In the kenosis of the Incarnation, grace dawned; in the kenosis of the Cross it shines forth where the darkness is thickest. These images are perhaps symbols, but they are not hyperboles, because the reality is even more overwhelming. After all, when day dawns, what happens? Night is scattered. Night was simply an absence; it had no existence in itself; nothing produces night, and consequently when it is there nothing exists for anyone; people do not even recognize each other. Night as such is empty of meaning and strips everything else of meaning. Well, at the core of every human event, at the bottom of every human heart, there is a night of death and rupture, of nonmeaning and absence. "Flesh and blood", or mere human nature (Jn 1:13, 1 Cor 15:50), cannot dissipate this night; nothing outside man can introduce light into that blackness. It reigns in the heart and from that vantage point spreads its veil over everything, from the depths of the person to its most conscious structures. Only he who is Light can assume the human without damaging any part of it. And only this Man-God, in whom death finds no complicity with itself, can enter into the thickest darkness of death; that is what happens in the kenosis of the Cross.
The Wellspring of Worship, Jean Corbon (Ignatius 2005)
For a while I have wanted to put together a two-day (overnight) retreat or some other program on the unique music of the Catholic tradition belonging to the Sacred Triduum. Blaming my being "busy" has prevented me from bringing all the stuff together to do it in recent years.
I figured I had time to do it here for this Triduum as well, but alas, not yet. Two mini-articles are already published for Holy Thursday. I have two articles in draft form, and a couple more that would be due by tomorrow. It's not going to happen. Sorry. I'll work on back-filling these entries onto the right day on the blog over the next couple of days.
The format of the Sacred Music Retreat was to look at the following six musical encounters in the Triduum Liturgy with an approximately-30 minute talk on the history and theology behind each of the pieces. Then, if it were a musically inclined group, there would be about another 30 minutes to give direction and/or some kind of experience singing each of these tunes:
Ubi Caritas on Holy Thursday
Pange Lingua/Tantum Ergo on Holy Thursday
The Reproaches on Good Friday
Sacred Silence on Holy Saturday
The Exsultet at the Easter Vigil, and
Victimae Paschale laudes on Easter Sunday
There's a couple of other things that could be added in, such as Tenebrae and the Lamentations (or an overview of the Office altogether during the Triduum), the Easter Entrance Antiphon Resurrexi, or the Vidi Aquam, but not yet...
R: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 23:46
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." And having said this, he breathed his last.
From the height of the cross a cry is heard a cry: a cry of abandonment at the moment of death, a cry of trust amid suffering, a cry accompanying the birth of a new life. Behold, hanging on the tree of life, you deliver your spirit into your Father’s hands, causing life to spring up in abundance and forming the new creation. Today we too face the challenges of this world: we sense the surge of fears which overwhelm us and shake our trust. Grant us, Lord, the strength to know deep within our heart that no death will conquer us, until we rest in the hands which have shaped us and accompany us.
May every one of us be able to cry out: "Yesterday I was crucified with Christ, today I am glorified with him. Yesterday I died with him, today I live with him. Yesterday I was buried with him. Today I have risen with him." (Gregory Nazianzen)
In the darkness of our nights, we contemplate you. Teach us to turn towards the Most High, your heavenly Father.
Today, let us pray that all those who promote abortion may become aware that love can only be a source of life. Let us think also of those who defend euthanasia and those who encourage techniques and procedures which endanger human life. Open their hearts to know you in the truth and to work for the building of the civilization of life and love. Amen.
The second privileged chant on Holy Thursday comes at the end of Mass at the Eucharistic Procession to the place of reposition. The MR3, (in continuity with the 1962 missal) calls for the singing of the Pange Lingua up to and until the arrival of the ministers at the place of reposition, at which point all sing the final two verses known on their own as the Tantum Ergo. The lyrics are attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas, who wrote Office and Mass texts for the feast of Corpus Christi in about 1260. Pope Urban IV would order the celebration of Corpus Christi as a feast across the universal Church in 1264, and we still use these texts, substantially unchanged, to this day.
Pange Lingua weaves together several important doctrines of the faith: the Incarnation, the Immaculate Conception, the hypostatic union, the sacramental economies of Eucharist and priesthood, transubstantiation. Having just celebrated the Holy Thursday Eucharist, all of these big words and ideas begin to articulate who it was that died and rose for our salvation, who it was we just encountered in the Eucharist, and who it is that is present in the tabernacle, continuing to invite the faithful to a share in his cross. But remember! We are not encountering a collection of doctrines that we read about in a book... a god of mere philosophical ideals... but we encounter the Living God in and through the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Here are the texts and a translation 'borrowed' from our friends at Wikipedia...
Latin text
An English translation
A more literal rendering
Pange, lingua, gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
quem in mundi pretium
fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit Gentium.
Nobis datus, nobis natus
ex intacta Virgine,
et in mundo conversatus,
sparso verbi semine,
sui moras incolatus
miro clausit ordine.
In supremae nocte coenae
recumbens cum fratribus
observata lege plene
cibis in legalibus,
cibum turbae duodenae
se dat suis manibus.
Verbum caro, panem verum
verbo carnem efficit:
fitque sanguis Christi merum,
et si sensus deficit,
ad firmandum cor sincerum
sola fides sufficit.
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
veneremur cernui:
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui:
praestet fides supplementum
sensuum defectui.
Genitori, Genitoque
laus et jubilatio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio.
Amen. Alleluja.
Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory,
of His Flesh, the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our Immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble Womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wond'rously His Life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He, the Paschal Victim eating,
first fulfils the Law's command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own Hand.
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His Word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
O'er ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.
To the Everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen. Alleluia.
Tell, tongue, the mystery
of the glorious Body
and of the precious Blood,
which, for the price of the world,
the fruit of a noble Womb,
the King of the Nations flowed forth.
Given to us, born for us,
from the untouched Virgin,
and dwelt in the world
after the seed of the Word had been scattered.
His inhabiting ended the delays
with wonderful order.
