2 Kings 5.1-5
Psalm 42.2-3; 43.3-4
Luke 4.24-30
God is often not what we expect. If we worshiped a human idea, we would never be surprised, but we worship a living God who is greater than us. Part of his greatness is his capacity to surprise us. We are never going to figure God out. When he commands something, we can obey him, even if we do not understand him. We sometimes have to obey God blindly: not because we have shut our eyes but because we cannot comprehend what we see. This may sound disturbing to modern people, that we will obey someone whom we do not understand.
There may have been a time when blind obedience was more acceptable. Naaman does not seem to understand it, but his servants do. Perhaps they were used to following commands that they did not understand. We modern people are more like Naaman: we, each one of us, think of ourselves as commanders. We will not accept a politician who assures us that we simply do not understand the issues of global finance or international relations, who tells us to go along with a plan that seems bad to us. Perhaps this skepticism is good. We have learned that no human person can be trusted. There may not be anyone in this world so intelligent that they really understand all the issues and so virtuous that they are beyond corruption, and if there is, they are not running for political office.
This skepticism, however, should not be extended to our relationship with God. Here is someone we can trust. He understands everything perfectly, and he loves us completely. Once we have come to believe in God, we should not stumble when we do not understand his ways. We should not expect to understand him. He is God. We are not.
It is not wrong to think about God’s ways and try to make some progress in understanding him. God did give us intelligence so that we could understand. We should not expect, though, that we will understand everything about God or that we have to. Our first reaction to the incomprehensible should not be to try and fit it within our limited frameworks. True understanding does come, as a gift of the Holy Spirit. In the meantime we can simply obey; we can safely presume, if not easily, that God is right, that we have something to learn, that God does not need us to teach him anything.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Understanding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Understanding. Show all posts
December 13, 2012 - Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Isaiah 41:13-20
Psalm 145:1, 9-13
Matthew 11:11-15
The Gospel today is complicated, defying easy explanation. Jesus says that there has been no one born of woman greater than John the Baptist, yet I know of two who were born of woman who are greater than John the Baptist: Jesus and Mary. And what does greater even mean? Greater in holiness or power or love of God or humility or wisdom or strength or prophecy? And if the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than him, does that mean that John does not participate in the Kingdom of Heaven?
Then Jesus says that from the time of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence. In what way does the Kingdom suffer violence that it had not before John the Bapist? Was the disrespect for God's reign increased after John preached and baptized? Last we learn that John the Baptist is Elijah, which, taken literally, is strange since we know the story of his birth. Elijah lived 700 years earlier and was taken up in a chariot of fire. If John the Baptist were Elijah, we would expect that either people would have seen him come back in the chariot of fire or that no one would know where he came from.
It is possible to use tricks of language to make what Jesus has to say more understandable. We can say that John was playing the role of Elijah and that he was the greatest human being to live without having received the Holy Spirit as we have all received it. We can make these and many other explanations, but they cannot satisfy us.
The last words of the Gospel can guide us. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus speaks to us and we hear him. We need not be surprised if there are things which Jesus says that we do not understand. There is a certain human pride which presumes that if we do not understand someone, it must be their problem. When something is difficult to understand, we can shoehorn it into our limited understanding or dismiss it as nonsense. We can also humbly submit that we are not capable of comprehending everything.
Psalm 145:1, 9-13
Matthew 11:11-15
The Gospel today is complicated, defying easy explanation. Jesus says that there has been no one born of woman greater than John the Baptist, yet I know of two who were born of woman who are greater than John the Baptist: Jesus and Mary. And what does greater even mean? Greater in holiness or power or love of God or humility or wisdom or strength or prophecy? And if the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than him, does that mean that John does not participate in the Kingdom of Heaven?
Then Jesus says that from the time of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence. In what way does the Kingdom suffer violence that it had not before John the Bapist? Was the disrespect for God's reign increased after John preached and baptized? Last we learn that John the Baptist is Elijah, which, taken literally, is strange since we know the story of his birth. Elijah lived 700 years earlier and was taken up in a chariot of fire. If John the Baptist were Elijah, we would expect that either people would have seen him come back in the chariot of fire or that no one would know where he came from.
It is possible to use tricks of language to make what Jesus has to say more understandable. We can say that John was playing the role of Elijah and that he was the greatest human being to live without having received the Holy Spirit as we have all received it. We can make these and many other explanations, but they cannot satisfy us.
The last words of the Gospel can guide us. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus speaks to us and we hear him. We need not be surprised if there are things which Jesus says that we do not understand. There is a certain human pride which presumes that if we do not understand someone, it must be their problem. When something is difficult to understand, we can shoehorn it into our limited understanding or dismiss it as nonsense. We can also humbly submit that we are not capable of comprehending everything.
December 4, 2012 - Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-9
Matthew 8:5-11
Today our reading from Isaiah lists the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah lists them because he prophesies that Jesus, the green shoot from the stump of Jesse, would possess these gifts. However these gifts can be ours if we will have them. So what are they?
The first gift is wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the best action in any situation. Wisdom helps us make decisions especially in difficult cases. Like the other gifts, there is an earthly form of wisdom which comes with experience, but Isaiah is speaking of something greater, a divine gift unrelated to experience. Even a child can display great wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
The second gift is understanding. Understanding means seeing the truth even when it is hidden. It can be the truth of a difficult Scripture passage. It can be the truth of the dignity of another person. It can be the truth of why God has done something.
The third gift is counsel. This gift allows a person to give good advice. Giving really good advice is very difficult, almost impossible. Counsel requires both wisdom and understanding, and also knowing exactly what words will convey the advice in the most helpful fashion.
