Tag: Gospel

CCCX – More Reflections From Luke 22

21 But yet behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22 And the Son of man indeed goeth, according to that which is determined: but yet, woe to that man by whom he shall be betrayed.

23 And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. 24 And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should seem to be the greater.

This is an interesting scene, to me. I can imagine how the conversation goes: Christ says his betrayer is among them, and they turn to one another and say “It couldn’t be me, I was with Christ from the very beginning!” “Yeah but I was there with the multiplication of the loaves!” “That’s nothing, Christ called me first!” “But I have done more!” The desire to identify the betrayer quickly becomes a holiness spiral. It stops being about Christ and begins to be about themselves.

I can also imagine Judas throughout this conversation, sweating bullets, tactfully trying to avoid getting entangled in this discussion. I can imagine Jesus staring him down, and Judas being very focused on the crumbs on his plate and how they are arranged.

25 And he said to them: The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. 26 But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. 27 For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth:

Christ rebukes the holiness spiral by calling them to servant leadership. “If you want to be great, serve your neighbor!” I especially like how Christ discusses who is greater: “Is it he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? The guy sitting, right? I am here as he that serves.”–to me, there is an implied threat there. “When I come back, it will be as he that sitteth at table.” Christ does not say that he that serves is greater, but affirms that he that sits is greater. But none of us, in this life, can be greater than the Lord, and the Lord came first to us as he that serves, so we must imitate him in service. When He comes again to judge the living and the dead, our service will very tangibly be service to the King who sitteth at table, but who first came to us to teach us how to serve.

28 And you are they who have continued with me in my temptations: 29 And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom; 30 That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Christ affirms that their work and effort is not for nothing. “Guys, guys, relax. You all have been with me through hard times.”–he reminds them that their reward is eternal. Not in this life, will they sit on thrones, but in the next. “Lay up your treasure in heaven” but quite tangibly Christ tells them what their heavenly treasure will be. This also could be construed as the founding of the Church on Earth, essentially: The Kingdom of God, under the chair of Peter. Because of Peter’s pivotal role in the Kingdom to come, Christ continues:

31 And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.

33 Who said to him: Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

34 And he said: I say to thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, till thou thrice deniest that thou knowest me. (…)

I didn’t realize this was in scripture–it’s either often overlooked or it is a unique feature of the Douay-Rheims translation: that Satan desired to have Simon Peter. Essentially, Christ is saying that he saved Peter then and there, perhaps in a negotiation similar to Job. The price negotiated perhaps was that Satan would be allowed to tempt Peter but not to destroy him. Peter’s peacetime faith is strong, but when the moment of trial came he was weak and abandoned the Lord. Christ’s prayers perhaps protected him from Satan but did not protect him from stumbling. Christ admonishes Peter to, once he repents and converts–once he turns around–to get back to work and reinforce the faith of everyone else.

These are my thoughts.

O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

AMDG

CCCIX – Reflections on Luke 22:61

I have been reading through a little pocket Bible which includes the New Testament (Gospels, Acts, epistles, Apocalypse) plus Proverbs and Psalms plugged in at the end. It was this project which took me to a closer reading of Matthew earlier, and I have been putting off finishing Luke because the crucifixion is a spiritually and emotionally difficult scripture to read. Today (the day I write this, a little before I publish this article), I got through it, and Luke 22:61 stuck out to me.

And the Lord turning looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as he had said: Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Particularly what struck me was the beginning: “And the Lord turning looked on Peter.” The scene is set where Christ is being judged before the crowd and Peter follows a ways off to watch the proceedings. In my mind, I imagined something like a small stadium or amphitheater where Christ is at the Center and Peter is in the back row, trying to be inconspicuous. And yet, when the crowd turns on Peter and he denies Christ, even from a distance away Christ knows where to look to catch Peter’s eye.

