enjoying God’s Presence) and resourcement (getting back to recover our apostolic roots).

One of the steps that our daily community tries to do is to restore the three biblical languages of Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek. The biblical languages are already represented in the use of words such as Amen (Hebrew for “So be it”.); Alleluia (Hebrew for “Praise, the God of Life” ; Kyrie eleison (Greek for “Lord, have mercy”).

Our daily community tries to learn the Sign of the Cross in Greek, citing Mtt 28.19. We say it at the beginning and the end of the Mass. It was not impossible and practice helps.

One of the perqs of our resourcement in Greek is to remind our daily community that we come into an awareness of the Divine Presence always in us in a real way by our change of language. It becomes an exercise in reminding ourselves of the Reality of God in Which we live, and move and have our being, every moment of our life. The Greek Sign of the Cross is a reminder of a different, a Catholic view of reality that is wholistically applicable every moment of our lives.

Humans live in three domes of reality. The first dome of reality is “My World”. We try to answer the question, “Who am I?” We focus on “my story”, a legitimate effort to live a private, small life as we search for significance through power, prestige and possessions. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with the effort so long as we follow the rules. Pope John Paul II said, “there are no moral free zones.” The temptation here becomes egoism, viz., “I am the center of the universe. (There is something wrong with you for your not realizing it.)”

The second dome of reality is “Our World”. We focus on “our story.” We try to answer the question, “Who are we?” We try to find our place in the universe through our group identities and loyalties that expand our self-identification. Our identity markers become our ethnicity, our race, our religion, our group identities. Once more, there is nothing wrong with the effort so long as we follow the rules. Again, Pope John Paul’s caveat kicks in. “There are no moral free zones.” The temptation here becomes cultural narcissism, viz., “We are the center of the universe (There is something wrong with you if you are not like us.)”

Most people, however, move back and forth between these two domes. Most do not realize that there is a third dome.

The third dome of reality is “the Universe”, viz., God’s world, Reality “THE STORY”. We try to answer the question, “What is the reality of which I and we are parts?” We try to find our place in the universe through our recognition of and immersion in a process that is always operative, both in the life of the universe and in your place in the universe.

What are the truths that Christ Jesus assures us through His life, death and resurrection? 1) Certainly, God is still creating the universe and still creating you as part of the universe. God is not finished with the universe and God is not finished with you. 2) Certainly, God has engaged the universe in the process of ascent, descent and transformation. Scientifically, the process is named “the conservation of energy or of matter, viz., nothing is lost in the universe. God is still creating the universe and still creating you as part of the universe. Theologically, the process is called “the Paschal Mystery.” Christ Jesus lived and died and experienced the transformation of Resurrection. Catholic Christians believe that Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn or pattern of creation and the firstborn of the dead, as we sing in Paul’s hymn in Colossians. Catholics believe that Christ Jesus lives in each of us and that each of us lives in Christ Jesus. What happens in Him, happens in the universe and happens in me.

After 3,200 years, Judaeo-Christians still puzzle over the Sacred Name revealed to Moses when Moses was called to his vocation. What does YHWH mean? There are so many translations that nobody knows for sure. However, we know that the Sacred Name is related to the Hebrew verb to be, to live, to become, to exist. Here, we try to wonder at the Sacred Name by translating it in a variety of ways,God of Life, God beyond space and time, yet God here and now, God of Love. Words can never capture the full meaning.

That is why it is useful that our daily community reminds ourselves of the Divine Reality, the Big Picture, the Great I AM, “in Which we live and move and have our being,” when we gather for daily Mass. By a shift of language, we recall that we live in a reality that ultimately is Mystery, something infinitely knowable and infinitely unknowable, AT THE VERY SAME TIME.

On this concluding Sunday in our Church year, ask yourself how much God has drawn you more clearly in Dome Three Consciousness. As we move into the future, remember the process. All the more reason to give thanx this Thursday and always!!!! 112209AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 111509AD

Sunday, November 15, 2009AD

33^rd Sunday in Green

Did Jesus Say That?