On the night of the Last Supper,
reclining with His brethren,
once the Law had been fully observed
with the prescribed foods,
as food to the crowd of Twelve
He gives Himself with His hands.
The Word as Flesh makes true bread
into flesh by a word
and the wine becomes the Blood of Christ.
And if sense is deficient
to strengthen a sincere heart
Faith alone suffices.
Therefore, the great Sacrament
we reverence, prostrate:
and the old Covenant
cedes to a new rite.
Faith stands forth as substitute
for defect of the senses.
To Begetter and Begotten
be praise and jubilation,
health, honour, strength also
and blessing.
To the One who proceeds from Both
be praise as well.
Amen, Alleluia.
How fitting that we take these technical, precise, scientific, and articulate words and set them to poetry and music! Do you get the joke? St. Thomas did. What we cannot contain in words is expressed in music, what we cannot express in music is contained in words. There is a duality here which is paradoxical and disturbing in its natural tension, somewhat foreshadowing the tension found in the Incarnation itself: God made man! The duality of this music would not make sense in other contexts. Very few scientists sing songs about the mysteries of DNA, particle physics, and evolution... mysteries that can be circumscribed by words, equations, and descriptions of precise observations. On the other hand, musicians tend to be inspired by transcendent ideals, writing very few practical lyrics about things like today's stock market prices. St. Thomas was able to combine "left brain" and "right brain", the precise and the scientific with the artistic and emotional, the concrete and the sublime.
Growing up in the English speaking world, the hymn books tended to print the English lyrics to the tune, "St. Thomas"... a nice 4/4 march in 8.7.8.7.8.7 meter, composed John Francis Wade in the 18th century. Wade was among the English Catholic exiles of this period who lived in France. You might recognize him more readily as the one who is attributed with the metrical arrangement of O Come, All Ye Faithful (although I believe it existed as a chant before him).
But in the 1990's as I was coming of age as a musician, I first encountered the Gregorian (mode 3) tune for Pange Lingua, and have been hooked ever since. The chant has made a comeback, none other than the newsprint hymnal I was using tonight had this version printed, instead of the metrical "St. Thomas" version that used to be sung in years gone by. Maurice Durufle, who I talked about earlier this evening, used the plainsong Tantum ergo as the basis of another one of his luscious polyphonic Quatre Motets. You can find this out there on the internet or you will get it if you order the CD I pointed to earlier in the evening.
I will point you to a YouTube featuring the unadorned glory of the simple chant (the words are slightly different in places as this is the Corpus Christi version... if I find a version that fits better to the words above, I'll change it and include it below):
As part of the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Church classically prescribes the chant, Ubi Caritas (Where Charity and Love Prevail). In the 1962 missal as an antiphon for the Washing of the Feet, in the current ritual it appears as the lyrics for the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the "offertory procession", I suppose you would call it.) While "another appropriate chant" may be sung, Ubi Caritas is the priviledged music intended to join the action of the Mandatum to that of the Eucharist and in doing so, amplify the love called forth from both. The chant originates from sometime in the first millennium.
The lyrics harken to the idea that 'wherever two or more are gathered in my name I am there in your midst' (Matt 18:20), and speak of the peace which the Christian community is to have at the celebration of the Eucharist. For when the community is truly bound in mutual love and respect as they celebrate the mysteries of salvation, then God is truly present there and the light of his face shines upon the entire Church. There is no evil, not even the darkness of Good Friday itself, that can quench the love of those washed by Christ and fed by his Eucharist as they go out, living his example of service and sacrifice for others.
Here are the liturgical texts prescribed, in bold for the Missal of 1962, and in italics for the English MR-3. (Note that the English is pretty good, but not suitable as a line-for-line translation of the Latin.)
R:/ Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
R:/ Where true charity is dwelling, God is present there.
V:/ Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
V:/ By the loveof Christ we have been brought together.
V:/ Exsultemus et in ipso iucundemur.
V:/ let us find in hum our gladness and our pleasure;
V:/ Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum.
V:/ may we love him and revere him, God the living,
V:/ Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
V:/ and in love respect each other with sincere hearts.
R:/ Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
R:/ Where true charity is dwelling, God is present there.
V:/ Simul ergo com in unum congregamur:
V:/ So when we as one are gathered all together,
V:/ Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus
V:/ let us strive to keep our minds free of division;
V:/ Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.
V:/ may there be an end to malace, strife, and quarrels,
V:/ Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.
V:/ and let Christ our God be dwelling here among us.
R:/ Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
R:/ Where true charity is dwelling, God is present there.
V:/ Simul quoque cum beatis videamus.
V:/ May your face thus be our vision, bright in glory,
V:/ Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:
V:/ Christ our God, with all the blessed saints in heaven:
V:/ Gaudium, quod est immensum atque probum.
V:/ such delight is pure and faultess, joy unbounded,
V:/ Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.
V:/ which endures through countless ages world without end. Amen.
Maurice Durufle
One of the great arrangements, based on the Gregorian melody, is the Durufle (1901-1986) Ubi Caritas, which is part of his Quatre motets sur des themes gregorien, Op. 10 (1960). Durufle is one of the great French organists of the 20th century, who has a modest, but wonderful catalog of works that obviously flow from a deep engagement with the Gregorian melodies handed down from the liturgical life of the Church. (If you haven't ever heard it, make sure to go onto iTunes or Amazon tonight and get the English Chamber Orchestra recording conducted by Matthew Best (1992) of the Durufle Requiem... as a bonus this recording also includes the Four Motets. The Telarc recording is decent as well, and as a bonus includes the Faure Requiem.) Scored for six voices, and of moderate difficulty for a good church choir, the Durufle Ubi Caritas it includes the antiphon and the first four versicles, above.
Enjoy this YouTube entry, featuring Durufle's arrangement of the great chant for Holy Thursday: Ubi Caritas.
Adoramus te, Christe et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. [Qui passus es pro nobis, Domine, Domine, miserere nobis.]
We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you,
who by your holy Cross
has redeemed the world.
[He who suffered death for us, O Lord,
O Lord have mercy on us.]