The reason this stuck out to me is because it can be hard to pick out individuals from a crowd. Yet–when you are the one on the field and your parents, your spouse, your children, your friends are the ones in the crowd, cheering you on, you know exactly how to pick them out. You’ll find them even if you don’t know beforehand where they are going to be–to you, the people you love are instantly recognizable, even from a distance, by their silhouette and body movements and clothes. This is true enough to become a trope in movies–little Johnny looking into the stands and drawing inspiration for the climactic final play from his dad who finally showed up to the big game.

Christ knows each and every person in the crowd, personally. He knows their names, the names of their family. He knows where they live, he knows what they do. Of course He does–He created them. But there are few He called His friends, and Peter was one of those gracious few. Christ could name everyone in the mob that accused Him, but Peter He could pick out from the crowd. And when the cock crew, Christ knew what Peter had done, and found him in the crowd, as one can only find ones loved ones, and made eye contact.

I am not so naive as to think I am incapable of the sin of Peter–but I do hope I am capable of the contrition of Peter. When Christ catches my eye in the crowd, will He see a loved one, who gives him strength–or a denier, who disappoints Him in His hour of need?

O Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

AMDG

CCXI – There Came A Great Calm

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying: Arise, and go to Ninive the great city, and preach in it: for the wickedness thereof is come up before me.
 And Jonas rose up to flee into Tharsis from the face of the Lord, and he went down to Joppe, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tharsis from the face of the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3

And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to pass over the water. And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go. And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said to him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead. Matthew 8:18-22

But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea: and a great tempest was raised in the sea, and the ship was in danger to be broken. And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried to their god: and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them: and Jonas went down into the inner part of the ship, and fell into a deep sleep. Jonah 1:4-5

And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. Matthew 8:23-24

And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him: Why art thou fast asleep? rise up, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think of us, that we may not perish. And they said every one to his fellow: Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas. And they said to him: Tell us for what cause this evil is upon us, what is thy business? of what country art thou? and whither goest thou? or of what people art thou? And he said to them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land. Jonah 1:6-9

And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm. Matthew 8:25-26

And they cried to the Lord, and said: We beseech thee, O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. And they took Jonas, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging. And the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and sacrificed victims to the Lord, and made vows. Jonah 1:14-16

But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him? Matthew 8:27

God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9-10

CLXVIII – Anvil Attack of Forgiveness

JMSmith has an article up at Orthosphere about forgiveness, and separately I had a conversation with Hambone on the subject. This “Hammer and Anvil” attack on the subject of forgiveness has me, naturally, thinking about forgiveness.

If I had to reduce his post to one snippet, it would be this: “Forgiveness does not set you free.  It renews your commitment to the lying cheat whose lying and cheating you have forgiven.  The true act of freedom is to say ‘to hell with you.'”

When I was talking with Hambone, we started off talking about self-forgiveness. I have a self deprecating disposition at times and it can be hard for me to let things go. If I had to reduce our conversation likewise to one snippet, it would be this: “Accept the past, and don’t let concern for the future hinder the present.”

These two snippets don’t sound anything alike, but they are related. In the comments, Smith talks about how “forgiveness is a resolution to forego revenge and restitution”. To forego revenge is to surrender a desire to be the author of justice. Justice lies with God, and God will exact his perfect justice. In other words: Accept that the grievance has, indeed, happened. Lay down the hot iron of hostility and walk away from the fire. One would only forego the desire for revenge if one feels a commitment to the offending party in the form of Christian charity and neighborliness. That commitment only need extend as far as not desiring revenge and need not go beyond that. If my brother was murdered, forgiveness does not obligate me to become friends with his murderer, but to forgive does mean I can give over to God the responsibility for justice.

I often expect forgiveness to be a powerful moment of release. There’s a scene in the Lord of the Rings films which embodies well what my illusion looks like. Aragorn addresses an army of restless spirits, oath-breakers in life, whose dishonor has kept them from a restful afterlife. He obligated them to help him by promising to hold their oath fulfilled and allowing the spirits to rest. In the scene, Aragorn says “I hold your oath fulfilled,” and the spirits sigh and evaporate on the wind.