Catholic biblical theologians have been writing about the historical Jesus with gusto and perspicacity for several years. Father John Meier has published 4 volumes so far of A Marginal Jew, a search for the “Jesus of history”, the bruta facta of His life.

One of the determining criterion used by Father Meier, a New York priest teaching at Notre Dame, is used by other biblical theologians as well. It is known as the “criterion of embarrassment”, viz., deeds and/or sayings of Jesus that would not be made up later on because such deeds and/or sayings were embarrassing to Christians celebrating His death and Resurrection.

A prime example of this appears at the conclusion of our Gospel today. “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” No New Testament author and/or community would have added such a statement in which the Lord professed not to know something about in the emerging Jesus Tradition. Yet, He spoke that day unaware of about the future.

The time in which Jesus lived and died and rose was turbulent. Later, in the same first century, the time in which St Mark wrote his gospel was also a turbulent time. The Jews had revolted against Roman oppression in the early 60’s and word was out that a huge invading army was on its way or had arrived outside the walls of Jerusalem. The Jesus Movement had undergone a savage persecution in Roma, after the great fire of July, 64 AD. In addition, three pivotal leaders of the Jesus Movement had met their death in Christ in the 60’s, viz., Peter and Paul in Roma and James, the relative of Jesus, the head of the Jerusalem Church. Also, in one year, Rome had seen three Emperors, Nero, Otho and Galba.

With all that had befallen them, the Jesus Movement had to ask, “How much longer can this go on? Is there any end in sight?” Many think that St Mark penned his inspired words to strengthen communities in strife. Recall how we have heard on several past Sundays the “Doctrine of the Cross Revealed.” Jesus tells His followers, then and now, that no one said that the Jesus Movement and the faith it involves it would be easy. The Cross confronts every human person in some shape or form at some time. There is no escape. (It is known as the universal Paschal Mystery.)

Still, there is the possibility of transformation. As St Paul asserts so strongly in the Romans 8, passim, written about 57 AD, to folks on whom the roof was going to collapse 7 years later in the persecution after the great fire in Rome, July 64AD, “I consider the sufferings of the present nothing compared to the glory to be revealed in us…We know that all things work for good for those who love God…For I am convinced that neither death nor life…nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How humbling and consoling it is for us today as we realize that we don’t have all the answers. (Sometimes, the more arrogant among need to be reminded as well that we don’t even know how to formulate the questions.) In its ancient days, the Israelites thought that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was literally the center of the universe. Later, others came to think that the earth was the center of the universe. Still, later, others came to think that the sun is the center of the universe. Now we realize that our solar system is just a small part of a vaster cosmos that is still in the process of cosmogenesis. (Some still need to make the transition from all of this that we, humans, are not the center of the universe. Rather, the Creating, Redeeming and Vivifying God revealed in Jesus Christ is the Driving Force or Center of the Universe.

Many years ago, German Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner, asked the question, “What would happen to the human race if the word “God” were eliminated in human language?” (In many ways, atheism has tried to do this with its debunking of theism, viz., anthropomorphic ways of describing God (usually, to one’s own satisfaction and in one’s own likeness).

Rahner’s conclusion was that eventually, humans would have to come with a new word to describe what we mean by “God”. In the late-1960’s, a movement grew called the “God is Dead Movement”. In response to the movement, a book appeared, “God Is Not Quite Dead Yet.” The book said that the drive to Transcendence built into human consciousness, which is oriented to an insatiable thirst for both knowledge and love is something that cannot be denied for long by everyone. Rahner called it the existential drive to transcendence. Traditionally, this is the idea of Grace, available to all. You cannot deny its reality for long. Nature will not be ignored!