The fourth gift is fortitude. Fortitude is the willingness to die in battle. It may be an actual battle, or it may be a battle against our own pride. We want to defend ourselves, but sometimes we must be willing to die.
The fifth gift is knowledge. The gift of knowledge allows us to learn about the creation of the world by God. Through this gift we see the creator in the created things.
The sixth gift is the fear of the Lord. Also called piety, it is the feeling we get when in the presence of the holy. It is what keeps us from chatting in church. When I was a child, I would never have walked into the sanctuary. This fear is a wonderful gift. Life without piety is boring; nothing is special.
The seventh gift is once again the fear of the Lord, but this time we consider it differently. It is the fear of sinning. For an immature person it is the fear of hell. For a more mature person, it is the fear of disappointing our Father. For a very mature person, it is the fear of being separated from God.
These are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. May God give them to his Church in abundance. May God give them to each of us.
Psalm 122:1-9
Matthew 8:5-11
Today our reading from Isaiah lists the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah lists them because he prophesies that Jesus, the green shoot from the stump of Jesse, would possess these gifts. However these gifts can be ours if we will have them. So what are they?
The first gift is wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the best action in any situation. Wisdom helps us make decisions especially in difficult cases. Like the other gifts, there is an earthly form of wisdom which comes with experience, but Isaiah is speaking of something greater, a divine gift unrelated to experience. Even a child can display great wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
The second gift is understanding. Understanding means seeing the truth even when it is hidden. It can be the truth of a difficult Scripture passage. It can be the truth of the dignity of another person. It can be the truth of why God has done something.
The third gift is counsel. This gift allows a person to give good advice. Giving really good advice is very difficult, almost impossible. Counsel requires both wisdom and understanding, and also knowing exactly what words will convey the advice in the most helpful fashion.
The fourth gift is fortitude. Fortitude is the willingness to die in battle. It may be an actual battle, or it may be a battle against our own pride. We want to defend ourselves, but sometimes we must be willing to die.
The fifth gift is knowledge. The gift of knowledge allows us to learn about the creation of the world by God. Through this gift we see the creator in the created things.
The sixth gift is the fear of the Lord. Also called piety, it is the feeling we get when in the presence of the holy. It is what keeps us from chatting in church. When I was a child, I would never have walked into the sanctuary. This fear is a wonderful gift. Life without piety is boring; nothing is special.
The seventh gift is once again the fear of the Lord, but this time we consider it differently. It is the fear of sinning. For an immature person it is the fear of hell. For a more mature person, it is the fear of disappointing our Father. For a very mature person, it is the fear of being separated from God.
These are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. May God give them to his Church in abundance. May God give them to each of us.
June 30, 2012 - Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
Psalm 74:1-7, 20-21
Matthew 8:5-17
Our readings today put before us the problem of suffering. It is usually phrased like this: “If God is good, how can he allow so much suffering?” We can understand the suffering of the wicked, but what about the little children in the first reading who starve to death in their mother’s arms asking why there is no food?
We sometimes try to solve this difficult problem by blaming God. Perhaps God has forgotten us. So we repeat in the psalm over and over: “Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.” But God does not forget. We are always on his mind, each one of us. Perhaps God is unable to cure the suffering, we might think, but we know this is wrong. God is all powerful. At his word, anyone can be healed of anything. We see this power in the Gospel today. Jesus healed two people, but what about everyone else? What about the ones we love?
There are some answers to the problem of suffering. We can say that suffering is necessary in a world with sin. Some suffering is caused by sin, but also suffering is sometimes the only thing that pulls us out of sin. Sometimes we only stop living indulgent, prideful, independent lives because suffering stops us. Suffering is not a punishment; it is the only cure that prevents us from descending entirely into sin. Suffering in others awakens our compassion. Furthermore, the suffering of this world and this time will go away. Above all, we should not expect to understand everything.
There are all these answers and more. There are books and articles that address the problem of suffering very convincingly, but they are almost always useless in the face of actual suffering. Would you tell a mother who lost her child that God is using that experience to make her a better person? And, by the way, the child is in a better place now? And God works in mysterious ways? No, but it is not because the answers are insufficient. These answers and others are as sufficient as human answers can be. No, these answers, good as they are, will usually not do much for someone who is suffering. We need to bring the answers with us into our suffering. We need to make them part of who we are now. Then, when suffering comes, we will translate the answers for ourselves from trite phrases into ineffable consolation.
Psalm 74:1-7, 20-21
Matthew 8:5-17
Our readings today put before us the problem of suffering. It is usually phrased like this: “If God is good, how can he allow so much suffering?” We can understand the suffering of the wicked, but what about the little children in the first reading who starve to death in their mother’s arms asking why there is no food?
We sometimes try to solve this difficult problem by blaming God. Perhaps God has forgotten us. So we repeat in the psalm over and over: “Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.” But God does not forget. We are always on his mind, each one of us. Perhaps God is unable to cure the suffering, we might think, but we know this is wrong. God is all powerful. At his word, anyone can be healed of anything. We see this power in the Gospel today. Jesus healed two people, but what about everyone else? What about the ones we love?
There are some answers to the problem of suffering. We can say that suffering is necessary in a world with sin. Some suffering is caused by sin, but also suffering is sometimes the only thing that pulls us out of sin. Sometimes we only stop living indulgent, prideful, independent lives because suffering stops us. Suffering is not a punishment; it is the only cure that prevents us from descending entirely into sin. Suffering in others awakens our compassion. Furthermore, the suffering of this world and this time will go away. Above all, we should not expect to understand everything.
