A Chair of Service

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Today in the Catholic Church we celebrate a chair. You heard that right. It is the chair of authority that is also the Chair of service. They go together — authority and service. We may also know it as Servant Leadership.

Let’s begin with the authority aspect of the chair. Jesus Himself said to Peter, “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19). We also see an example of keys being given to the steward by the king in the prophet Isaiah: “…he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house (Is 22:21b-23).

He will become a throne of honor! It is through this imagery in Isaiah that we can see how the authority Jesus is giving Peter in the Gospel is related to a chair. The meaning is security. One can sit and be safe. This is the place from which eternal Truth, the truth relating to God (and therefore that which truly matters), comes. It is solid. It is binding. This authority has also come with a promise: evil shall not ever overcome it.

Even more important than authority is the service aspect of the Chair. St. Peter tells us in his epistle that he is a presbyter among presbyters. He is a servant of the servants of God. Jesus gave another command to His apostles in the Gospel of Matthew: “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and that they exercise great authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Mt 20:25-27). Peter echoes the command of Jesus, saying, “Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock” (1 Pt 5:3).

This applies to anyone in leadership, whether a churchman, a political representative, a parent, a teacher. Something to remember for all leaders: You lead for the sake of those underneath you, not for your sake; you lead for their good, not yours.

This is why we celebrate the Chair of Peter. It is to remind us that everything we have comes from the King, the ultimate Servant, who died for us that we might live.  The authority of this chair unites us in Him.

Wednesday Audience of Pope Francis: Jesus is close to us in our weakness.

It is such a beautiful thing to contemplate: that God is closest to us in our weakness…in our sinfulness.  I feel like a broken record but Romans 5:8 has been so important to me in the last three years of my Christian journey: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Pope Francis hits it home with his Wednesday Audience.  Read it all.

Some gems:

“Jesus’ first public act is therefore participation in a choral prayer of the people, a prayer of the people who went to be baptised, a penitential prayer, in which everyone recognises him- or herself as a sinner…We never pray alone, we always pray with Jesus. He does not stay on the opposite side of the river – “I am righteous, you are sinners” – to mark His difference and distance from the disobedient people, but rather He immerses His feet in the same purifying waters. He acts as if He were a sinner.”

Jesus’ baptism was His first public death-to-self.  He leads us to the Father in every action, even Baptism.

“This is the unique greatness of Jesus’ prayer: the Holy Spirit takes possession of His person and the voice of the Father attests that He is the beloved, the Son in whom He fully reflects Himself.”

In the same way, we who are in Christ through Baptism share in His sonship.  We, too, are the beloved of the Father!

“Jesus did not descend into the waters of the Jordan for Himself, but for all of us. It was the entire people of God who went to the Jordan to pray, to ask for forgiveness, to receive that baptism of penance…Jesus gave us His own prayer, which is His loving dialogue with the Father. He gave it to us like a seed of the Trinity, which He wants to take root in our hearts. Let us welcome him! Let us welcome this gift, the gift of prayer. Always with Him. And we will not err.”

 

Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear! Amen.

 

Be Submissive: Could this be the Final Solution to all our ills? (Part I)

I confess to a purposefully provocative title. I believe that the first reading for today’s Mass, Eph 5:21-33, is the most misunderstood passage in Sacred Scripture. It is the passage that wives love to hate, and that husbands love (because they don’t hear much past the first two sentences). I have even teased priest-friends about how I can perceive fear in their eyes when preaching on it. This post will consist of four parts. Today I will cover the first sentence…yes only the first sentence, because it is important to be clear about the term: be subject to.

As teachers of the faith, when things are difficult we either seek to put on a positive spin, or we even gloss over the difficulty and hope no one will notice. This morning when discerning whether to write about this, I asked the Lord if I should take the time to attend Mass. I usually go on Tuesdays anyway, but I wanted to make sure this was part of God’s plan for me today.

“Listen to the priest with an open heart,” the Lord answered.

