CRISIS OF CREDIBILITY

The Bishops are meeting in Rome this week to discuss a serious subject in need of greater truth and authentic love, the clerical sexual abuse crisis as well as the stories of cover-up and the failure of leadership.  This topic has been a source of anger and anguish among American Catholics for decades, a source rekindled and intensified over the past year.  Pope Francis calls it a “crisis of credibility” as he writes in his letter to the U.S. bishops:

“The Church's credibility has been seriously undercut and diminished by these sins and crimes, but even more by the efforts made to deny or conceal them. This has led to a growing sense of uncertainty, distrust and vulnerability among the faithful. As we know, the mentality that would cover things up, far from helping to resolve conflicts, enabled them to fester and cause even greater harm to the network of relationships that today we are called to heal and restore.”

I believe today’s feast and the scriptures gives us some insight into an appropriate response, not just for the Church’s bishops, but for all the faithful to begin the healing and restoration of credibility. 

Three versus’ jumped out at me as I contemplated todays readings.  In our entrance antiphon we hear: “The Lord says to Simon Peter: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and, once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:32) The Lord was well aware that, at the hour of the cross, lack of unity, division and dispersion would be the greatest temptations faced by his disciples, attitudes that would distort and hinder their mission.  We share in this human experience of temptation for doubt and fear where anger leads to distrust and often disengagement.  Yet, there is hope.  Jesus said, “once you have turned back”, he knew Peter’s heart, he knew Peter would reconcile and become stronger in faith and leadership to guide his brothers and sit in what we celebrate today, the Chair of Peter.

The next verse was the Gospel Acclamation, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18) Our Church has experienced many many crisis’ over its 2000-year history.  Scandal, disharmony, division, yet here we are gathered around this sacred table seeking reconciliation, relationship and unity with our Lord and Savior by sharing in his sacred meal.

The final verse is, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:19) Healing comes, not through policies alone, nor by a bishop or priest authoritatively laying down the law, nor by angry parishioner demands or running away from the Church, healing comes through a clear, decisive, and lived focus on our Gospel mission. Unity is key to this mission and it often begins with forgiveness.  If you are still worried about the credibility of the Church hear Pope Francis’ words, “Credibility will be the fruit of a united body that, while acknowledging our sinfulness and limitations, is at the same time capable of preaching the need for conversion.”

AN ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE

I know it is very early in the morning, but I ask you humor me in participating in a word association exercise.   You know how it works, I say a word and you reply back with an appropriate companion word.  So, I say: “Jesus”, you say? “Christ”; I say: “Holy”, you say? “Spirit”; I say: “Original”, you say? “SIN”.

This is our Christian educated response, right to Original Sin.  Saint Pope John Paul II’s response is radically different in his writings on The Theology of the Body.  He talks of 4 “original” experiences in the garden: Original Solitude; Original Unity; Original Nakedness; and then Original Sin.

In Original Solitude the man is alone with God and enjoys a unique relationship with God.  Yet in this solitude God notices something is lacking. “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

In Original Unity God remedies what is lacking by creating Eve.  Not only is Adam alone with God, he is alone with a unique being he freely gives himself to as a life partner.

Original Nakedness is a symbol of freedom in communication.  For love to be real, it must be freely given and freely accepted. Adam and Eve experienced no barriers or difficulties in their life together, until we find them in scripture today. 

Original Sin is an act of mistrust and pride. People in society today find it hard to get along with each other, to accept each other, to be generous, and to give of themselves. It is sin that takes away our experience of freedom.  To restore the experiences of original solitude, unity, and nakedness, we must be open to God’s ever-present action in our everyday lives.  We cannot hide from Him.  We also need to be open one another in community.  We can’t do it in solitude and by ourselves.

The deaf man’s friends brought him to Jesus because they believed Jesus could restore the man, to give him what he needed: hearing and clear speech.  By bringing their friend to Jesus, the friends do for him what they could not do themselves.

In our time, we must speak up for those who have no voice. I’m not talking about those with a speech impediment. I’m thinking of those invisible people who no one pays attention to or responds to their needs. The unborn, the orphan, the poor, the powerless, the immigrant—all who need someone to plead the cause for justice. They need people whose voices have power and will be heard. THEY NEED US.