There are all these answers and more. There are books and articles that address the problem of suffering very convincingly, but they are almost always useless in the face of actual suffering. Would you tell a mother who lost her child that God is using that experience to make her a better person? And, by the way, the child is in a better place now? And God works in mysterious ways? No, but it is not because the answers are insufficient. These answers and others are as sufficient as human answers can be. No, these answers, good as they are, will usually not do much for someone who is suffering. We need to bring the answers with us into our suffering. We need to make them part of who we are now. Then, when suffering comes, we will translate the answers for ourselves from trite phrases into ineffable consolation.
June 22, 2012 - Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20
Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18
Matthew 6:19-23
How many eyes does one person have? This does not seem like a very difficult question. Two. Easy, right? Not so fast. One person has many different eyes. "The eye is the lamp of the body", Jesus tells us. This is a metaphor. As a lamp is to a room, so is the eye to the body. But this is a multi-layered metaphor. Jesus is not merely telling us that if our eyes were not working we would always be experiencing darkness. He is referring here to spiritual eyes which are the lamps of our souls.
Physical eyes reveal the physical world to us. Spiritual eyes reveal the spiritual world. We all have spiritual eyes, many, many spiritual eyes. If they are good, we see the spiritual world for what it is. If they are bad, we will see a distorted and false spiritual world.
Consider one kind of spiritual eye: greed. If we see the world with greed, we will believe that we should try to possess as much treasure here on earth as we possibly can, yet Jesus, who saw more clearly than we will ever see, said that we should store up treasure in heaven and forget about treasure here on earth, where thieves steal and moths destroy. When a person looks at earthly treasure with greed, they fall in love and give their heart away. When a saint looks at earthly treasure, their only thought is, "How can I use this to further the Kingdom of God?" They see clearly. They both are looking at the same treasure; it is the eye that is different.
In the first reading, Queen Athaliah is seeing with the eye of power. She desires power so much that she kills all her grandchildren, or tries to, so that she can rule. When she looks at the world, all she can see are people to conquer and political gain. When a saint looks at the world, they see people whom they can help, people who need to know about the love of God. People whom they are going to love. They see clearly. They both are looking at the same world; it is the eye that is different.
It matters what spiritual eyes you have. If any, like greed or power, are causing you to sin, pluck them out. If any help you see clearly, exercise them until you can look at the world and see God. What you see when you look around has all the power to change who you are.
Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18
Matthew 6:19-23
How many eyes does one person have? This does not seem like a very difficult question. Two. Easy, right? Not so fast. One person has many different eyes. "The eye is the lamp of the body", Jesus tells us. This is a metaphor. As a lamp is to a room, so is the eye to the body. But this is a multi-layered metaphor. Jesus is not merely telling us that if our eyes were not working we would always be experiencing darkness. He is referring here to spiritual eyes which are the lamps of our souls.
Physical eyes reveal the physical world to us. Spiritual eyes reveal the spiritual world. We all have spiritual eyes, many, many spiritual eyes. If they are good, we see the spiritual world for what it is. If they are bad, we will see a distorted and false spiritual world.
Consider one kind of spiritual eye: greed. If we see the world with greed, we will believe that we should try to possess as much treasure here on earth as we possibly can, yet Jesus, who saw more clearly than we will ever see, said that we should store up treasure in heaven and forget about treasure here on earth, where thieves steal and moths destroy. When a person looks at earthly treasure with greed, they fall in love and give their heart away. When a saint looks at earthly treasure, their only thought is, "How can I use this to further the Kingdom of God?" They see clearly. They both are looking at the same treasure; it is the eye that is different.
In the first reading, Queen Athaliah is seeing with the eye of power. She desires power so much that she kills all her grandchildren, or tries to, so that she can rule. When she looks at the world, all she can see are people to conquer and political gain. When a saint looks at the world, they see people whom they can help, people who need to know about the love of God. People whom they are going to love. They see clearly. They both are looking at the same world; it is the eye that is different.
It matters what spiritual eyes you have. If any, like greed or power, are causing you to sin, pluck them out. If any help you see clearly, exercise them until you can look at the world and see God. What you see when you look around has all the power to change who you are.
June 3, 2012 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20
Today is Trinity Sunday, so today we contemplate the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. This mystery is the central mystery of our faith. Even more central than the Incarnation or the Passion or the Resurrection is the mystery of the Trinity. In the sense that we contemplate a greater mystery, today is more important than Christmas or Good Friday or Easter.
When we talk about a mystery of the faith, we do not mean Scooby Do or Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. A mystery of the faith is an idea that begins with a fact. The mystery of the Incarnation begins with the fact of a baby, conceived in the womb of a virgin, born in a stable, and laid in a manger. And the idea is that this baby is totally human but also completely God.
So why do we call it the “Mystery of the Incarnation” and not the “Idea of the Incarnation” or the “Fact of the Incarnation”? It is because this idea is too big to fit in the human brain. To believe in a mystery is fundamentally an act of humility. When we believe in a mystery we are saying that there are some ideas out there which we are not smart enough to understand. Of course, we believe this in principle: there are some differential equations out there that I cannot make heads or tails of. But in practice people act as if the opposite were the case. They start a sentence with “I don’t understand why” and consider it the perfect logical argument against the idea. “I don’t understand why gay marriage is wrong” usually means that the person is sure that it is right.
A mystery of the faith will never be understood. No one can understand how Jesus, one person, was fully human and fully divine. We can believe it. We can think about it and talk about it. When Jesus ate fish, God was eating. When Jesus died on the Cross, God died. Yet God was always alive. It is a mystery. It is like the Grand Canyon: you can look at it all day long, but you cannot take it home with you. You can take all the pictures you want, but you still do not have the Grand Canyon in your pocket. You can climb down one side and climb up the other, but you still do not know the Grand Canyon. And God is bigger than the Grand Canyon.