It was a good thing that this answer was so specific, because wouldn’t you know, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., as I was driving my kids to school, I was tempted multiple times NOT to go. But I remembered, “Listen to the priest with an open heart.” One must obey. In that aforementioned time period, the Lord helped me make some connections in my mind between the Sunday Gospel and today’s readings. These connections were confirmed by the homily I heard!

I was very grateful Jesus for speaking His Word to me in my heart, and through the priest at Mass. This is the way God speaks to all of us. We can perceive His truth in our hearts through discernment, and in union with others. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Mt 18:20). I felt like God was giving me permission to pursue this endeavor of writing on the most misunderstood passage in Scripture! In my opinion, it is also one of the most important.

On Sunday Jesus spoke of the Divine Law of love. First, love God. Second, love your neighbor as yourself. In chapter five of Ephesians St. Paul gives us some details on just how to do this. What kinds of things do we actually do to live the divine law of love?

“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). To “be subject to” (hypotassō, Gk) means all of the following things, biblically: to yield to one’s admonition or advice; to subject one’s self, obey, and; to arrange under, to subordinate. Notice that each definition implies a person’s own willingness for the action; it is not forced. This word is the same one used in Luke, after Jesus was found by His parents in the temple. “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to [hypotassō, Gk] them…” (Lk 2:51a). Jesus subjected himself to the authority of Mary and Joseph, with a willing heart. The next phrase “to one another” means that the subjection is a reciprocal decision. Right from the first line we see that any thoughts of power over the other, or even “balance of power,” are mutually exclusive to the reciprocal subordinating of self to another. Finally, “out of reverence for Christ” implies that the mutual subjection is done for the sake of something higher: reverence for God. Love of God is first in the Divine Law of love. It is therefore a necessary first principle of human love, and most especially, marital love, which I will write about in Part II.

In the practical, real-life sense this one sentence is exactly what Pope Francis preached about during the Sunday Angelus: “And love for neighbour, which is also called fraternal charity, consists in closeness, listening, sharing, caring for others. And so often we neglect to listen to others because it is boring or because it takes up our time, or [we neglect] to accompany them, to support them in their suffering, in their trials…” I believe that to listen to someone is the beginning of loving others; it is the first gift of self — the first subordination. When the Pope speaks of sharing he is talking about mutual reverence — a decision by each participant in the relationship to “subject one’s self” to the other.  This choice, made in the will, is the beginning of love.

The Next Installment — Mutual Subjection: Sanctification in Marriage (Part II).

Pope Francis: Adore the Lord

Yesterday during the Sunday Angelus, as Pope Francis taught on the principle commandment of the Divine Law, (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”), he says that prayer in Adoration is the best way to express our personal love for God.  We are already pretty good at offering thanks and interceding, but adoration sometimes takes a back seat.

Why would he emphasize this?

I think the Holy Father is trying to convey two things:

1) Adoration alone gives God His due worship, and adoration is for the sake of loving.  When we approach the Lord in faith for the purpose of loving Him a new dimension is added to our prayers of blessing, thanksgiving, praise, and supplication. “Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator…Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications” (CCC 2628). An analogy can be made in terms of time and space: a picture drawn on a piece of paper provides a two dimensional representation.  A third dimension is added in a sculpture with clay.  In essence, adoration adds depth to our prayer; we are loving God for the sake of loving Him.

2) To add even another dimension there is another commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. This would be like adding movement (change in time) to our picture or clay model. Love of neighbor consists in closeness, in caring, in sharing — a going out of oneself. Love of neighbor requires a listening heart, and a willingness to spend time with others.  The Holy Father challenges us about how we spend our time: are we looking at our watches (or our phones) when we should be listening to others? (I am guilty). Further, do we care so much about the time when we are gossiping or criticizing?  

This is not love!  Not of our neighbor, nor of ourselves.

Lord, convert my heart.  May I be teachable.