In my mind, Aragorn might as well have said “I forgive you” to the spirit of resentment and it evaporates. This is not how it works, though. The spirit of resentment is less like a ghost and more like smoldering embers of a fire. Every grievance is like a new fire placed around me. Forgiveness is deciding not to put fuel on the fire, or to fan the flames. The fire doesn’t go away, but rather burns low. In time I can even forget its there, but being re-confronted with a particular grievance presents me with an opportunity to decide to fan the flames or ignore them again. I can accept the presence of the fire, even while ignoring it’s hunger for dry tinder.

It’s worth clarifying: A victim of abuse can forgive the abuser without reconciling with the abuser. Forgiveness, as Smith notes, is forgoing revenge and letting the fire of hostility burn low. To “forgive and forget” does not mean forgoing revenge and returning oneself into a situation of danger. Prudence dictates that we learn lessons, and one among them can be the lesson of which people are willing and able to harm us. Continuing the metaphor of the fire, to forgive is to deny it fuel; to forget is to accept it happened and cease to let it trouble the present. Easier said than done, especially in situations of abuse.

But that difficulty is exactly why forgiveness can be powerful. There is a viral video that made its rounds where someone forgives a murderer on trial. I went looking for the video but there are several such videos, so I will leave it to you to find. In the case of forgiving a murderer in court, to forgive is to hand over to God responsibility for exacting justice. To forget is to say, “while I feel the hot fire of resentment now, I will add no additional fuel to this fire, and will not fan these flames, and in time it will burn low.” A man whose son had been murdered will not forget his son, and in fact will feel his absence every day. But rather than using that to fuel resentment, he can focus his energies on healthy grief. Acts of forgiveness have the power to convert people, because it is so contrary to our human nature.

This is also why God’s forgiveness is so powerful. Sin is an infinite crime. He forgives perfectly, which is why He can forego a desire for revenge and act as if our crime never happened, conditional on our contrition (are we actually sorry) and penance (demonstrable act of contrition).

It is almost easier to talk about forgiving others in comparison to forgiving ourselves. If I have committed a grievous act, or if I have substantial regrets, I can put tinder on a hot fire which lies under my own feet. I am both perpetrator and victim of my own crime. We cannot exact revenge on ourselves, but we can inflict regret on ourselves, by thinking about and desiring a different turn of events, a different outcome, “what could have been”. Regret is healthy insofar as prudence allows us to learn lessons from it, but can be toxic insofar as it adds tinder to the fire of self-resentment. To forgive ourselves is to cease to punish ourselves, to turn over to God responsibility for exacting justice. If we have committed a wrong to another, we can go to them and express our contrition to them. To forget is to cease to add fuel, to let the fire of self-resentment burn low.

In my own life, I have to remind myself not to think about could-have-beens and instead to accept events as they happened, my acts as I performed them. And remember that if I add fuel to the fire under my feet, it can do nothing but hurt me.

Forgiveness is on everyone’s mind recently I think because it was the subject of this past Sunday’s readings. I will close with the Gospel, in it’s entirety.

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused.

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

AMDG

LXVII – Resurrection

For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures: And that he was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

1 Corinthians 15:3-7

Paul here reminds the young church of Corinth of the gospel, and one of the key mysteries: The resurrection of Christ. Paul begins here, and not arbitrarily. Evangelism is akin to a negotiation: Before one establishes that a counterparts present position is untenable, one must first establish that a new position is greater. The resurrection is the cornerstone of a message of Hope.

A Study in Contrasts

Lets look at the word itself, first. Paul wrote Corinthians in greek, so the word he would have used for resurrection was a greek one: anastasi. This is derived from ana (back, restored) + stasis (to stand); anastasi meant “to stand back up”.

When it was translated into Latin, they used the Latin word: resurrexit, from resurrectionem, a derivation of re + surgere, meaning again + to rise, or “to rise again”. Resurrection in both Latin and Greek had the connotation of righting something that had been laid low.