So the mystery of the Trinity, which we contemplate today, begins with the fact of a universe that is clearly created by an all-powerful being. Every tree, every rock, every molecule proclaims the existence of God. The second law of thermodynamics proves the existence of God. This much we can figure out with science and philosophy. That there is only one God can also be easily proven, since it is illogical that there would be two fundamental principles of all reality.
Furthermore, God, when he revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and above all when he revealed himself to Moses, was very clear about there being only one God: Moses said to the people in our first reading today, “This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.” For thousands of years, God revealed himself as the one true God.
Then one day a man came along and said, “The Father and I are one.” This man accepted the worship of his disciples. Not the admiration or the praise of his disciples, but the worship which is for God alone. And then he said that when we enter into relationship with God, we should do it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
But there cannot be three Gods. That makes no sense. There are three people: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they are all God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. But they are not one person with three names. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. The Father did not die on the Cross. The Son did. But God did die on the Cross, because the Son is God.
So what does that mean? Is God like a club that three people belong to? No, not exactly, since God is who they are. Their essence is God. The Son is consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This word “consubstantial” means sharing the same substance. How can three individual people share the same substance? Are they like three robots that combine to form one larger robot? No, not really, since each person is complete God. God cannot be divided into parts. So also we cannot say that it is exactly like a shamrock with three separate leaves. Nor exactly like water that is ice, liquid, and steam. Every analogy we create either separates God into three or combines the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit into one person.
There are two analogies though which stand above all the rest. The first is in the Creed. The Trinity is like Light from Light. The light of the sun is in the sun, but it is also here on earth. The sun shines and there is light everywhere. The light is reflected over and over yet remains the same light. And the one light can be separated into all the colors.
The second analogy is the one chosen by God himself. It is the family. God invented the family to teach us about the mystery of the Trinity. Three individual people: the husband, the wife, and the child, are all held together by love. So a man and woman become in marriage one flesh, and the result of this bond is a child who is an individual person, yet takes their nature from their parents. Three people, one family. Three people, one God. And yet, no family is as united as God is in his essence.
Mass with Baptism:
How appropriate it is today that we have the baptism of little Alexander. He will be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus said. And while he is baptized, his parents holding him, the three of them standing there together will be a symbol for us of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. We cannot comprehend the mystery, but we can contemplate it.
Mass without Baptism:
All of these analogies fall short of the mystery that is beyond human comprehension, but we use them anyway to think about what we can never understand. We look at the shamrock. We consider how light functions. We live in our families. We cannot comprehend the mystery, but we can contemplate it.
Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20
Today is Trinity Sunday, so today we contemplate the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. This mystery is the central mystery of our faith. Even more central than the Incarnation or the Passion or the Resurrection is the mystery of the Trinity. In the sense that we contemplate a greater mystery, today is more important than Christmas or Good Friday or Easter.
When we talk about a mystery of the faith, we do not mean Scooby Do or Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. A mystery of the faith is an idea that begins with a fact. The mystery of the Incarnation begins with the fact of a baby, conceived in the womb of a virgin, born in a stable, and laid in a manger. And the idea is that this baby is totally human but also completely God.
So why do we call it the “Mystery of the Incarnation” and not the “Idea of the Incarnation” or the “Fact of the Incarnation”? It is because this idea is too big to fit in the human brain. To believe in a mystery is fundamentally an act of humility. When we believe in a mystery we are saying that there are some ideas out there which we are not smart enough to understand. Of course, we believe this in principle: there are some differential equations out there that I cannot make heads or tails of. But in practice people act as if the opposite were the case. They start a sentence with “I don’t understand why” and consider it the perfect logical argument against the idea. “I don’t understand why gay marriage is wrong” usually means that the person is sure that it is right.
A mystery of the faith will never be understood. No one can understand how Jesus, one person, was fully human and fully divine. We can believe it. We can think about it and talk about it. When Jesus ate fish, God was eating. When Jesus died on the Cross, God died. Yet God was always alive. It is a mystery. It is like the Grand Canyon: you can look at it all day long, but you cannot take it home with you. You can take all the pictures you want, but you still do not have the Grand Canyon in your pocket. You can climb down one side and climb up the other, but you still do not know the Grand Canyon. And God is bigger than the Grand Canyon.
So the mystery of the Trinity, which we contemplate today, begins with the fact of a universe that is clearly created by an all-powerful being. Every tree, every rock, every molecule proclaims the existence of God. The second law of thermodynamics proves the existence of God. This much we can figure out with science and philosophy. That there is only one God can also be easily proven, since it is illogical that there would be two fundamental principles of all reality.
Furthermore, God, when he revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and above all when he revealed himself to Moses, was very clear about there being only one God: Moses said to the people in our first reading today, “This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.” For thousands of years, God revealed himself as the one true God.
Then one day a man came along and said, “The Father and I are one.” This man accepted the worship of his disciples. Not the admiration or the praise of his disciples, but the worship which is for God alone. And then he said that when we enter into relationship with God, we should do it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
But there cannot be three Gods. That makes no sense. There are three people: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they are all God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. But they are not one person with three names. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. The Father did not die on the Cross. The Son did. But God did die on the Cross, because the Son is God.
So what does that mean? Is God like a club that three people belong to? No, not exactly, since God is who they are. Their essence is God. The Son is consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This word “consubstantial” means sharing the same substance. How can three individual people share the same substance? Are they like three robots that combine to form one larger robot? No, not really, since each person is complete God. God cannot be divided into parts. So also we cannot say that it is exactly like a shamrock with three separate leaves. Nor exactly like water that is ice, liquid, and steam. Every analogy we create either separates God into three or combines the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit into one person.