Tonight will be the first diocesan Chrism Mass I have missed since being ordained a priest; it will be the first Chrism Mass I have missed in about 15 years, actually. One of the rites of the evening is the affirmation of all of the priests present of their priestly promises and commitments before the bishop.
In the spirit of that ritual to take place tonight, I offer the following statement:
On the anniversary of that day when Christ our Lord conferred his priesthood on his Apostles and their successors, I am resolved to renew the promises I have once made:
I am resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to him by denying myself and confirming those promises about sacred duties towards Christ's Church which, prompted by love of him, I willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of my priestly ordination.
I am resolved to be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God in the Holy Eucharist and the other liturgical rites and to discharge faithfully the sacred office of teaching, following Christ the Head and Shepherd, not seeking gain, but moved only by the zeal for souls.
I will continue to pray for our bishop, the Most. Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, IL, that he may be faithful to the apostolic office entrusted to him, that he may be made day by day a living and more perfect image of Christ, the Priest, the Good Shepherd, the Teacher and Servant of all.
May the Lord keep us all in his charity and lead all of us, shepherds and flock, to eternal life.
Q: In my local parish bulletin, I see the Saturday night Easter Vigil listed on the Holy Week Masses. Does this “count” for Easter and the Easter Sunday Obligation? Why don’t we have a regular (early) Saturday night Mass?
A: The Easter Vigil is the main Easter Sunday Mass and the highpoint of the entire liturgical year—even above and beyond the Masses celebrated on Easter Sunday itself. In the fifth century, St. Augustine himself described the Easter Vigil celebration as the “Mother of All Vigils”. By Church law, this celebration must take place after dark and it must end before dawn on Sunday morning, meaning that a Saturday night Mass in the early evening is neither possible nor permitted. The Vigil does not necessarily have to take place at nightfall as it typically does. The Vigil could take place as a midnight Mass (echoing Christmas) or as a pre-dawn Mass on Easter morning, but neither of these traditions are common among Catholics in the U.S.
Typically, new members of the Church are baptized, confirmed, and receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time. The celebration features the blessing and lighting of the Easter Candle, the singing of an ancient hymn of praise to the Risen Lord, the Exsultet (or another link to Wiki), readings from across salvation history, a solemn singing of the Gloria and the Alleluia, blessing of Easter Water, and the first celebration of the Eucharist in the Easter season. Besides the later hour, this can tend to be a bit longer than your "regular Mass" on Saturday night, which may make it difficult for younger children to attend... but don't be afraid! When fully engaged with the celebration it seems to go by in a flash. All who attend this Mass, of course, fulfill their Sunday obligation, but they are also welcomed and encouraged to continue the celebration on Easter Sunday (and also receive Communion again on that day) as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and our share in his salvation.
"Holy Borrowing" from St. Gregory Nanzianzen (excerpt from Oratio 45):
Gregory of Nanzianzen
(c. 329-390)
XXIII. Now we will partake of a Passover which is still typical; though it is plainer than the old one. For that is ever new which is now becoming known. It is ours to learn what is that drinking and that enjoyment, and His to teach and communicate the Word to His disciples. For teaching is food, even to the Giver of food. Come hither then, and let us partake of the Law, but in a Gospel manner, not a literal one; perfectly, not imperfectly; eternally, not temporarily. Let us make our Head, not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly City; not that which is now trodden under foot by armies, but that which is glorified by Angels. Let us sacrifice not young calves, nor lambs that put forth horns and hoofs, in which many parts are destitute of life and feeling; but let us sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise upon the heavenly Altar, with the heavenly dances; let us hold aside the first veil; let us approach the second, and look into the Holy of Holies. Shall I say that which is a greater thing yet? Let us sacrifice ourselves to God; or rather let us go on sacrificing throughout every day and at every moment. Let us accept anything for the Word's sake. By sufferings let us imitate His Passion: by our blood let us reverence His Blood: let us gladly mount upon the Cross. Sweet are the nails, though they be very painful. For to suffer with Christ and for Christ is better than a life of ease with others.
XXIV. If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up the Cross and follow. If you are crucified with Him as a robber, acknowledge God as a penitent robber. If even He was numbered among the transgressors for you and your sin, do you become law-abiding for His sake. Worship Him Who was hanged for you, even if you yourself are hanging; make some gain even from your wickedness; purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into Paradise, so that you may learn from what you have fallen. Contemplate the glories that are there; let the murderer die outside with his blasphemies; and if you be a Joseph of Arimathæa, beg the Body from him that crucified Him, make your own that which cleanses the world. If you be a Nicodemus, the worshipper of God by night, bury Him with spices. If you be a Mary, or another Mary, or a Salome, or a Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be first to see the stone taken away, and perhaps you will see the Angels and Jesus Himself. Say something; hear His Voice. If He say to you, Touch Me not, stand afar off; reverence the Word, but grieve not; for He knows those to whom He appears first. Keep the feast of the Resurrection; come to the aid of Eve who was first to fall, of Her who first embraced the Christ, and made Him known to the disciples. Be a Peter or a John; hasten to the Sepulchre, running together, running against one another, vying in the noble race. And even if you be beaten in speed, win the victory of zeal; not Looking into the tomb, but Going in. And if, like a Thomas, you were left out when the disciples were assembled to whom Christ shows Himself, when you do see Him be not faithless; and if you do not believe, then believe those who tell you; and if you cannot believe them either, then have confidence in the print of the nails. If He descend into Hell, descend with Him. Learn to know the mysteries of Christ there also, what is the providential purpose of the twofold descent, to save all men absolutely by His manifestation, or there too only them that believe.
