Reflection 082910

If You Want an Upgrade…. e e A-list??
Whenever Jesus went for dinner, we know
that something was going to happen. Biblical scholars
point out that the strategy of Jesus was to
“break bread” with whomever He could. It was a
subtle, yet powerful, reminder that God wants to be
with us, with all of us.
Luke 14 has been called “Luke’s Symposium”.
It prompted one Stepinac student to ask if
Jesus had a weight problem. The student correctly
observed, “The Man was always eating.”
In Jesus’ world, one only dined with one’s
closest family and friends, as a sign of intimacy.
That Jesus would eat with anybody who invited Him
was a sign that God is for all, not some.
As usual, Jesus invites us to share His alternate
worldview that frequently turns convention on
its head. In the marginalized world in which Jesus
dwelt in which the elite (in the top 2% or so of society)
feasted and 90% fended as best they could, Jesus’
table fellowship was quite subversive. He would
eat at a rich man’s and then, a poor man’s tables.
He would eat with 2 single women, Martha
and Mary, against convention. He would eat with
those who did or did not observe the Law. On several
occasions, He apparently told everyone to sit
down on the grass and He made sure that all had
something to eat and all ate the same, viz., bread
and fish.
Jesus spoke of wedding receptions, lunches,
dinners and banquets as God-given opportunities to
get together. Moreover, as with so much of what
Jesus did to rock conventional wisdom, so also was
His guest list. With an eye to the honor-shame system
that still pervades the Mediterranean world to
this day, people would be honored to be invited to a
“jolly-do” of a rich patron because this would increase
the honor of the invitee. However, there
were strings attached. The invitee had to return the
favor accordingly, if not a meal, then a return favor
to the host.
The usual crowd of people that one might
expect on a guest list would have been one’s friends,
one’s brothers, one’s relatives or one’s rich
neighbors. Once again, Jesus rocks the boat. With
His launching the Kingdom of God, Jesus tells all
His hearers that the guest list has to change. No
longer is the invitation list meant to be a way for
social entrenchment or advancement. Now the
guest list is to include the poor, the blind, the deaf
and the crippled, the ones “out of the loop”, the
ones who cannot return the favor.
Why? It is what God wants. Jesus fits neatly
into the biblical traditional of prophetic ethical
monotheism. If there is one God, then all are in direct
relationship with this God as sons and daughters.
The biblical triad included the widow, orphan
and the alien. Such people are still with us
today. They are frequently stigmatized as single
mothers, dependent children, foreigners to our
shores from different backgrounds than the mainstream’s.
In a so-called God-fearing nation, how do
we reciprocate the invitation to others as a thank
you to God for inviting us?
A word quite avant garde in some circles
these days is the word “spirituality”. When New
Agers and/ or the author of those dumb “Chicken
Soup” and/or those into “self-improvement” use the
term, it is au currant. When Catholics use it, it doesn’t
speak to us, turning us off.
“Spirituality, Catholic style” can be understood
several ways. 1) It means the human search
for meaning. 2) It means an effort to make reality
coherent. 3) It means a way of living in proper relationship
in, with and through Transcendence with
all that is in our universe. 4) It is a response to the
restlessness that is characteristic of the human condition.
It is the humble realization that you are not
the “center of the universe”. Someone else is.
Fr Jim Martin in his popular book, the Jesuit
Guide to (Almost) Everything, cites theologians Rev
Henri Nouwen and Rev Dean Brackley (who took the
place of one of the martyred and murdered Jesuits
in El Salvador) in their listing of a bogus “Upward
Mobility” driven by our human longing for transcendence
and sold to Western Civilization, especially in
our own nation. The term in response to this syndrome
is “Downward Mobility.” There are several
steps in which good people get trapped in the futile
search for transcendence. Highlighting a few of the
Twelve Steps in Downward Mobility, 1) The rugged
individualism and consumerism leads to the ladder
as the dominant model for our culture. (Think about
it!) 2) At the top of the ladder is the mythical figure
— the celebrity, the rich man or woman, the model.
At the bottom of the ladder is the “loser”. (Think
about it.) 3) One’s security depends on climbing.
(Think about it.) 4) The social model is not simply a
ladder but a pyramid, in which divisions are formed
not just between people, but also between groups.
(Think about it.) 5) Those on top work to maintain
their position and keep those on the bottom in
place. (Think about it.) 6) Social class, race, gender,
sexual orientation, education, physical appearance
define the pyramid. (Think about it.) 7) Competition
breeds not trust and cooperation, but fear, mistrust,
and loneliness. (Think about that one a lot.)
Jesus’ methodology of dining with anyone
and everyone who would eat with Him was indicative
of the way that God feels about all God’s children,
viz., everyone counts, not some more than
others, but everyone. In these days of so much intolerance
and incivility to one another, Jesus’ methodology
and rationale might be worth reconsidering
in light of the assumptions of so many these days
about who is in and who is out. Jesus’ weight problem
settled that one a long time ago. The challenge
continues. 082910AD jfq