There are two analogies though which stand above all the rest. The first is in the Creed. The Trinity is like Light from Light. The light of the sun is in the sun, but it is also here on earth. The sun shines and there is light everywhere. The light is reflected over and over yet remains the same light. And the one light can be separated into all the colors.
The second analogy is the one chosen by God himself. It is the family. God invented the family to teach us about the mystery of the Trinity. Three individual people: the husband, the wife, and the child, are all held together by love. So a man and woman become in marriage one flesh, and the result of this bond is a child who is an individual person, yet takes their nature from their parents. Three people, one family. Three people, one God. And yet, no family is as united as God is in his essence.
Mass with Baptism:
How appropriate it is today that we have the baptism of little Alexander. He will be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus said. And while he is baptized, his parents holding him, the three of them standing there together will be a symbol for us of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. We cannot comprehend the mystery, but we can contemplate it.
Mass without Baptism:
All of these analogies fall short of the mystery that is beyond human comprehension, but we use them anyway to think about what we can never understand. We look at the shamrock. We consider how light functions. We live in our families. We cannot comprehend the mystery, but we can contemplate it.
May 26, 2012 -- Pentecost Sunday at the Vigil Mass
Genesis 11:1-9 or Exodus 19:3-8a, 16-20b or Ezekiel 37:1-14 or Joel 3:1-5
Psalm 104:1-2, 24+35, 27-28, 29b-30
Romans 8:22-27
John 7:37-39
Tonight is the vigil of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. Tonight we are waiting expectantly to receive the Holy Spirit. How should we feel tonight? We ought to feel like children on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we are going to receive the gift of God, the Holy Spirit. As a child who hopes to receive a new toy on Christmas might spend the night before planning how they will play with it the next day, so we should be planning now what we will do with the Holy Spirit. Tonight our minds should be filled with contemplating the gift we hope to receive.
To begin with, the Holy Spirit is so misunderstood. The greatest misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit is that he is a tool of God or a servant of God. We hear that Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit, so we think that the Holy Spirit is like an angel, something God created to serve us Christians, but this is not true! The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Most Holy Trinity. He is equal to the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is adored and glorified. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together are the one God. The Holy Spirit is in no way inferior to the Father or the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the gift of God, but the Holy Spirit is God. God is giving us himself. We call the Holy Spirit the gift of God, because he is the greatest gift of God to us. Truly, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the dirt we stand on are all gifts from God. Yet, above all of these, God gives us himself. Really, all the rest is the wrapping. It is not unheard of that a child wants to play with the wrapping paper and boxes, rather than the gift, but we need to be mature. We can admire the beautiful paper, we can even have fun opening the package, but our focus needs to be on the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, God himself.
On Pentecost, the disciples were assisted in receiving the Holy Spirit by outward signs. The Holy Spirit worked great miracles to reveal his presence. Another general misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit is a confusion of the Holy Spirit with these signs. Jesus is not the healings that he accomplished. He is not the feeding of the 5000. He is not the walking on water or the calming the storm. He did all these things, but he is not these things. The same is true of the Holy Spirit. He is not the tongues of fire that appeared on the heads of the disciples. He is not the great wind that blew through the room. He is not the gift of speaking in tongues.
Jesus was not less present when he was walking down the street than when he was healing a blind man. So too, the Holy Spirit is not only present where we can see him working a miracle. He is not even more present when we see him working a miracle. He does not move from here to there, working magic tricks wherever he goes. It is not good to say, “The Holy Spirit is here right now”, as if he is not always everywhere.
The disciples were prepared to receive the Holy Spirit by the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. John writes in the Gospel today, “There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The Spirit absolutely existed. He had already made an appearance in John’s Gospel at the baptism of Jesus. St. John means that there was no reception of the Spirit yet, that the Spirit had not yet changed the lives of the disciples.
Tomorrow is not really a celebration of the sending of the Holy Spirit but of the reception of the Holy Spirit. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere, at all times. The Holy Spirit did not move from one place to another when he was sent; he was always present in the world. We see his actions all throughout the Old Testament. He has spoken through the prophets. If Adam and Eve had been ready to receive the Holy Spirit, they would have received him. The Holy Spirit was not holding back, rather, he was not welcomed.
So when we sing, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth”, we are asking for what we already have. The Spirit has been here all along. What we need is not a new sending of the Holy Spirit. What we need is a new reception of the Holy Spirit. We say, “Lord, send out your Spirit” but we mean “Lord, help me to receive your Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is right here, right now. He is not the one holding back, we are.
What we need is not a new sending of the Holy Spirit. We do not need to discover where his next appearance is going to be. What we need is a new reception of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, we received the Holy Spirit at Baptism. Without a doubt, we received the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. Nevertheless, let us receive the Holy Spirit all over again. Let us receive him tomorrow and every day.
We must not let anything prevent us from receiving the Holy Spirit. If there are any locks on the door of our hearts, let us unlock them. If our hearts are a mess, filthy with sin, if we are embarrassed to invite the Holy Spirit in, we should confess our sins and be forgiven. If our hearts are not big enough to accept the Holy Spirit, let us expand them with love. And who is the love that will expand our hearts? It is the Holy Spirit. And who will forgive us our sins? The Holy Spirit. And who is the key to our hearts? The Holy Spirit. We cannot even prepare to receive the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit.
How unusual this gift is! Usually a gift is made for a person, but, in this case, a person was made for a gift. God made each one of us because he wanted someone to give himself to. How unequal this exchange! God gives us himself and all he asks in exchange is that we give him ourselves. It is clear who is getting the better deal here. How foolish would we have to be to refuse to accept this gift!