XXV. And if He ascend up into Heaven, ascend with Him. Be one of those angels who escort Him, or one of those who receive Him. Bid the gates be lifted up, or be made higher, that they may receive Him, exalted after His Passion. Answer to those who are in doubt because He bears up with Him His body and the tokens of His Passion, which He had not when He came down, and who therefore inquire, Who is this King of Glory? that it is the Lord strong and mighty, as in all things that He has done from time to time and does, so now in His battle and triumph for the sake of Mankind. And give to the doubting of the question the twofold answer. And if they marvel and say as in Isaiah's drama Who is this that comes from Edom and from the things of earth? Or How are the garments red of Him that is without blood or body, as of one that treads in the full wine-press? Isaiah set forth the beauty of the array of the Body that suffered, adorned by the Passion, and made splendid by the Godhead, than which nothing can be more lovely or more beautiful.
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Palm Sunday and Holy Week are more than a period of play-acting and nostalgic melodrama. There is a reality that accompanies the words and actions of our Lord--a reality that comes down to us this very day.
The Jewish people upon their Passover to this day ask the question, "Why is this night different from every other night?", to which the elder at the table explains that this is the night when we passed over from slavery in the land of Egypt, in to freedom. This is not a merely historical or catechetical fact that is being conveyed, but in fact, this is the night when God works his wonders for his people... here and now... today! We are the people being lead out of slavery and into freedom, as certainly as the ancient Hebrew people followed Moses across the Red Sea.
In the celebration of Holy Week, take time to realize that there is a little bit of the beloved disciple John, the traitor Judas, and the confused Peter in all of us. Some may identify with Dismas, the repentant criminal, Simon of Cyrene who was pressed into service for the Lord, or Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus, who did honor to the crucified body of the Lord. Are you Mary or the other Mary or Martha or Solome? What is your response to the empty tomb?
The characters and the scenes are emblazoned in our minds and on our hearts, but this year, having entered into the journey of Lent, can you taste and smell the blood and the sweat and the tears shed for your salvation? Has this Lent made a difference in your life as a disciple of Christ.
This week as we commemorate the passion and death of the Lord, realize that his words have a real power that cross time and space to allow us to stand at the foot of the cross each time we stand at the altar and the unbloody re-present-ation (making truly present again) of the Sacrifice of Calvary. This is my Body. This is the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. We are no longer slaves, but free in the power of Christ over sin and death. We take the dying and rising of the Lord unto ourselves in the Holy Eucharist, our Passover Meal, which perfects our own sacrifices and sufferings. Why are these days so different and special? Because in them we are called to pass from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land!
On Palm Sunday we commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Over the next week as we celebrate Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday, we are called into the drama of the deepest mysteries of our faith. We relive these mysteries in our own time as if we were there at the Last Supper, as if we were standing at the cross, and as if we were looking into the empty tomb. This is not simple play-acting. This is not mere commemoration. God became incarnate, not to limit his presence in a privileged space and time, but to make all space and time holy. God wishes to step across space and time to offer his Son to each of us for our redemption. These particular days help us come to terms with the drama of that sacrifice which is no less real and no less effective for our salvation in our time. Every time we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we come face to face with the living God. I invite you to take the greatest advantage of the opportunities which are being offered for the celebration of the sacraments and for participation in the liturgies of these days. May God continue to bless you and may this be a most Holy Week!
THE TWELFTH STATION Jesus dies on the Cross. V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
From the Gospel according to Mark. 15:33-34, 37, 39: And when the sixth hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?", which means: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. When the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said: "Truly this man was the Son of God".
Here we have the greatest, the most sublime work of the Son in union with the Father. Yes: in union, in the most perfect union possible, precisely at the moment when he cries: "Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani" -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46). This work finds expression in the verticality of his body stretched against the perpendicular beam of the Cross and in the horizontality of his arms stretched along the transverse beam. To gaze upon those arms one would think that in the effort they expend they embrace all humanity and all the world.
They do indeed embrace it.
Here is the man. Here is God himself. "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). In him: in those arms outstretched along the transverse beam of the Cross.
The mystery of the Redemption.
Nailed to the Cross, pinned in that terrible position, Jesus calls on the Father (cf. Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46; Lk 23:46). All his words bear witness that he is one with the Father. "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30); "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9); "My Father is working still, and I am working" (Jn 5:17).
Son of God, remember us, at the hour of death. R. Kyrie, eleison. Son of the Father, remember us, and by your Spirit renew the face of the earth. R. Kyrie, eleison
Pater noster...
Monday, March 18, 2013
St. Thomas Aquinas, like the other masters and doctors of his age, was a man of prodigious memory. To be an effective teacher of the sacred sciences, one needed to have an encyclopedic knowledge and recall both of sacred scripture, as well as the writings of the early fathers and the teachings of the popes.
Once upon a time, a man could be considered to be learned in the entire sum of human knowledge--theology, medicine, law, rhetoric--a claim that would be made by scarce few today. Indeed, when I was in graduate school, it was commonly claimed that the knowledge in the field of the life sciences doubled approximately on the order of every 6-8 years. This claim underscored the necessity of constant study of the latest articles and trends in the field, lest we fall hopelessly behind as a serious scientist and our professional knowledge become 'obsolete'.
As we have organized and cataloged all sorts of information for quick search and recall on our computers and small devices we can carry on our person, the art of memory and memorization is falling by the wayside. I was never good at memorization when I was at school, even before the advent of smart phones. Simply stated, I was lazy and undisciplined. But educators of days gone by clearly understood the value of memorizing information, poetry, and other facts, as it trained and formed the mind in an orderly way. Imagine what St. Thomas Aquinas might have been capable of, given the technology of today.