Our neighbor is an image of God.  We can adore the presence of God who lives in our neighbor by our attention, closeness, and prayer. The Holy Father reminds us that the wellspring of love is God himself. We are called to be in communion with His love in every moment, adoring His presence within us through loving our neighbor, in whom He is also present. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23).

The Pope tells us that Jesus’ divine mercy calls us to begin anew each day! 

Lord, make it so.

Pope Francis: Voice of Love

The idea that Pope Francis is the voice of love in our time has grown on me the past few years. I think this is an important realization. I confess that this Pope was very confusing to me at first. When he came to be the leader of the Catholic Church, I was burying myself (in my master’s program) in the teachings of Vatican II and previous popes, especially John Paul II and Benedict. It was at that time that I asked the Lord to help me to see things from His point of view. Crying out in faith, I knew in my heart that there was something else for me to learn from this new Pope. I asked the Lord to help me learn from Pope Francis the things that He wanted me to know. I know today that the Lord wants to teach me about His love for all people.

We learn from Jesus that the disposition of our hearts matters a great deal. As I study the Gospels, I imagine Jesus saying to us, “See Me for who I am. I am LOVE.”

Can we accept this? Can we accept His love?

Let’s first look at what Jesus does in His ministry. He seeks out sinners. He eats with them. He heals them. He says, “Follow me.” It was clear throughout Jesus’ ministry that He was open and welcoming to all. There was no illness, no sinfulness, and no disposition of heart that He cast away from Himself. This is the Jesus I am coming to know. This is also the Pope I am coming to know. He is the Pastor who calls us to faith, to live in hope, and to live in love. He will cast away no one. The question is, what is my disposition toward him?

Here are some of the dispositions of heart that we see in the Gospels:

“And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him” (Mark 3:2).
“The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11).
“And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10:2).

All of this brings me to the news of this week about Pope Francis. The first headline I read was “Pope Francis has become the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions.”

If I were to read this predisposed to accuse and to test, I might be thinking, “Here we go again!” Then I might proceed to inform myself further in order to criticize. Here are some examples:

From Crisis Magazine (source):
“Francis’s comments are a kind of diabolical inversion of Humanae Vitae.”
“At some level, it doesn’t matter. Whether the Pope is consciously or accidentally dissenting from the Church, he is dissenting from the Church. There’s no question about that.”

From Cardinal Burke (source):
“It is a source of deepest sadness and pressing pastoral concern that the private opinions regarding civil unions attributed to Pope Francis and reported with so much emphasis by the press do not correspond to the constant teaching of the Church.”

The headline from a Carl Olson article (source):
“The deeply flawed opportunism of Pope Francis”

Msgr. Charles Pope (source):
“Many Catholics are once again grieved that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has chosen to indiscreetly express his personal views on a critical moral issue of our day.”

I point these out because I question the disposition of heart towards the Holy Father from these sources. Is their disposition one of seeking understanding? These are just a few articles, of many, from Catholic sources that I formerly respected. Today I believe that they lead me away from the Church.

We are in a very confusing time. Who am I to trust for news and analysis in these times?

I will repeat the question in the light of the words of Peter in the Gospel of John, after Jesus’ seemingly scandalous discourse about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

I choose to go to His Vicar.  I wonder where faith is if one cannot trust that the Lord is trying to teach us something through His leader on earth. And I wonder if it is possible to understand this teaching if my disposition to the words of the Holy Father are an assumption of inversion or dissent, private opinion or opportunism. Are they seeking to find fault, or is God speaking through them?

Does God speak to everyone in their hearts? Absolutely.