Psalm 104:1-2, 24+35, 27-28, 29b-30
Romans 8:22-27
John 7:37-39
Tonight is the vigil of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. Tonight we are waiting expectantly to receive the Holy Spirit. How should we feel tonight? We ought to feel like children on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we are going to receive the gift of God, the Holy Spirit. As a child who hopes to receive a new toy on Christmas might spend the night before planning how they will play with it the next day, so we should be planning now what we will do with the Holy Spirit. Tonight our minds should be filled with contemplating the gift we hope to receive.
To begin with, the Holy Spirit is so misunderstood. The greatest misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit is that he is a tool of God or a servant of God. We hear that Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit, so we think that the Holy Spirit is like an angel, something God created to serve us Christians, but this is not true! The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Most Holy Trinity. He is equal to the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is adored and glorified. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together are the one God. The Holy Spirit is in no way inferior to the Father or the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the gift of God, but the Holy Spirit is God. God is giving us himself. We call the Holy Spirit the gift of God, because he is the greatest gift of God to us. Truly, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the dirt we stand on are all gifts from God. Yet, above all of these, God gives us himself. Really, all the rest is the wrapping. It is not unheard of that a child wants to play with the wrapping paper and boxes, rather than the gift, but we need to be mature. We can admire the beautiful paper, we can even have fun opening the package, but our focus needs to be on the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, God himself.
On Pentecost, the disciples were assisted in receiving the Holy Spirit by outward signs. The Holy Spirit worked great miracles to reveal his presence. Another general misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit is a confusion of the Holy Spirit with these signs. Jesus is not the healings that he accomplished. He is not the feeding of the 5000. He is not the walking on water or the calming the storm. He did all these things, but he is not these things. The same is true of the Holy Spirit. He is not the tongues of fire that appeared on the heads of the disciples. He is not the great wind that blew through the room. He is not the gift of speaking in tongues.
Jesus was not less present when he was walking down the street than when he was healing a blind man. So too, the Holy Spirit is not only present where we can see him working a miracle. He is not even more present when we see him working a miracle. He does not move from here to there, working magic tricks wherever he goes. It is not good to say, “The Holy Spirit is here right now”, as if he is not always everywhere.
The disciples were prepared to receive the Holy Spirit by the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. John writes in the Gospel today, “There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The Spirit absolutely existed. He had already made an appearance in John’s Gospel at the baptism of Jesus. St. John means that there was no reception of the Spirit yet, that the Spirit had not yet changed the lives of the disciples.
Tomorrow is not really a celebration of the sending of the Holy Spirit but of the reception of the Holy Spirit. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere, at all times. The Holy Spirit did not move from one place to another when he was sent; he was always present in the world. We see his actions all throughout the Old Testament. He has spoken through the prophets. If Adam and Eve had been ready to receive the Holy Spirit, they would have received him. The Holy Spirit was not holding back, rather, he was not welcomed.
So when we sing, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth”, we are asking for what we already have. The Spirit has been here all along. What we need is not a new sending of the Holy Spirit. What we need is a new reception of the Holy Spirit. We say, “Lord, send out your Spirit” but we mean “Lord, help me to receive your Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is right here, right now. He is not the one holding back, we are.
What we need is not a new sending of the Holy Spirit. We do not need to discover where his next appearance is going to be. What we need is a new reception of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, we received the Holy Spirit at Baptism. Without a doubt, we received the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. Nevertheless, let us receive the Holy Spirit all over again. Let us receive him tomorrow and every day.
We must not let anything prevent us from receiving the Holy Spirit. If there are any locks on the door of our hearts, let us unlock them. If our hearts are a mess, filthy with sin, if we are embarrassed to invite the Holy Spirit in, we should confess our sins and be forgiven. If our hearts are not big enough to accept the Holy Spirit, let us expand them with love. And who is the love that will expand our hearts? It is the Holy Spirit. And who will forgive us our sins? The Holy Spirit. And who is the key to our hearts? The Holy Spirit. We cannot even prepare to receive the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit.
How unusual this gift is! Usually a gift is made for a person, but, in this case, a person was made for a gift. God made each one of us because he wanted someone to give himself to. How unequal this exchange! God gives us himself and all he asks in exchange is that we give him ourselves. It is clear who is getting the better deal here. How foolish would we have to be to refuse to accept this gift!
April 29, 2012 - Fourth Sunday of Easter
Today's Readings
This is the time of year for First Communion. Children all over are receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ for the first time. This is because in the Western church we have the tradition that no one can receive the Eucharist until they have reached the age of understanding. It is at this stage that a child can look at what seems to be bread and what seems to be wine and acknowledge the mystery that they are actually the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
This is our tradition in the Western Catholic Church, but in the Eastern Catholic Church, in Eastern Europe and Greece and the Middle East, children receive the Eucharist along with their baptism as babies. In some ways this makes sense because a seven-year-old does not really understand what it means that the bread has changed into the body of Christ. I do not really understand what that means. Not really.
Of course it is possible to say the right things, to learn the theological terminology and to understand certain analyses and ways of considering the Eucharist, but when it comes to understanding the Eucharist I do not have much advantage over newborn baby. This extends to my understanding of God entirely. I do not really know who God is, I cannot see him or comprehend him. For this reason, Jesus gives us images by which we can approach God.
The first image we have today is that of a stone rejected by the builders which became the cornerstone. Of course, we understand the analysis of this analogy. Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders, which is to say the leadership of Jerusalem, but nevertheless he is the cornerstone, the most important. But by analyzing the image we are back to trying to understand, trying to fit the infinite mystery in our finite minds.
When that line was written hundreds of years for Jesus Christ the author did not know what it was talking about but he was inspired nonetheless to write this line, to create this image, which was so perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. I have heard, although I do not know for sure if it is true, that Mount Calvary, the place where Jesus died, was made of stone which when they were building Jerusalem the builders decided was inferior, unable to be used. So this stone which the builders actually rejected has become the cornerstone of our salvation.