Aquinas understood that there were two types of memory active within the human mind. An intellectual memory as one, and a sensate memory as the other. Both need to be stretched. The intellectual memory was one of taking in facts and committing them to one's person. We know that one plus one is two, and remember that fact, because it exemplifies an abstract truth that is true in all places and at all times... our minds are formed to the truth by that kind of memorization. The sensate memory is not what it sounds like... it is not a memory of the taste or smell or sight of mom's cherry pie cooling in the window-sill... Thomas puts those 'memories' in the realm of the 'imagination' which is a whole different thing. But the sensate memory stores the relative truths that we can apprehend from the world presented to us through the senses. One plus one will always yield two, no matter what we see or hear or think. The sensate world though, presents facts to the intellect that are saved to this 'working' or 'instrumental' memory, as I would call it. These memories do not bear necessary correlation with objective truth, but are relative truths as the intellect sees them. Lent is a time to renew minds and memories, attuning them more perfectly to recognizing and proclaiming the truth of God and his ways. A few weeks ago we heard Moses reminding the people to "hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe" and to "not let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and your children's children" (cf Deuteronomy 4: 5-9). Jesus then calls us to remember the not only the letter, but the smallest part of the letter of the Law, and then to watch as he fulfills it completely (cf Matt 5: 17-19). In the coming two weeks of Passiontide, we are focused more precisely on the events of the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, that we may know again the depth of his love for us, and be transformed by that love. The Sacred Liturgy at the center of this observance is the 'living memory' of this love, made present (re-present-ed) for us today. Human memory has no higher destiny than to be the repository of God's living Word. As we recall the great things God has done for us, we are inspired towards thanksgiving and evangelization. The authentic Christian tradition deeply honors and reveres learning and wisdom, and the memories that are formed by God's inspiration. That is why the stories of the saints tend to be so compelling. This is why we tell our vocation stories. This is why the Church has been the seedbed of generations of great thinkers and artists and political activists and everyday people who have simply responded to the invitation of God revealed in the beauty of simple truth.
The woman was caught in the very act of adultery! Wow, that must have been quite a sight. And where is the man she was caught with? The scriptures don't say a word about him. Yes, the woman faced a death penalty, but I think this is less a story about punishment as it is about shame.
Shame is a deadly thing--it is the ugly step-sister of guilt. We have spent Lent recognizing the righteous guilt we bear for our sins, helping us recognize our need for repentance. Guilt moves the contrite heart toward reconciliation, deliverance, and satisfaction--a process that is perfected in sacramental confession. But as important as guilt is to helping us recognize our transgressions, shame on the other hand has a suffocating tendency to drains hope out of the wary sinner. It gnaws on the very heart of those caught in sin, encouraging despair and withdrawal out of fear, rather than a new path of transformation... a shameful adulterer will never amount to anything more than an adulterer. A shameful thief will never amount to anything more than a thief. A shameful drug addict will never be able to get past the addiction that keeps him/her trapped. Jesus looked at the woman with love (not lust as she had perhaps grown accustomed) and saw her for what she really was, a beloved daughter of God... and one in need of healing and transformation and forgiveness. A sinner, yes, but down deep a beloved daughter above anything else. We hear the expression, 'love the sinner, hate the sin'? That is exactly what we see here in this story. Jesus helps the woman see that she is not trapped or even defined by her sin, but that she can make a new start at the mercy of the Son of Man. Guilt propels the sinner into contrition and transformation. Shame traps them forever in a sullied identity. I'm not sure what the woman was experiencing, but the mob was more than happy to take this woman down, reveling in her shame and disgrace. At the same time the mob capitalized on her weakness to attempt to undermine Jesus and his ministry as well. Would Jesus uphold the Law and stone her, forsaking his way of forgiveness and peace, or would he reject the Law of Moses and offer forgiveness? How do you say, o rabbi?
As often happens in these stories, Jesus slips out of the trap through a third way that respects the Old Law and gives a deeper understanding of the New. Let the one who is without sin in his heart cast the first stone! Yes, there is a transgression here, but let mercy be the supreme expression of justice! What do you want to bet that the man who was "caught in the very act of adultery" with this woman was among the crowd sizing up stones to kill her? Where is his shame? Where is his guilt? If it is true that this man were in the crowd, does it not add a new dimension to Jesus' dare that only those without sin (in the original Greek it is even tougher and more restrictive... those without even "guilty longings") to cast the first stone? This man in particular, but all those at the scene more generally AND we who read this account have a duty to acknowledge sin in their midst, and to purge the guilt of that sin through reconciliation... with God and with the community. Jesus provides that grace personally in his example in the Gospel. Today, he provides the sacraments. We then have the duty to break the cycle of shame by restoring the forgiven sinner into relationship with the community through mercy. Two final points... first, this scripture is often mis-used to brow-beat the Christian into a false tolerance, that is, the tacit acceptance of sin under the guise of false mercy... we have all fallen and nobody can judge. Wrong. We must judge rightly and admonish the sinner and teach the ignorant... these are works of mercy. We can't let sin slide on the proposition of 'be and let be'... this is not what Jesus is teaching. We must always hate sin and be struggling against it in ourselves and in our neighbors. Jesus did not simply release the woman to her old ways, but commanded her, "go and sin no more!" That is mercy, but not tolerance. Secondly, from the Francis Fernandez collection, In Conversation with God, we find him paraphrasing Augustine who proposes that the forgiveness of a sinner is the greatest act of God's creating hand. For not only does God give life in creation, but he crowns it in restoration to a new and supernatural glory in the free acceptance of his grace. Imagine that... "your sins are forgiven" and the priest's privilege of proclaiming "I absolve you of your sins..." bearing more love and compassion from the heart of God than even, "let there be light!". In a few weeks we will sing "O happy fault, o necessary fault of Adam, which won for us so great a savior!" in the Easter proclamation, the Exsultet. Obviously the Church does not glory in sin, but recognizes that God's glory abounds all the more in recognizing our need for his mercy through Christ our Risen Lord.
One of my greatest privileges as a priest and pastor has been to welcome people into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. Invariably, as I listen to the stories of people who have grown up in another faith or in no faith at all, when they speak of their encounters with the Church and its people, their family members who are Catholic, experiences of the Church through the media, such as EWTN, or by observing epochal events such as the election of Pope Francis or the festivities of a World Youth Day, I am moved by the way the Holy Spirit continues to draw people into this One Faith, One Baptism, and the One Lord of All.