God speaks, but sometimes we do not hear Him, because we cut ourselves off from His word with our hardness of heart. I am often faced with my own personal hardness of heart, the kind that will not even ask the right questions. Perhaps this is a reason God inspired Luke to give Jesus some last words that we do not hear in the other Gospels: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

None of us knows what we are doing, which is why we need a Savior. None of us is well, but many of us think we are. We cling to the law that is outside of ourselves, but if we do this, it can harden our hearts. Jesus fulfills the law with Life and Love. In my heart I see Him saying to the person in front of Him (to me and you), “I love you first and foremost. Whatever you have done — I can and will forgive. Whatever your burdens are — I can and will carry them. Whatever ails you — I can and will heal.”

And then He says, “You just need to let me.”

I believe the Holy Father is teaching us to look at others like this. I don’t believe for a minute that Pope Francis is leading us astray. Why? Because I have listened to him. I have asked God to give me a heart that seeks to understand, and through the Holy Father’s words I am reminded of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels. How many of us know that the Pope teaches twice a week in the Angelus on Sunday and in the Wednesday audience? How many of us have heard his teaching on prayer with the Psalms the last two weeks, and his exposition on the social teaching of the Church in the previous months? How many of us heard all of his homilies throughout the Covid-crisis lockdown? How many of us have witnessed that he is truly a man of prayer?

Do I first seek to listen and hear, or do I first seek to find fault? That is a question we all must ask ourselves.

The Pope is a follower of Christ, and is an example of one who first seeks to love.

I would be remiss if I didn’t provide examples of this. I urge everyone to first pray for an open heart — one that seeks to understand the Holy Father’s voice of Love. Equip yourselves with the truth from his mouth, not from others’ perceptions of him. The evidence is clear.

Wednesday Audience Transcripts: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2020.index.html#audiences

Wednesday Audience Video (translation into English): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/papal-audience.html

Pope Homilies Transcripts: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/papal-audience.html

Pope Homilies Video (translation into English): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxIsefyl9g9A5SGWA4FvGIA

Other articles by authors who seek to understand first:
Dr. Pia de Solenni
Dr. Dawn Eden Goldstein and Dr. Robert Fastiggi
Dr. Pedro Gabriel
Fr. Matthew Schneider

Best yet: Eve Tushnet

The Weeds and the Wheat

A meditation on the readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are the wheat. From the beginning we were created “very good” (Gen 1:31). Let us consider different types of weeds that are among us. Some are extremely invasive. Some not so much. Some even have pretty flowers that may look good from afar. When we get closer we can see that they are weeds. They will eventually take over that which surrounds them.

There are a few ways to combat them. There are “shock and awe” herbicides — these not only kill the weeds, but they will kill everything around them. There are selective herbicides that are designed to kill only the weeds and nothing else around them. These herbicides indeed work, but sometimes there are unforeseen consequences to using them. Often these herbicides will poison the soil or water in the future, or they are poisonous to other types of life. The perfect selective herbicide has not been created. In fact, it cannot, because none of us can foresee the ultimate consequences of our selective killing.

There is another way — to sow more good seed. This is the way of the Lord. Sowing more good seed takes patience. It takes Love. It takes willingness to suffer with the weeds, and to suffer for those surrounded by them.

Ultimately, it takes Wisdom. Lady Wisdom. It takes trust in her Source.

True Wisdom is from the Lord. One who has her recognizes such. One who has her recognizes that the Lord is the only source of justice and is Master of all.

His power is manifest in weakness, or at least what the world deems as weakness.

His kindness, patience, and “lenience” (Wis 12:16) is hope for those who suffer amidst the weeds — those who may even feel attached to them.

All in His time. All will be well.

Listen to the Holy Father on the Weeds and the Wheat…and Patience.

We all bleed the same.

Moses’ prayer in the first reading on Trinity Sunday is as follows:

“If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.”

We are indeed a stiff-necked people.  We don’t listen.  We wonder why there is violence.  We know not what we are doing. We are even violent in the face of violence, thinking that violence will stop if we can just “win.”  All the while we lose sight of what love really is.

Go and read the Gospels.  Read them. Pray with them, and read them some more.  Ask God for an open mind and heart.  Ask for the courage to love.  To really love.  Again, go and read the Gospels. Read Mark from start to finish. Then read John from start to finish.