In the second reading today St. John gives us an image of God. He says that we are “children of God”. This does not only mean that God is our father but something more. It is lost in English, but this image is referring to children. When I learned Spanish my teacher taught me that it is not possible to call an adults “a child” the way it is in English where we might look at an adult and say here is her child. Bn most languages “a child” refers to a young person. So it is also in Greek. This image teaches us not merely that God is our father but that we are the children of God. Like little children playing, but like his little children.
In the Gospel today, Jesus gives us the image of the good Shepherd. In John's image we are like little children but in this image we are like sheep which is not very complimentary. I have never kept sheep myself but I have seen and heard that they are filthy stupid animals. wandering all over, always needing to be gathered back into the flock. We forget this because we live in modern times but in Jesus time everyone would have known this image of a Shepherd and sheep.
All of these images are powerful images and we do not try to reduce them to ideas but we let them remain images. This is a major difference between the Catholic way of being a Christian and the way that others try to be Christian: Catholics practice religion not only in the minds but also in images, signs, and symbols. Every Mass we take the Eucharist and eat it. We do not receive it in order to understand it but in order to eat it.
For other Christians, faith is often something which happens in the mind, but we believe that faith is more than that. Faith is not a feeling or attitude that we take on ourselves. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is participating in the images and the signs. When we hear images like in Scripture today we believe that they are good images, and we allow those images to change the way that we understand God.
St. John tells us in the second reading today that someday we are going to see God face to face, and that when we do the experience will change us because we will become people who know God, who understand God. Just imagine that every person here, every one of you has the potential to someday be the sorts of person who understands God perfectly.
In the meantime we practice our faith even without understanding, we come receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ believing that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but incapable of understanding how that is possible. We participate in the signs and symbols not only mentally, but physically, bodily. As we receive that true sign, the Eucharist, and the other signs in Scripture today, we believe that God will change us in spite of our limited understanding.
This is the time of year for First Communion. Children all over are receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ for the first time. This is because in the Western church we have the tradition that no one can receive the Eucharist until they have reached the age of understanding. It is at this stage that a child can look at what seems to be bread and what seems to be wine and acknowledge the mystery that they are actually the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
This is our tradition in the Western Catholic Church, but in the Eastern Catholic Church, in Eastern Europe and Greece and the Middle East, children receive the Eucharist along with their baptism as babies. In some ways this makes sense because a seven-year-old does not really understand what it means that the bread has changed into the body of Christ. I do not really understand what that means. Not really.
Of course it is possible to say the right things, to learn the theological terminology and to understand certain analyses and ways of considering the Eucharist, but when it comes to understanding the Eucharist I do not have much advantage over newborn baby. This extends to my understanding of God entirely. I do not really know who God is, I cannot see him or comprehend him. For this reason, Jesus gives us images by which we can approach God.
The first image we have today is that of a stone rejected by the builders which became the cornerstone. Of course, we understand the analysis of this analogy. Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders, which is to say the leadership of Jerusalem, but nevertheless he is the cornerstone, the most important. But by analyzing the image we are back to trying to understand, trying to fit the infinite mystery in our finite minds.
When that line was written hundreds of years for Jesus Christ the author did not know what it was talking about but he was inspired nonetheless to write this line, to create this image, which was so perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. I have heard, although I do not know for sure if it is true, that Mount Calvary, the place where Jesus died, was made of stone which when they were building Jerusalem the builders decided was inferior, unable to be used. So this stone which the builders actually rejected has become the cornerstone of our salvation.
In the second reading today St. John gives us an image of God. He says that we are “children of God”. This does not only mean that God is our father but something more. It is lost in English, but this image is referring to children. When I learned Spanish my teacher taught me that it is not possible to call an adults “a child” the way it is in English where we might look at an adult and say here is her child. Bn most languages “a child” refers to a young person. So it is also in Greek. This image teaches us not merely that God is our father but that we are the children of God. Like little children playing, but like his little children.
In the Gospel today, Jesus gives us the image of the good Shepherd. In John's image we are like little children but in this image we are like sheep which is not very complimentary. I have never kept sheep myself but I have seen and heard that they are filthy stupid animals. wandering all over, always needing to be gathered back into the flock. We forget this because we live in modern times but in Jesus time everyone would have known this image of a Shepherd and sheep.
All of these images are powerful images and we do not try to reduce them to ideas but we let them remain images. This is a major difference between the Catholic way of being a Christian and the way that others try to be Christian: Catholics practice religion not only in the minds but also in images, signs, and symbols. Every Mass we take the Eucharist and eat it. We do not receive it in order to understand it but in order to eat it.
For other Christians, faith is often something which happens in the mind, but we believe that faith is more than that. Faith is not a feeling or attitude that we take on ourselves. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is participating in the images and the signs. When we hear images like in Scripture today we believe that they are good images, and we allow those images to change the way that we understand God.
St. John tells us in the second reading today that someday we are going to see God face to face, and that when we do the experience will change us because we will become people who know God, who understand God. Just imagine that every person here, every one of you has the potential to someday be the sorts of person who understands God perfectly.
In the meantime we practice our faith even without understanding, we come receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ believing that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but incapable of understanding how that is possible. We participate in the signs and symbols not only mentally, but physically, bodily. As we receive that true sign, the Eucharist, and the other signs in Scripture today, we believe that God will change us in spite of our limited understanding.
April 27, 2012 - Friday of the Third Week of Easter
Today's Readings
We might ask the same question as the Jews today: how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Each day we gather here and eat the flesh of Jesus Christ and drink his blood. How is this possible? This mystery has been with Christians since Jesus told us to do, in memory of him, what he did on the night before he died, when he took bread and said “This is my body” and took the cup and said “this is my blood.”