What keeps us from fighting for right and justice? Is it fear of criticism and rejection? Regardless of our fears, through this Eucharist feast, God gives us the strength we need to act justly and non-violently to fight for what is right and just.

CATCHING MEN

[1]A man was sitting at his desk one morning, when his partner came running into the office, all out of breath.  “You won’t believe this, I was almost killed a minute ago!  I had just walked out of the deli, where I buy my egg sandwich every morning.  A police car, with its sirens and lights going, was chasing a car down the street.  They rammed the other car, then everyone jumped out and started shooting.  I was right in the line of fire!  I could hear the bullets whizzing overhead, windows were shattering, cars were careening onto the sidewalk, and everybody was running for cover.  Let me tell you, I’m lucky to be alive!” 

The other fellow was quiet for a moment and then he replied.  “So, you eat an egg sandwich every morning?”[2]

I’m wondering, if some days, we tend to be like the man who was sitting at his desk.  We get so lost in our daily tasks, what’s on our own minds or visions of things down the road of life that we miss the point of here and now.  For us specifically, have we become so focused on the work of formation requirements of reading, assignments, grades, reports & evaluations, as well as our secular jobs and parish ministries, and oh yeah, spending time with our families and household responsibilities, that we are missing what the real call is to the diaconate? 

It is very easy to become lost in ourselves, focused on doing, and even complacent in our daily routines that we the loose sight of our call to be evangelizing disciples.  In our desire to serve or to be ‘the fixer’ could it be that our behavior suggests, to the average parishioner, that the Church’s ministries and mission should be reserved for the select few who know best?  In his Apostolic Exhortation, “On Evangelization in the Modern World” Pope Paul VI writes, “It is the whole Church that receives the mission to evangelize.”[3]

Yet, in general, many Catholics just don’t feel they are very good at evangelization for several reasons.  The common reasons I hear, “I’m unworthy,” “I’m a sinner”.  Today’s scriptures highlight the calling of three men Isaiah, Paul, and Peter.  Each express their reservations about their call because of their sinfulness and feelings of unworthiness.  Isaiah knows he is “a man of unclean lips” (Is 6:5) living among an unclean people.  Paul considers himself “as one born abnormally” (1 Cor 15:8), because he persecuted so many Christians before getting knocked off his horse, and Peter realizing ‘who he is’ asks Jesus to “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” (Lk 5:8) Yet, despite these admissions and feelings God calls each to service of God’s people.  Jesus tells Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” (Lk 5:10) Peter immediately leaves everything behind to learn to fish in a new way with Jesus. 

This is our calling, with one difference, we are not asked to necessarily leave everything behind.  The deacon is called from the world, to be formed in knowledge of self, family life, and the Church, so he can effectively proclaim the Kingdom of God, in word and deed, a living witness to Gospel values, in the world that he will return.  Pope Paul VI in restoring the permanent diaconate says, “The deacon is a driving force of the Church’s service toward the local Christian community … a living icon of Christ the servant … linked with the missionary dimension of the Church.”  We are called to be missionary disciples, evangelize to a people who, all too often, are very distracted by worldly things and may only hear, we eat an egg sandwich every morning. 

Our call to discipleship is a call to be instigators of ministry and animators of the Church’s mission.  We are to invite all the baptized into action.  By our lived example, we hope that Pope Paul VI expresses, that “the person who has been evangelized goes onto evangelize others.  Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the Kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.”[4]

If you’re still struggling with a sense unworthiness, do not fear, it’s normal.  Learn to abandon yourself and truly enter into the mystery of this Eucharistic feast.  It is here that our lips will be touched, not by a burning ember, but by the real Body and Blood of our Lord.  While we will exclaim, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…”  God is telling us, “Be not afraid, from now on you will be catching men.”

---

[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition © 1986.  Scriptures: Is 6:1-2A, 3-8; 1 Cor 15:1-15; Lk 5:1-11.

