Bulletin Article: 12 OT-C

   Every night when we turn on the TV or open a newspaper, a major part of news reporting nowadays is an update on the most recent polling data regarding the issues and opinions of the day. Do you approve or disapprove of how the president is handling the nation? Do you agree with our country’s involvement with the hostilities going on in the Middle East? If the election were held today, who would you vote for?

  This kind of reporting appeals to something very appealing and very deeply engrained in the American psyche—participation in the democratic processes in order to determine policy and to form consensus around “the truth”. Even more than that, I’d say that these polls lure us into an even deeper desire in the human heart—the desire to participate in something bigger than ourselves and to let one’s voice be heard. We might very well take for granted our right to vote and participate in the public debates of our day until we realize that such participation has never been possible before due to political and technological limitations. How odd Jesus’ question might have seemed to a Jewish person in the first century.

   “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

   “Who do you say that I am?

Why do you think he asked these questions? Was he confused about who he was or what his mission was about? Was he trying to decide what he would do or say next? I don’t think so. He was not using the “poll” to determine his popularity or discern the truth which he already knew so well. I think he was asking them to make a personal act of faith and to participate deeply in something which was so much bigger than they could even understand at that time. “You are the Christ… the Son of God.” This reply is full of meaning. This profession of faith is full of life-and-death consequences.

   Each time we attend Mass, we are asked to make this same profession of faith, and in doing so, participate in a reality that is bigger than we can fully realize. We are welcomed into the revelation of God in our midst. It is not an opportunity to determine truth, as is often the goal of a poll. Rather, we are invited to participate in God’s truth by responding to it and making our assent to it.

   Our expression of faith (or the lack thereof) does not make Jesus greater or smaller.  He is God. Truth is truth, regardless of what we say about it. But our positive assent does draw us into a personal participation with this ultimate truth of our existence: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. These words cannot be said without placing an obligation on the one who says them because there are consequences.

   If we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then we owe him our enlightened obedience, our conversion from sin and darkness into his way of life, and our own participation in the cross he will carry for us. Some will become martyrs alongside the Lord because of this profession of faith. Some will be called from family and work to become prophets and preachers of this Word in foreign lands. Some will live in Central Illinois in the 21st century and live out the consequences of this profession of faith by living lives of faith and family and community.

   Every time we say “Amen”, we affirm the prayers and professions of faith taking place around us. “The Body of Christ… AMEN.” Do we realize the power of our simple response, “Amen”? In the Jewish world, “Amen” had the sense of, “I bet my life on it.” Our Lord’s question is much more than an inconsequential response to an opinion poll—it is an invitation to see how deep our faith really goes.

Bulletin Article: 11 OT-C

   A theme which frequently comes up in Christian spirituality and scriptures is that of debt, namely the debt we owe to God in justice for the grievous nature of our sins and offenses against One who is all good and all holy. Understood in a contemporary idiom, we are totally bankrupt, and have no other place to turn for relief.

   When dealing with finances, recovery from debt requires a complete change of life and lifestyle. Rather than spending on desires such as vacations and new cars, one concentrates on providing needs such as food and shelter. Rather than being wasteful, idle and proud, one must become resourceful, productive, and humble.

   In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a woman in his debt. She recognizes him as her creditor for the error of her former ways, but most importantly she calls out to him as "Lord".  Wishing to repent and make good on her debt, she offers him all she has: her tears, her faith, and the last precious item she owned in this world, a flask of perfumed oil. What is Jesus’ response? He recognizes that she is richer than any of the dignitaries he is dining with. Your faith has saved you, (your faith has made you whole!) go in peace. (Luke 7:50) This is a message of hope and encouragement for sinners everywhere. Our debts have been paid in Christ who accepts our faith and repentance as the most precious ‘currency’ around. We need only turn our lives toward him and figure out what is truly valuable in our lives.

Sacred Heart interlude: Twelfth Station - Jesus dies on the Cross (Balthasar)

[As an echo of Good Friday during Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates a Solemnity in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday after Corpus Christi Sunday.  Here the mystery of God's love revealed in the Cross of Christ is drawn out of the penance and sadness of Lent, and placed before us in our every day lives which is constantly illuminated by the completion of the historical and liturgical observances of the  Resurrection, Ascension, and Descent of the Holy Spirit... taking us into our own age so in need of an awareness of the depths of God's love.  So on this day, in union with the spirit of the series I did during Lent, I offer one more tableau of the Twelfth Station, that given by Hans Urs von Balthasar and used for the pope's stations at the Colosseum in 1988, shortly before Balthasar died.  I looked all over the internet for this text to include it in the Lent series I did, but I couldn't find it in English... it must be out of print.  In recent weeks, I finally got hold of the text, which I share below for your prayer and meditation.]

 

Twelfth Station:  Jesus dies on the cross.