Reflection 080810AD

Fr Jim Martin, SJ’s latest read, The Jesuit Guide to Just about Everything, is well named simply because it is. In a few chapters, he explains why the Spirituality of St Ignatius Loyola is (and has been) a useful tool for many through the years.
He shares a few prayer techniques that every Catholic should use. He speaks of how the three traditional vows that Jesuits (and all religious orders) take, viz., chastity, obedience and poverty are really applicable to every Catholic, no matter what his or her “high road to holiness” (as Vatican II calls “your vocation”, either married, dedicated single, clergy or religious.)
Chastity is a call to every human person, no matter what. We are called to be faithful in our relationships (especially spouse and family). He offers four ways that helps our closest relationships. 1) Listen compassionately. Marriage preparation courses teach young couples, at least, the beginning of redemptive listening. Never presume that your partner knows what you are thinking, nor presume that you know what your partner is thinking. 2) Be present to your relationships. Simply, the gift of “Presence”, even if there is no verbal communication. 3) Loving freely one’s spouse and family is a third. 4) Don’t hold grudges, nor bring up old hurts in disagreements.
Obedience is a call to “listening to God” (Obedience is based on two Latin words, “hear” and from “above”.) God makes demands of us all in gratitude for all the gifts that we have received and always receive. Obedience means sometimes acceptance of situations that we would prefer to avoid. St Teresa of Avila urge us to ask God “to give us the courage to change what can be changed, the serenity to accept the things that cannot be changed and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Poverty seems the most bizarre or at least, most “un-American”, of all. Catholics need to remind themselves that the usage of words vary according to context. Material poverty? Who needs it? Catholics always need to remember that poverty in spirit, which Jesus demands of His believers, means “acknowledging, with God’s Help, that God is the Central Point of Reference. That is the start and end of the journey.”
What Jesus might mean in today’s Gospel is the recognition, that 24-7-365, God is the Central Point of Reference in our lives. The realization is that God ultimately runs your show. Adam and Eve, our first parents, were also the “first control freaks”, viz., they wanted to be like God. (Note the sly, suggestive, subtle temptation by the Tempter!) As we saw last Sunday, the rich fool, whose favorite word was “I”, had an addiction to build, build, build. Addictions are something that we all have in one way or another. (We are all control freaks like Adam and Eve; it is a family trait.
Father Martin notices three pathologies that a consumeristic culture can nurture. 1) Possessions cost not only money, but your time. 2) Our consumerist culture runs on comparison and/ or competition. (We tend to keep up with the Jones or whomever!) 3) The more a consumer society produces, the more we will want or be encouraged to want, and the more unhappy we will be. The conclusion is ironic. Freeing yourself from the need to have more and more means that you may, paradoxically, be more satisfied. 700 years ago, Meister Eckhardt taught, “Less is better”. Tell the kids and think about it yourself. 080810AD -- jfq