[2] Clark, Dennis. Sunday Morning 2. The Church of the Nativity. 2001 Print

[3] Paul, Pope VI. On Evangelization in the Modern World. #15 The Word Among Us. 1975 Print

[4] Senior, Donald. The Catholic Study Bible. Oxford University Press, 2006 Print

LIVING AN UNDIVIDED LIFE

In his book “The Hidden Wholeness” Parker Palmer talks about living an ‘undivided life’. He uses the imagery of a person’s “back-stage” and “on-stage” lives. Our back-stage life comprises our inner ideas, intuition, feelings, values and faith and our on-stage life is characterized by our desired image, influence, and impact. The person living a divided life behaves as the situation demands; at home they can live their back-stage lives in relative safety, once they leave the home, they put on their different masks to blend and behave to the expectations of the cultural norms to earn the acceptance of the crowd. Often at church they make their best effort to live a balance of back-stage values and on-stage behaviors.

This is where we meet Herod in the today’s gospel. “Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.” Herod’s fear offers us some insight to his back-stage feelings and intuition. “When he heard [John] speak, he was very much perplexed, yet [Herod] liked to listen to him.” It seems that Herod was feeling the guilt of knowing he did wrong by marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. Unfortunately, Herod’s on-stage life was stronger. His public image, especially after making a public vow, was more important than defending his relationship with John.

Do we live a divided life? We hear, in the letter to the Hebrews, a reminder of the desired Christian back-stage values. How do we live these values consistently across the many settings of our daily lives (home, work, social, and church)? Do we recognize the feelings, like Herod, when we don’t?

To live an ‘undivided life’ one must live out of their authentic self. The self that has the confidence to “be” who God created us to be, a holy people who knows that “the Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid”. Often, when we live this undivided life, we are not the most popular people with those who have bought into the significant cultural shifts concerning the definition of marriage, respect of life from conception to natural death, and the dignity of every human person.

As we approach this Eucharistic mystery, “remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.” The apostles, saints, and other holy people in your life. "Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith," undivided across every facet of your life.

CHOICES

[1]I’ve been following on social media the debate to many of the hot button topics in the news recently. Immigration & “The Wall,” state abortion laws, and who’s entering the next presidential race, just to name a few. My social media accounts are populated with mostly clergy, (priests & deacons) and church folk who consider themselves good Catholics & Christian people. Yet our community divide on these issues is tremendous. Not just the issues but in the way some have chosen to respond in their comments leaves me wondering about the gospel values professed.

St. Paul writing to a Corinthian community suffering from similar divisions. Paul’s answer to the infighting was to engage a metaphor from the political arena, that of concord and love. He admonishes them that love builds up. Love is a binding force in the community, an antidote to schism. He is encouraging them to, “Be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, and that every act should be done with love.”[2] (1 Cor 16:13-14) 

Life is about choices. Our God in his loving wisdom has graced us with free will to make choices. Choices that include or exclude, are life-giving or death-dealing, choices that build up or tear down, unite or divide. Consider the people of Sodom & Gomorrah, their choice resulted in destruction and death, on the other hand, the people of Nineveh’s choice resulted in repentance and life. 

In today’s Gospel Jesus returns home on entering the synagogue to teach as was his custom. The hometown crowd on hearing him question how such honorable teaching could come from one born to a lowly artisan. The question, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” (Lk 4:22) seems to be an attempt to belittle Jesus’ birth status. Jesus response poses the possibility that outsiders, Gentiles, may be better able to judge the honor of a prophet than those who know think they know him best. The community’s idea of God was of a domesticated deity who was not supposed to shake them out of their complacency. There’s the belief that if we just keep the law then God will remain with them. They question who this son of a carpenter is to challenge them in their beliefs, to the point they led him out of town ready to toss him over a cliff! 

Jesus was not the last religious leader to meet this kind of opposition. Most people who go to places of worship want to be comforted and consoled from the divisiveness of the world. We enjoy familiar ritual, we feel affirmed in our values and strengthened in our convictions in this sacred space. When we are challenged to think of God and Jesus in new ways, to embrace new styles of prayer and worship, to respond to His call to mission by reaching out to non-Catholics and the poor, or to choose new ways of responding to topics and people that challenge us, it can be threatening.[3]

Care must be given that we, in our efforts to communicate our values, don’t let our response become our own sin. You’ve heard the adage, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” St. Thomas Aquinas says, “It is lawful to hate the sin in one’s brother … but we cannot hate our brother’s nature … without sin.” So, the strife between us who judge and our brothers and sisters who sin is a strife between two loves. Do we love them more than they love their sins, or do we love them less than they love their sins? The strongest love will always win in the end.[4]