V/.  We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/.  Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

"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 sabachtani?' which means, "My God, my God, why hadst thou forsaken me?'  ... And one ran, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink... And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.  ...And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God'."  (Mark 15: 33-39 RSV)

   Jesus is suspended between heaven and earth, repudiated by men and forsaken by his Father, thus restoring the unity between them.  Extending his arms he reaches out to both the sinner who goes back to him and to the one who turns away from him and yet could not hinder Christ to reach out to him.  The vertical beam of the cross bridges the gap between God and man, while the horizontal one embraces the ends of the earth.  The Fathers of the Church therefore could aptly say that the Cross had the dimensions of the whole creation; it has the dimensions of the whole history of the human race because in those three long hours of Christ's agony, the sins of all -- from the first person to the very last -- have been gathered and remitted.  From now on the way to heaven is open to all: this is the teaching of the Church.

   The last words of the dying Jesus express his entire testament to the Church: that the Father will surely, indeed he must, forgive us, wretched and ignorant as we are; that Easter will be the great absolution, setting the seal on our final reconciliation with God; and that the sinless Mother is placed at the center of the Church which, despite the sinfulness of its members, preserves it core intact.

   Jesus' forsaken death on the cross opened for us the way to the Father.  The thirst of Christ's body, drained of every drop of blood, makes of it a spring from whence flow waters of eternal life.  Both the water of baptism and the blood of the Eucharist quench our thirst.  In the dying cry of Jesus, God reveals to us his infinite love which transcends the power of words.

   Bending his head, Jesus gives up the Spirit, the same Spirit whom he will breathe on the Church on the day of his Resurrection, and in this way all is truly accomplished.

 

Holy Mary, Virgin of the cross:

by the tree of life, you are humanity itself:

obedient and faithful, receptive to the word,

resolute and dutiful, open to the Spirit.

 

Reveal to us the mystery of the "Hour" of your Son:

of his glory in disgrace,

of his majesty in service,

of our life in his death.

 

But it is also you "Hour", O Virgin Mary:

the hour of birth -- in faith, in pain, in the Spirit;

for that new birth, Jesus, dying on the cross,

said: "Woman, behold your son."

Benedict XVI on the Eucharist (Corpus Christi Homily 2011)

There is nothing magic in Christianity.  There are no short cuts, but everything passes through the humble, patient logic of the grain of wheat which dies to give life, the logic of the faith which moves mountains with the meek strength of God.  For this reason God wishes to renew humanity, its history and the universe by means of this chain of transformations of which the Eucharist is the sacrament.  By means of the consecrated bread and wine, in which his Body and Blood are truly present, Christ transforms us, assimilating us to himself; he involves us in his work of redemption, making us capable by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit of living according to the same logic which is his, that of gift, like grains of wheat united to Him and in Him.  Thus, sown and maturing in the furrows of history are the unity and peace which are the end to which we are directed, according to the plan of God.  Without any illusions, without ideological utopias, we pass along the roads of the world, bearing within ourselves the Body of the Lord, as did the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation.  With the humility of recognizing ourselves as simple grains of wheat, we preserve the firm certitude that the love of God, incarnate in Christ, is more powerful than evil, than violence and than death.  We know that God has prepared for all people a new heavens and a new earth, in which peace and justice will reign - and in faith we glimpse the new world, which is our real fatherland.  This evening too, we are set off on a journey with us there is Jesus in the Eucharist, the Risen One who has said: "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Mt 28: 20).

May 28, 2005 - Eight years...



May God sustain in all priests a grateful awareness of the gift they have received; may he also awaken in many young men a ready and generous response to his call to give themselves completely to the cause of the Gospel. The men and women of our time, who have such need of meaning and hope, will greatly benefit from their witness. And the Christian community will rejoice, knowing that it can look forward with confidence to the challenges of the approaching Third Millennium.  -Blessed John Paul II ("Gift and Mystery" 1996)

 

Quicumque vult...

In the old office before the Second Vatican Council, priests and religious would recite the Creed attributed St. Athanasius (d. 373), known as the "Quicumque vult..." (the Latin words beginning the statement of faith mean, "Whoever wishes...")  This creed, as others of the first five hundred years of Christianity, were written to proclaim the authentic faith and dismiss the sub-Christian heresies that arose in various places and times.  The Athanasian creed professes the Trinitarian theology with particular precision beyond the familiar Niceno-Constantapolitan Creed that is recited at Sunday Mass all over the world.  One of the properties of this creed that will sound odd to the contemporary audience is the condemnation against those who refuse to believe. The stakes are high--Trinitarian theology is not simply an academic, esoteric exercise in splitting hairs or counting angels dancing on a pin.  It demands our assent, that we can worship God "in Spirit and in Truth".