Lent is a time that is first and foremost a period of purification and prayer for those who are coming into the Church at Easter. In the early Church, participation by all the faithful in the penitential practices of the catechumens was a way that even ‘old timers’ and ‘cradle Catholics’ could re-live the excitement and beauty of their own baptisms, perhaps many years before. As the Church became stabilized in society, the numbers of adult converts decreased, and as the vast majority of Catholics would be baptized early in life, Lent lost some of its pre-baptismal focus and character. An effort has been underway in recent decades to reclaim that more authentic understanding of Lent, and to engage the faithful in fervent prayer and sacrifice, not only for their own good, but for the good of those who are embracing the death and resurrection of Christ through participation in the Easter Sacraments. This process in most parishes is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA for short.
The RCIA is an adaptation of the ancient rites of initiation for our own times. Up to the 1960's and 1970's, the Roman Ritual provided for an extensive initiation rite, which was often shortened or dispensed with, which included elements that are brought out into the open and expanded over several weeks of ritual moments. Most notably, the three pre-baptismal exorcisms (or scrutinies as they are called today) and anointings with the Oil of Catechumens are now adapted to public observance--even at Mass--in the weeks just before Easter Sunday. While the catechumens are the subject of the rites, the public celebration is intended remind each of us of our continuing need for conversion toward God's light and life. The Church offers the iconic images of the water drawn by the woman at the well, the light seen by the man born blind, and the new life of a raised and restored Lazarus to inspire that greater introspection and conversion on part of all the faithful.
Take the time this Lent to actually pray and make sacrifices for those who are coming into the Church... make your Lent an offering for their continued conversion and peace over the monumental decision to become Catholic! We look forward to Easter in just two short weeks, and look forward when, in God's grace, the unity of the Body of Christ will be made ever more manifest in the grafting of new members into the life of the Church.
Good afternoon, everyone. Been busy at the hideout this week and dealing with a temperamental Internet connection, so I haven't been able to post. I have about three articles in various stages of development, but none ready to go right now... and then a bulletin article and homily reflection to offer as well. Hopefully I'll get around to finishing all that off in the next couple of days.
As you know, Holy Mother Church has been in the news a bit the last few days with the election of a new Holy Father, Francis. Every time I have sat down to try to write even a little note, I find out that someone has already written an article that says what I wanted to say, and did it better than I could in the first place. So, like the dreaded television clip-show, I offer my first "digest" article, regarding the news of the last few days.
On Wednesday morning, before the white smoke came, I had read an article off of one of the major news services (I don't remember if it were AP or Reuters or someone else) that in the first paragraph said that the cardinals had failed to elect a pope, and then made it sound like not having a pope on the first ballot was a disaster, because there was, obviously so much disagreement among the electorate and that this was tragic because we are in such a time of CRISIS for the Church. Crisis? Really?
In no way would I want to downplay the seriousness of some of the stuff the Church is facing, but this journalistic meme is not worthy of a high school rag-sheet. Crisis? Thomas L. McDonald over at God in the Machine points out that it took SEVEN journalistic geniuses to put this kitsch-ish article together, wringing their hands at the first ballot stalemate during one of the "most difficult periods in Church history". McDonnald counters with a harrowing list of much worse times for the Church, starting with the execution of Jesus Christ himself, listing a couple dozen popes who had been executed or assassinated, reminding us of the early persecutions, the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Great Schism with the East, the Avignon (anti-)papacies, the three-year conclave to elect Gregory X, the Inquisition, the Reformation, the French Revolution, the anti-clerical movements of Mexico and other communist/socialist regimes, World War II and the holocaust, and much more. Again, not to discount the challenges we face, but these crocodile tears from the media for the 'crisis' of the suffering Church shows ignorance, rather than sympathy. It was from Cardinal George's famous discussion about his successors dying in prison or the public square that an even more important and prophetic statement was made by the Archbishop of Chicago. The successor of the martyr-bishop executed in the public square would be the one to "pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history." That's the suffering Church of today--the Church guided and sustained by Christ. No matter how badly the world would wish its collapse, we will be there. It is that wounded Church that will ultimately be the salvation of human history and the world. We are lucky to be living in these times of 'crisis'. I welcome it! If we Catholics used the courage and strength already in our hands by the power of the Holy Spirit, we could turn this world and perhaps not even have to lose our lives to do it.
None other than Rush Limbaugh had a wonderful rant through several segments of his show yesterday, explaining that the media, while they love the idea of the South American, Jesuit pope are going to be horrified when they realize that he is CATHOLIC! And not only that, but an orthodox, Culture-of-Life, friend-of-the-poor, personable fellow who rides the bus, who doesn't fit the media-villain meme like they would like to paint. Not only is this an assertion of what the Church really is, an institution of FAITH, rather than POLITICS, but it shows how faith trumps politics for what is RIGHT, not what is politically expedient. There are lessons for BOTH liberals AND conservatives as they watch the Church during these days. It is easy to lambaste secular liberals who are unable to see that the Church can't and won't be popularly morphed into something she is not, but there is also an opportunity to remind secular conservatives the importance and security of standing for principles, rather than selling out for political expediency.
Speaking of "conservatives" having stuff to learn, there's a follow-up article from Thomas L. McDonald about the shameful response of some of the "rad-trads" which goes hand in hand with an earlier article from Acts of Apostasy. Come on, people. It has been 24... no 48 hours since he was presented on the loggia. At this point, we still need to do a lot more listening before we do too much judging, talking, or comparing of papal pros and cons. No pope is perfect. No pope will satisfy all of our desires to see the Church become perfect... after all, he doesn't work for us... he works for God. Let's welcome him and support him in assuming the awesome responsibility and influence as the leader of 1.2B Catholics and the heir to 2000 years of wisdom and history. Let us also embrace him in his frail, broken humanity which reminds us of the struggles of Peter and others who have followed in the 'shoes of the fisherman' over those years. (By the way, has anyone detected any "Shoes of the Fisherman" moments in the last few days? I'm going to write a post on that soon, if I don't get beaten to it.)
Speaking of standing for our pope... here's a 'honeymoon' article from the BBC, followed by an article by R.R. Reno on the First Things site which shows what the Argentine media really think about the election of Francis. Read and learn... this is where the talking points will come from in the next few days. I'm serious, friends, Francis really does need our prayerful support.