This is in contrast to renaissance, or reincarnate. Both have the prefix re meaning “again”. Naissance comes from Latin nasci, to be born. Incarnate comes from en + caro meaning “in the flesh”. So the one means “To be born again” while the other means “to be made flesh again”. Both involve creating something new. A person, once born, cannot be born again except by metaphor. A person, once Incarnate with their own flesh and blood, can not be given new flesh and blood. But a person, having fallen, can be lifted up again.

This cuts to the heart of the Christian message. God made man, and man fell at the dawn of time. So God will lift us up, through Christ, who defeated death that we might be saved. O Happy Fault, that earned us a redeemer such as Christ!

A Hopeful Evangelism

The Resurrection is the core of evangelism for this purpose. We are not made some mysterious, new thing. At the end of all things, we are made perfectly ourselves in our Glorified, Resurrected Bodies. Physically! We are physically resurrected! We do not need to scorn our earthly form, because God will perfect it and give it back to us. Imagine being a Corinthian receiving Pauls letter. What news! First-century Jews also believed in the Resurrection at the end of time, but to hear that Christ did it, and that it he paved the way for us: Truly, that is what the Greeks called euangellos, or “good message”: the root of Evangelism.

But, this good news comes with a cost. The yoke is easy, the burden is light, but it must be accepted. We must give our lives to Christ. If we do not accept this, we lose everything. There will be no unity with God, no glorified resurrected form. We will suffer the complete denial of God. The negotiating table is set: To receive perfection, we must accept Christ, or lose everything. As said by Christ:

For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; for he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall save it.

Luke 9:24

For Daily Use

Remember this lesson of the Resurrection, and that Paul used it as the cornerstone of his Evangelism. Paul can be an example for us all: We are called to live out the Gospel, and bear witness to the good news through our lives. What do we reach for, when people ask us about our Faith? I propose that the first tool in the belt can be the story of Resurrection. Theology is a complicated thing, but everyone speaks the language of Hope, and everyone can understand the good news of having our bodies Perfected, Glorified, and Resurrected. We are all fallen creatures. Trusting God to lift us up removes a heavy burden from striving to do it ourselves.

AMDG

VIII – Thoughts on a Homily: The Shepherd

Yesterday I had the good fortune of attending a Diocesan Mass to mark a special occasion.

Here is the Gospel:

Matthew 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
The homily from Mass always has a way of speaking to me. Almost as if the Lord is present and speaking to us during Mass, who would have thought!
This one is particularly interesting because a week or so ago I had the opportunity to pray with some friends in the Chapel after a gathering of sorts. We had been discussing having a dialogue with God, asking Him, ‘What do you want me to do?’ and being prayerfully open to whatever answer he gives you.
I have a fairly busy mind, so I always struggle to quiet it down during periods of quiet contemplation. I like to compare my mind to a neutrino detector: There’s a lot of noise and ideas bouncing around but if I can latch on to one thing and follow it for a while it might be good. So during this period of prayerful contemplation, this idea came to mind that we are all Shepherds. That was it at the time, and I contextualized it as the need to lead by example.  We all need help bring as many souls with us to Heaven; go out and find some sheep that might be lost.
But that was an idea without context. At Mass yesterday, it was given just that.
The overt message is of course a good one: God rejoices when lost sheep are found. I believe that we can also take this as an encouragement for Shepherds to go looking for sheep. In a sense, this is a call to evangelism: No one would hear the good news if no one preached it.[1]
So as I listened to the Homily, and then later as we celebrated the particular occasion of the day, I began to think about what I’m doing to go looking for sheep. I’m not really. I’m writing here, sure. I’ve invested a lot in self improvement. But who else am I reaching out to? Who am I supporting and encouraging? I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’ve been selfish, but I could certainly afford to be more selfless. Gathering sheep can also mean just supporting the ones we already have, keeping them with the flock.
We are called to preserve and grow the flock, to help take care of them. There is so much to do.
Just a few thoughts on a Homily.
AMDG

[1] – Yes, preach the Gospel and sometimes use words. But also, do preach the Gospel!