   The key to greater belief and understanding is not more study and external consideration of the great mystery of God, but to enter more directly into the reality of God's love through "worship of the one God in Trinity".  In worship, the fire of God's love is revealed--that love shared eternally among Father, Son, and Spirit; Three Persons, One God.  We do this each time we sign ourselves with the cross, "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".  We do this each time we pray, to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.  Each time we recite the Gloria and the Credo.  We do this every time we offer the Son to the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Eucharistic prayers.

   The vitrtue of worship feeds and informs a faithful orthodoxy (right belief), which then leads to a strong and healthy Christian life, or as the Latins say, "Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi"... "the law of prayer is the law of belief is the law of life".

 

   And so, ladies and gentlemen, the Athanasian Creed: 

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic ('universal') Faith.  Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreated, the Son Uncreated, and the Holy Ghost Uncreated. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Addendum:  Aha!  The Internet provides!  Here's an explanation of the carefulness we need to have when talking about the Trinity and how the Athanasian Creed is the solution.  Look at this, complements the Lutherans, and with a biretta tip to Sean Dailey:

Notre Dame: Obama (2009) vs. Dolan (2013)

I ran across an article that contained Cardinal Dolan's address to the graduates of Notre Dame University.  Out of some 'vast right-wing conspiracy' operating in the depths of my soul, I thought some random comparisons might be interesting... just for kicks and giggles.  This isn't a scientific survey... I simply leafed through the speeches and picked out some key words to search with my browser's "find" function.  Maybe I counted perfectly (including plurals and singulars of the same word, etc,) maybe I didn't... but I'm fairly close and fairly representative, I think, in my counts.  I'll be happy to make any corrections or include observations that readers might point out.

Oh, FWIW, my parish has already been the subject of a "random" IRS audit... which we passed...  it cost us a bunch of time that would be better-spent doing anything else, a bunch of money in professional fees that would be better-spent on anything else, and unnecessary wear-and-tear on an already-overburdened pastor, but we got through it OK.  (It's a good thing I like to run a 'clean ship'.)  I wouldn't mind seeing some people in the government fired for this, however high it goes, if this can be proven to be an arbitrary attack on us as a church and as Catholics who are not afraid to be Catholic.

 

 

 

 

 

	President Obama, 2009	Timothy Cardinal Dolan, 2013
	Printed in NYT	speech not printed in NYT… See New Advent instead
Total Words	3539	1581
Total Time	30:30	12:30
“I”	52	19
“my” "me"	14 9	5 8
“we”	44	9
“us”	21	7
“them”	4	2
“they”	18	1
“you”/”your”	67	39
“Jesus”	0	5
“God”	7	13
“Mary”	0	12
“Notre Dame”	12	17
“Graduate”	2 (once referring to himself)	1
Interruptions for Applause	24	?
“Alum”	0	3
“abortion”	7	0
“pro-life”	2	0
“Christian”	3	1
“Muslim”/”Islam”	1	0
“Jew”	1	3
“bible”	0	0
“opportunity”	0	0
“job”	2 (once referring to himself and his ‘job’)	0
“contribute”	0	0
“Catholic”	4	4
“poor”	1	1
“Gospel”	1	2
“moral”	3	0
“value”	3	0
“gay”/”homosexual”	1	0
“love”	5	2
“cooperation”	4	0
“2009” or “2013”	5	5
“religion”	2	0
“diversity”	4	0
“(dis)/agree”	4	0

  I don't know if this survey proves anything.  My greatest interest, as you might see, was in the use of pronouns.  I suppose that a speech twice as long as the other will result in twice as much usage of these kinds of words, but what I am detecting is one orator's significantly greater use of "us" vs. "them" kind of language... assigning attributes and attitudes to what "they" do or say or believe.  I was surprised to see that, proportionally, the self-references ("I", "me", "my") between the two orators were pretty close.

   The other thing to consider is the use of 'moral' language... what "should" and "should not" be part of the graduate's life or worldview in the president's speech--content which was mostly lacking in the Cardinal's.  I would be from the school that moralizing is pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to preaching.  Yes, morals need to be taught from the pulpit, but I think there is at least as great a need, if not greater, to inculcate the "Catholic way of thinking"... sound interpretation of scripture, seeing the eschatological horizons, bringing the Good News "home", teaching Catholic culture and liturgy and history and hagiography.  Moralizing tends to be a lot of "you" talk, which tends to turn people's ears off... people have a tendency to say to themselves when they feel themselves in the cross hairs: "this doesn't apply to me" or "the priest doesn't know what he is talking about" or "quit treating talking down to us, you hypocrite"... or worse yet, "yeah, go after those (other people) sinners!"  One cannot ignore morality as a necessary component of preaching, but to simply be fed a steady, indiscriminate diet of moralizing tends to strangle the homiletic imagination and divide crowds.

   Neither speaker had much to say about what the graduates would be doing on Monday morning, i.e., getting a job and contributing to society.  I hope that's OK with all the Notre Dame parents out there and the student loan industry.  Who knows?  Maybe there were some religious vocations lurking about in the crowd?