In 1991 I found myself in a small group of 18 men and women representing every armed service, being trained to be human relations advisers. The topic was religion with the conversation centered on the very issues mentioned earlier. When they turned to me, the only professed Catholic, I remember my response vividly. I believe, despite the law of the land, God has graced us with the free will to choose a path to life or death, I choose life. He graces us with the wisdom to choose our how we will respond, to those who oppose would my views, with words that build-up or tear-down a person, I choose to build-up to avoid creating enmity where we would be unable to grow together. God gives us the courage to choose to be a witness of His mercy, forgiveness, and love, a choice that can unite or divide a community, I choose community unity. My faith tradition also allows for the choice to be reconciled, should, through my chosen words or actions, cause death in anyway, tear-down a person, or cause divide in the community, to seek forgiveness and be reconciled with God and those I’d offended through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This choice is made possible only because Jesus, fully human, made a choice in the garden, on the night of his passion. His choice, to fully trust God, was an act of love beyond all understanding. 

As we prepare to share in his expression of love, let us be as St. Paul suggests to “be on guard [especially with our tongue & keyboard], stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong [in our Christian witness], and choose to let our every [word and act] be done with love.” (1 Cor 16:13-14) 

Let the love that burns in our hearts, as we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus himself, be carried into the debates and challenges of our everyday lives. All for the glory of our heavenly Father who is Love.

---

[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition © 1986.  Scriptures: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30.

[2] Living the Word, Year of Luke © 2018 by Laurie Brink, O.P. and Paul Colloton, O.S.F.S.

[3] Sundays with Jesus, Reflections for the Year of Luke, James DiGiacomo, SJ © 2006.

[4] Practical Theology, Spiritual Direction from Saint Thomas Aquinas, by Peter Kreeft © 2014. Ignatius Press.

SEEDS OF HOPE

I came across a story about a proud Bronx native who stumbled into a teaching profession, only to discover he had a passion and knack for engaging the hardest-to-reach students. Two decades into his career he discovered the power of a plant to delight, nurture, and inspire curiosity in everyone from tattooed gang members to wide-eyed tots. Along the way, with passion, purpose, and hope, he learned some critical lessons and a few handy metaphors about greening the classroom and growing something greater.

It all starts with soil. Our communities are our soil. If a plant is going to thrive, it needs to take root in a healthy growing medium. The best soil for growing young minds and bodies is a thriving, supportive community. In every community around the world, this soil needs to be respected, refreshed, replenished, watered, and tended.

Seeds come next. For this teacher, he tells his students they are his seeds. They are packed with potential. His goal is to plant his seeds in the most fertile setting possible so they are able to cultivate their talents and realize their dreams. He is determined to grow something greater with the greatest natural resource in the world: the untapped human potential in low-status communities.

Then comes the harvest. His students’ efforts have yielded more than fifty thousand pounds of vegetables, along with improved attendance, reduced disciplinary issues, better academic results, increased health outcomes, and the immeasurable joy of sharing their bounty with others. They cook what we grow, too, in classrooms where the distance from farm to table is measured in footsteps. By following his own advice about healthier eating, he lost more than a hundred pounds.

He’d like to say it all started with a grand plan to transform public education, but it didn’t. His ultimate journey was to create a living, thriving, green classroom. In the process there’s been many surprising turns, setbacks, and heartbreak. But also, many unexpected partnerships he calls collisions, connections, and co-learnings. [1]

“Remember the days of past … [all] you endured”.  The fields you trod stirring the soil of the communities you’ve lived, the seeds you’ve scattered in word and deed, and the measure you’ve loved that watered and fertilized the soil and seeds.  Often, we do not get to see or recognize the growth as it occurs.  Yet for those who are faithful disciples, God does provide glimpses of the fruit born of these seeds of hope.

---

[1] How One Teacher Is Planting Seeds of Hope in One of the Poorest Places in the Country, by Stephen Ritz. May 25, 2017.  Webpage: https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-one-teacher-is-planting-seeds-of-hope-in-one-of-the-poorest-places-in-the-country-da5af704de15