Even if Jesus admitted that He did not know the day or the hour, He teaches all Roman Christians (and Armonk Christians as well) to hang on tight and always trust in God. He did. With His Help, we can too. 111509AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 110809AD

Sunday, November 8, 2009AD

32^nd Sunday in Greentime

What’s a Lepta?

One of the most famous vignettes in Jesus’ life is our Gospel this weekend as we hear the story of the Widow’s Mite. The familiarity of the story belies its controversial interpretations even after twenty centuries.

St Mark juxtaposed two incidents today when he speaks of the widows in close proximity to one another. Jesus berates those who thrive on the offerings of widows and then, Jesus salutes the widow’s act of faith. Jesus’ negative assessment of religious functionaries is a challenge to all religious leaders then and now, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish, Islamic et al.

The actions that Jesus highlighted were their parading around in long robes, their taking the best seats at functions and their devouring the houses of widows. Jesus has taken the gloves off on this one. As an outsider, He challenges the religious institution on its own turf, viz., the temple.

Institutional religion, like adult life, has two phases, viz., 1) making its mark and 2) making leaps of faith in the Holy Mystery (that Catholics call God.) Recent biblical criticism stresses the fact that, by and large, most of the various strains of pluralistic Judaism at the time of Jesus might have been painted with broad strokes that were not totally fair.

First of all, there is a debate over whether the story of the widow’s mite is an actual event in the last week of Jesus’ life or a parable that Jesus told the last week of His life in the Temple. If it were, indeed, an actual event, Jesus was making an observation that was quite obvious. The worshipers at the Temple, indeed, contributed to its upkeep by their donations. However, the insight of Jesus challenges much, then as well as now, of conventional religious wisdom. As a matter of fact, the generosity of the affluent comes out of their affluence and as a result, in terms of finances, the widow’s two lepta, amounting to a quarter of one cent is literally “a drop in the bucket.”

However, there are those who see the story of the widow’s mite as a parable that Jesus told in the temple. (Even in both non- Jewish Jewish folklore, there were stories of a similar drift. The almsgiving of the poor are more valuable, qualitatively, then the almsgiving of the affluent. )

Whether the vignette describes an actual incident or a parable that Jesus told, the stress in the story is the same. In a radical (basic) way, the widow’s action denotes three characteristics of disciples, First, she had received the gift of poverty in spirit. She knew that, ultimately, everything was based on God’s Presence in our lives. (How about us?) One may not see it as such, but that was the bottom line, if we are honest with ourselves. Second, she viewed her life as a totality ultimately under God’s Sovereign Sway. (How about us?) Third, her offering was an act of faith that even though she had nothing, she believed that God would take care of her. (How about us?)

The widow demonstrates poverty in spirit, viz., what Jesus spoke about last Sunday in the First Beatitude. “Blessed is that person who acknowledges, when all is said and done, with God’s Help, that God is the Centre of that person’s life because that person is moving in the right direction.” She believed that ultimately everything is based on God’s Presence in our lives.

750 years ago, St Thomas Aquinas spoke of the principle of causality. God ultimately is the First Cause of all things. God is the Reason why all things exist. However, God, the First Cause, works frequently (if not usually) through secondary causes. Our world does not see God’s Hand at work in the vicissitudes of life; still, it is God’s Presence both in and beyond us at work. Somehow, the widow intuited this in faith. Using the biblical notion, the widow would be a member of the Anavim YHWH (the Poor Ones of YHWH); she felt that God would provide for her.

However, the picture had changed by the time that St Mark wrote His Gospel, around the year 70AD. The temple that the widow was supporting had recently been destroyed by the marauding Roman army. In effect, St Mark knew what Jesus might have intuited. The Temple was not going to last. A few days later that week, on Good Friday, St Mark tells us that the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God was with God’s People, including the widow, in a new way. Whatever happened the widow, the fact that the story has been preserved means that God, indeed, vindicated the widow and all who acknowledge God, with God’s Help, as the Centre of their lives. She and they are moving in the right direction. Are we included in their ranks? 110809AD jfq

Weekly Reflection 110109AD

November 1, 2009AD

All Saints Day

What Does Poor in Spirit Mean?