Fr. Z over at WDTPRS had a poll on the major network coverage of the conclave/election. While EWTN was not included on the list as a vote for a 'major network', the others were listed. I was watching NBC with George Weigel and Fr. Robert Barron and Cardinal Egan and thought it was pretty good. I heard afterwards from friends that EWTN was chattering inanely (and in some cases inaccurately) again during its broadcast coverage of the announcement of the new pope. I really got mad about that during the funeral of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI... about half way through the funeral I turned off EWTN and tuned into CNN, which was broadcasting the events without all the play-by-play. EWTN, I love you and what you do for the Church, but you really need to tell your people to shut up during these huge Catholic moments. There are more than a few who watch EWTN who know Latin or can passably-interpret Italian at these big-time events. Put the commentary on what color his shoes are on a SAP or provide a translation in the closed captions.
Finally (for now), the Georgetowner speaks of the "Irony of a Jesuit Pope". One should never take the holy event, such as the election of a pope by the guidance of the Holy Spirit as an opportunity for indulging in the fantasy of what 'scores' might be settled by the new management... lots of people were doing that when Papa Ratzinger came out on the loggia... we... will... resist... doing... that... now... But as Francis steps out into the spotlight, and as Catholic institutions such as Georgetown hail the election of one of their brothers as the first Jesuit pope, one has to wonder how long that praise will echo... ? After all, an editorial back on February 27/28 reasoned that the "New pope must shepherd Church into modernity"... yeah, modernity... that has done the secular world loads of good:
"The Catholic Church has the potential to alter its stance on contraception, LGBT individuals, and women’s ordination within the next few decades, and this papal selection will be crucial in determining which course the Church will take. While a regionally or ethnically diverse pope could provide new opportunities for the Catholic Church to reevaluate its role in the world, perhaps these considerations should be forgone for a more progressive candidate, regardless of his origin. In order to remain relevant and maintain its scope of influence in an increasingly modern era..." blah, blah, blah.
I suppose the real irony is that the selection of Bergoglio by the same newspaper was considered "implausible" just weeks ago. (He seemed safely, 'too old', is my read of the editorial.) Catholic Education at all levels is in desperate need of reform and re-visioning, that it may speak and teach clearly with the heart and mind of 2000 years of tradition and wisdom... will this Jesuit institution have the courage to lead the real reform which we need, renouncing the demonic Culture of Death in all its forms? Will it accept the challenge of this pope not to be a milquetoast "compassionate NGO", but the Church, the Bride of Christ... after all, "when one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil."
'nuff said for today. Enjoy all the chatter out there in net-land... there's some good and engaging stuff to wrap your minds around in these days. BTW, I am welcoming (moderated) comments to my posts now. Feel free to drop by and say 'hi'.
V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless
you. R. Because by your holy cross you have
redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:45-46 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the
ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eli,
Eli, lama sabachthani?’, that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?’.
Jesus is on the cross. Hours of anguish, terrible hours, hours of inhuman
physical suffering. “I thirst,” says Jesus. And they lift to his lips a sponge
dipped in gall.
An unexpected cry rises up: “My God, my God, why have you forsakenme?” Is this blasphemy? Is the dying man crying out the words of the psalm?
How are we to accept a God who cries out, who groans, who doesn’t know, who
doesn’t understand? The Son of God made man, who dies thinking he has been
abandoned by his Father?
Jesus, until now you had been one of us, one with us in all things but
sin! You, the Son of God made man, You, the Holy One of God, became
completely one with us willing even to experience our sinful state, our
separation from God, the hell of the godless. You experienced darkness in
order to give us light. You experienced this separation in order to unite
us. You accepted pain in order to leave us Love. You became an outcast,
forsaken, hanging between heaven and earth, in order to receive us into God’s
life. A mystery surrounds us, as we relive each step of your passion. Jesus,
you did not cling to your equality with God as a jealously guarded
treasure, but made yourself completely poor, in order to make us rich. “Into your hands I commend my spirit”. Jesus, how were you able, in
that abyss of desolation, to entrust yourself to the Father’s
love, surrendering yourself to him, dying in him? Only by looking to you,
only in union with you, can we face tragedies, innocent
suffering, humiliation, abuse and death.
Jesus experiences his death as a gift for me, for us, for our families, for
each person, for every family, for all peoples and for the entire human race. In
that act, life is reborn.
This weekend's Gospel of the "Prodigal Son" invites our deep meditation on the love of God the Father for all of his children, 'prodigal' and otherwise. The point that I would like to leap to, leaving all else aside for this short reflection, is the line where we hear the son saying, "I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.'" (Luke 15: 18-19)
There are at least two things working in this line that are relevant and important to us as we hear this parable and we see our own faces in the mirror Jesus points at his followers:
First: The movement of the son is ultimately one of conversion. Another word for this moment might be metanoia, where one's 'mind' is 'made new'. The son, realizing the horrible error of his ways, decides that he cannot live like this anymore, and must go find help and deliverance--even at the hands of the one he has sinned against most dreadfully. He knows that while he has no right to the assistance, let alone love or respect of his father, that he nonetheless has some degree of confidence in protection and sustenance as the least one in his house. So he heads home based on that smallest glimmer of the father's love remaining deep within his heart.
Second: He knows who he is as he prepares to stand before his father and beg his way back into the house. He is a son, but he is also an unworthy sinner who has dishonored his inheritance along with the life and livelihood of his father. There is a relationship which is being weighed... the wholeness of the father-son relationship versus the corruption of that relationship through sin.
We know how the story ends... the father wraps his arms around the son and takes him back into the house, with a ring and sandals and a festive meal. We have heard this story so many times, that we might need to back away from it a bit to consider the surprise or incredulity that the first hearers of this parable might have had as Jesus told the story, perhaps with a little smirk on his face.
Certainly there is a moral angle to the story... do not dishonor the Father, turn from your evil ways of squandering your Father's gifts and return to him for forgiveness and repair of this essential relationship, God's love is forever. These are all important lessons and they are all true. Once again, we hear the familiar, yet ever-more urgent call to repentance, conversion, and sacramental confession.