How do we know what love is?  Love is what we see on a crucifix.  Love is Who we see on a crucifix. The Holy Father tweeted today: “There are two Christian responses to escape the spiral of violence: prayer and the gift of self.”

Love is a gift of self. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 to really know the qualities of love.  True love bears fruit, namely, the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  St. Paul tells us what those are too: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23).

When we produce this fruit we will promote and find within ourselves:

Peace amidst persecution.

A peaceful and gentle call to repentance when encountering sinfulness, even the gravest, and especially in ourselves.

We will know at the depths of our being that darkness is overcome by the Light and Love is Light.

We will be patient: with sinners, including and especially ourselves — and with those who consistently challenge us in bad faith, ie.,“to test.”

We will always speak love and goodness, with kindness and joy.

We will be always faithful, trusting in the Father and His eternal presence and action in our life. 

We will be self-controlled, living in the virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. 

These are the discerning criteria of a Christian.  Every Christian should ask, “Is this the fruit I produce?”

Again, Paul said, “Against these there is no law.” 

For your discernment:  Who in our modern politics and media exhibits this?  Who in our Church exhibits this?

Find them and follow them.  To follow Christ is life and gain.  For one and for all.

The change that must come is in our hearts. Our hearts of stone must be surrendered to Christ so He can turn them into hearts of flesh. 

Ressourcement

Ressourcement  — a return to the beginning, the source, the foundation.

This is a word to which I never knew the meaning until I began my theology studies in 2013.  In the context of the Catholic Church, it is a movement of theologians in the 20th Century to return to the sources of the Christian faith as a foundation for doing theology, namely Sacred Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers.  For more information about this movement consider this link about Nouvelle Théologie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouvelle_th%C3%A9ologie.

Ressourcement makes perfect sense to me.

Go to the source!  Don’t formulate ideas or opinions based on what someone says someone said. 

Unfortunately this is exactly what we do when we allow the news media, whatever label it is given, to inform our minds.  A little curiosity about sources is a good thing.  Let’s consider ressourcement in the context of who we listen to today.

The pandemic has been a blessing to me personally in multiple ways.  I am grateful that we have been healthy so far! One important blessing is that I have made a concerted effort to listen to the source, the Vicar of Christ, our Holy Father — Pope Francis.  His daily Masses have been shared on YouTube; there are even some mini-videos of him providing the daily Mass intentions.  I go listen to his homilies after I listen to the daily readings every morning.

It has been a treasure.(Click for link to Vatican YouTube)

There is so much out there that is so critical of Pope Francis.  Some of it comes even from people for whom I have great respect.  Some is not just criticism of ideas, but mean-spirited criticism of a person.  It is a great reminder to me of my own sinfulness, and of how I can become lost in my own opinions and ideas.  I wonder when I read some people’s comments, or hear about some of the headlines, if these people have actually listened to the source.

If we aren’t careful we can lose sight of what is true.  Unfortunately I know this personally, and my conscience often prompts me to repent.  By God’s grace I repent.  There but for the grace of God go I.

I say this not because I am good.  Only God is good — even Jesus told us this!  I say this because there is a fundamental error that we can make when we do not go to the source: we reject the dignity of the human person when we do not listen in order to hear them.

If we make a judgement about a person’s motives we are being disrespectful of their God-given dignity.  We have already turned down the sound — we don’t listen to them.  We listen only to what we have previously conceived in our minds. I have been guilty of this too many times.

There are particular Catholic news websites that are quite embarrassing to me as a Catholic.  It is said that people will know that we are Christians by our love.  I have always been taught that truth and love are not mutually exclusive.  St. Paul was very clear on this in 1 Cor 13:1-13.  More often then not, if I read an article from one of these sites I ask myself, “Where is the love?”  Or “Is this article bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit?”  

I urge all of us to listen to the source directly.  Especially when the source is il Papa!