Last evening, October 31st (aka Halloween) begins our Catholic month of Remember. From now, until after Thanksgiving, we remember the Christian harvest as we recall the dead in Christ (particularly today and tomorrow), as well as God’s blessings to us here and now on TXG Day) as well as our anticipation, even now but not yet, of God’s final victory over what oppresses us on Christ the King Sunday at the end of the month.

Today’s festival of All Saints Day originally began as a Christian adaptation of an old Celtic festival on Nov 1, known as Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, go figure!! Traditional European folk religion believed that the gates of heaven were only opened once a year, viz., on Samhain, the onset of winter in Celtic countries.

On this Celtic New Year’s Eve, all those who had died entered into heaven on this one festival when the gates of heaven were opened annually.

In the eighth century, the traditional Celtic festival was Christianized as an opportunity to commemorate all those who had died in Christ, putting up the good fight. It is a splendid time to call to mind all those whom we have known and loved and whom we commend to YHWH today and always.

We hear once again today the Beatitudes as our Gospel reading. It is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Mtt 5-7). It has been said that the first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit because the Kingdom of God is theirs, ” is the key to the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are the key to the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the key to the Gospel of St Matthew.

However, the word “poor” is a turnoff in colloquial English. Who would want to be poor under any circumstances? What does “poor in spirit” mean to complicate the matter?

The words that Jesus might have used when He spoke of the poor were varied. One word anav means material poverty. A second word that could have been used was dal, which means “bent over or stooped” (with the burden of poverty. Either word would not have been very attractive things to which a blessing was attached. However, Jesus wants us to consider Himself as the Guarantor of the promise.

Jesus’ insight is simply that ultimately when one honestly considers one’s life, everything in life is a gift to us or predicated on a gift to us. Even, when one gets very serious about one’s existence, each and every moment of our life is a gift to us. Nobody consulted us on our desire to come into this world. Nobody should consult is on our desire to leave this world. Not only are the moments of birth and death sacred moments in which God’s Presence can be felt. So also when one reflects on the incomprehensible, indefinable, ineffable dimensions of our lives each and every second of our life, we become cognizant of the Divine Immanence (Presence) and Transcendence of our lives.

Everything that happens between conception and death is a gift when one reflects upon it. One’s response can only be cosmic awe, humility and honest realization that, indeed, all is gift or based on a gift. We are, indeed, poor when we realize that all is a gift. Whether we are affluent or not (in the material sense), in God’s purview, God’s daughters and sons are all poor. All we have are God’s gifts.

In addition, just as we stand before God with empty hands, we have taken God’s gifts for granted or as entitlements. Before long, we abuse the gifts and find ourselves not only with empty hands, but with dirty hands as well.

What Jesus means in the first Beatitude is that, with God’s Help, when we have a healthy self-assessment, then we have accepted the gift of poverty in spirit. We know our human condition and our place in God’s universe. God energizes us to live in the consciousness that Jesus calls the Kingdom of God, even now, but not yet.

Years ago, one young theologian at Stepinac summed up the first Beatitude in colloquial English, “Blessed is that person, who acknowledges, with God’s Help, that God is the Center of that person’s life because that person is traveling on the right track.” There is a consolation in the realization of another student that one does not have to be a ten in everything to be loved by God. Quoting the words of the prophet Micah, thank God, so many of those whose memory we call to mind today and throughout the month of “Remember”, all those tried, with God’s Help, to do the right, to love the good and to walk humbly in the Divine Presence each “now” of their lives.

They touched our lives when they were with us. According to the ancient Celts (and many of their descendents), they still touch our lives. We don’t see them as we did before; they still impact and inspire our lives as they live on in our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Happy Samhain! Happy All Saints Day! Its implications are deeper than most think. 110109AD jfq