I want to look at it more deeply with an appreciation of what is actually happening to the son, as I invite us to stand in his shoes and take on his identity a bit more closely. What happens when we sin? We damage or break the relationship we have with the Father, certainly becoming unworthy of our participation in his household. But even more distressingly, we cut ourselves off from God's sanctifying grace, in which we 'live, move, and have our being'. Now, in our sin, we are not instantly zapped into non-existence, as plausible a solution that might be in the hands of a wrathful god who might call back his gifts upon a transgression. Our created reality has an integrity that transcends sin--a concession of the mercy of God, I would contend. But why?
First: the integrity of our being preserves human free will to love God or not. Imagine the coercive pressure you'd feel to "be good" if you saw your neighbor get zapped out of existence for something small... let's say a parking ticket? We are not puppies being trained with dog-biscuits. We are intelligent beings with the glimmer of divine life rooted deeply within us, inviting us to use that greatest power we have: to freely love as God has freely loved us. It is a virtue that must be practiced and perfected across a lifetime of experience... sometimes granted and strengthened as one encounters the shadows of sin and overcomes the darkness by God's grace. In any case, free will is a most important ingredient written into our human nature.
Second: the integrity of our nature lends the opportunity for redemption. As long as we draw breath, we can start crawling back to the source of life, no matter how ugly the transgression might have been. Can we call to mind stories about deathbed conversions, confessions, and baptisms? Death itself--the reality that our existence is finite--is a great encouragement towards making the most of the time we have, and living in a state of holy readiness for the unexpected time when we will be called to account for our lives.
Third: there is a relationship that perdures, even through the darkness of sin. Those who sin against God as given their free will to do so, and God continues to love them. The most horrifying reality of God's love is hell. In God's love, if one were to prefer his/her own pathetic, pusillanimous self-interests, God will accommodate allowing the soul to turn in on itself, and away from the eternal love of the Father. The fire of hell is none other than the fire of God's love tormenting the committed sinner who wishes that he/she could completely abandon that love and exist only in and for himself/herself.
Fourth: it shows us that God's way is not to 'throw away' mistakes. He doesn't create evil or defective creatures. He doesn't throw the glop back on the potters wheel and start over when something defaces his creation. He fixes it. He restores it. He reconditions it. He re-creates it. As long as we walk upon this earth, we are subjects of God's creating hand. He didn't simply create us in our mother's womb, wind up the top, and let us spin away. He is intimately involved in our continuing creation (and when necessary, re-creation), as long as we live.
Martin Luther had the theory that the human person saved by Christ is "simul iustus et peccator", which roughly means, "both justified and a sinner at the same time". There is something wise about this... can you think of the time when it seemed like you had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, battling it out for your conscience and soul? While we want to do good, there are appetites and desires within us that lead us astray. A famous quote from a young Augustine illustrates these conflicted desires, "O Lord, make me chaste, but not yet!" As long as we live, we are subject to the conflicting desires of body and soul, heaven and earth. Luther's theory is interesting and true on a certain level, for we do spend our lives being 'two minds' about so many things--we ultimately do need to make a choice. But Luther understates the beauty and power of what happens when the son rises up to go to the Father. The son is a rank sinner and has no claim at all on the father or his house or his wealth or even his goodwill. To have the father accept him back, both as a son and as a sinner (iustus et peccator), is to admit an unpaid debt into that relationship. The father may proclaim and insist that "all is forgiven," but we as observers know that until every last penny is restored to the father and the indignity of his profligate ways are repaired, the son 'owes' the father something in justice. The father is not interested in offering a cheap forgiveness... a forgiveness declared in words and emotion and sentiment for a good ending to the story, 'covering up' what happened in the past. The father goes far beyond covering up or tolerating sin for the greater good of reunion:
"Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it... this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again..." (Luke 15: 22-24)
The father does not welcome his son back with mere words and emotions, coerced by the darkness to cover up the son's transgression for a greater good in having him restored to life. There is transformative union of mercy and justice in the father's actions. The father's forgiveness is made manifest as he invests the returning son with signs that denote a deeper reality of the filial dignity restored to him... the robe representing the son's share in his father's wealth and fortune, the ring representing the son's authority to bind and lose and otherwise contract business in his father's name, and the sandals representing his status, not as a slave to the damaged relationship they have put behind them, but as a son. With this, they slay the fatted calf and enjoy a festive feast. The son is not simply forgiven in words, but also in deed. He is completely restored to all that the father has, not out of duty or right, but out of the father's reckless, prodigal love. The son who was dead is now re-created anew in the household of the father.
And so, the story comes full-circle now, as the son, realizing who he is--a sinner against heaven and his father--now realizes that he is restored as a beloved son. All the son needed to do was realize who he really was and then turn to his loving father. The restoration in the father's transformative love was full and perfect--not just tolerating the sinner back into the house as a servant who owed his life to the father, but as a son, who was restored to life and the inheritance of the household.
In the kenosis of the Incarnation, grace dawned; in the kenosis of the Cross it shines forth where the darkness is thickest. These images are perhaps symbols, but they are not hyperboles, because the reality is even more overwhelming. After all, when day dawns, what happens? Night is scattered. Night was simply an absence; it had no existence in itself; nothing produces night, and consequently when it is there nothing exists for anyone; people do not even recognize each other. Night as such is empty of meaning and strips everything else of meaning. Well, at the core of every human event, at the bottom of every human heart, there is a night of death and rupture, of nonmeaning and absence. "Flesh and blood", or mere human nature (Jn 1:13, 1 Cor 15:50), cannot dissipate this night; nothing outside man can introduce light into that blackness. It reigns in the heart and from that vantage point spreads its veil over everything, from the depths of the person to its most conscious structures. Only he who is Light can assume the human without damaging any part of it. And only this Man-God, in whom death finds no complicity with itself, can enter into the thickest darkness of death; that is what happens in the kenosis of the Cross.
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