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Perhaps he only means this analogously. Perhaps it is a metaphor. Perhaps it is really just bread and wine, and we pretend that it is the flesh and blood of Jesus. Why though? That seems like a very strange thing to do. It may be difficult to understand why we eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus. We may not understand how Jesus can give us his flesh to eat. But it makes more sense than playing pretend.
If Jesus only meant what he was saying as a metaphor, he is not very helpful. The people he is talking to wanted to make him a king. They came to him as followers. Jesus does not quench the smoldering wick or break the bruised branch. If this were merely a metaphor, if Jesus were merely trying to teach the crowd that the bread we eat to keep us alive is not as important as the Word of God, he is phrasing all this in what seems to be an unnecessary difficult way.
On the other hand, if the bread we eat is not really bread but, in truth, the body of Jesus Christ, if the wine we drink is not really wine but, in truth, the blood of Jesus Christ, then it makes sense that Jesus would teach as he does today. When he says that “my flesh is true food” he means exactly that. When he says that “my blood is true drink” he is telling a truth to the crowd which is difficult to understand but is the truth nonetheless.
He tells us that “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” We do not understand fully. We do not know how Jesus Christ makes bread become his living flesh and wine become his living blood. That is okay. We eat and drink, knowing what we cannot understand.
We might ask the same question as the Jews today: how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Each day we gather here and eat the flesh of Jesus Christ and drink his blood. How is this possible? This mystery has been with Christians since Jesus told us to do, in memory of him, what he did on the night before he died, when he took bread and said “This is my body” and took the cup and said “this is my blood.”
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Perhaps he only means this analogously. Perhaps it is a metaphor. Perhaps it is really just bread and wine, and we pretend that it is the flesh and blood of Jesus. Why though? That seems like a very strange thing to do. It may be difficult to understand why we eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus. We may not understand how Jesus can give us his flesh to eat. But it makes more sense than playing pretend.
If Jesus only meant what he was saying as a metaphor, he is not very helpful. The people he is talking to wanted to make him a king. They came to him as followers. Jesus does not quench the smoldering wick or break the bruised branch. If this were merely a metaphor, if Jesus were merely trying to teach the crowd that the bread we eat to keep us alive is not as important as the Word of God, he is phrasing all this in what seems to be an unnecessary difficult way.
On the other hand, if the bread we eat is not really bread but, in truth, the body of Jesus Christ, if the wine we drink is not really wine but, in truth, the blood of Jesus Christ, then it makes sense that Jesus would teach as he does today. When he says that “my flesh is true food” he means exactly that. When he says that “my blood is true drink” he is telling a truth to the crowd which is difficult to understand but is the truth nonetheless.
He tells us that “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” We do not understand fully. We do not know how Jesus Christ makes bread become his living flesh and wine become his living blood. That is okay. We eat and drink, knowing what we cannot understand.
March 28, 2011 - Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Today's Readings
God is often not what we expect. If we worshiped a human idea, we would never be surprised, but we worship a living God who is greater than us. Part of his greatness is his capacity to surprise us. We are never going to figure God out. When he commands something, we can obey him, even if we do not understand him. We sometimes have to obey God blindly: not because we have shut our eyes but because we cannot comprehend what we see. This may sound disturbing to modern people, that we will obey someone whom we do not understand.
There may have been a time when blind obedience was more acceptable. Naaman does not seem to understand it, but his servants do. Perhaps they were used to following commands that they did not understand. We modern people are more like Naaman: we, each one of us, think of ourselves as commanders. We will not accept a politician who assures us that we simply do not understand the issues of global finance or international relations, who tells us to go along with a plan that seems bad to us. Perhaps this skepticism is good. We have learned that no human person can be trusted. There may not be anyone in this world so intelligent that they really understand all the issues and so virtuous that they are beyond corruption, and if there is, they are not running for political office.
This skepticism, however, should not be extended to our relationship with God. Here is someone we can trust. He understands everything perfectly, and he loves us completely. Once we have come to believe in God, we should not stumble when we do not understand his ways. We should not expect to understand him. He is God. We are not.
It is not wrong to think about God’s ways and try to make some progress in understanding him. God did give us intelligence so that we could understand. We should not expect, though, that we will understand everything about God or that we have to. Our first reaction to the incomprehensible should not be to try and fit it within our limited frameworks. True understanding does come, as a gift of the Holy Spirit. In the meantime we can simply obey; we can safely presume, if not easily, that God is right, that we have something to learn, that God does not need us to teach him anything.
God is often not what we expect. If we worshiped a human idea, we would never be surprised, but we worship a living God who is greater than us. Part of his greatness is his capacity to surprise us. We are never going to figure God out. When he commands something, we can obey him, even if we do not understand him. We sometimes have to obey God blindly: not because we have shut our eyes but because we cannot comprehend what we see. This may sound disturbing to modern people, that we will obey someone whom we do not understand.
There may have been a time when blind obedience was more acceptable. Naaman does not seem to understand it, but his servants do. Perhaps they were used to following commands that they did not understand. We modern people are more like Naaman: we, each one of us, think of ourselves as commanders. We will not accept a politician who assures us that we simply do not understand the issues of global finance or international relations, who tells us to go along with a plan that seems bad to us. Perhaps this skepticism is good. We have learned that no human person can be trusted. There may not be anyone in this world so intelligent that they really understand all the issues and so virtuous that they are beyond corruption, and if there is, they are not running for political office.
This skepticism, however, should not be extended to our relationship with God. Here is someone we can trust. He understands everything perfectly, and he loves us completely. Once we have come to believe in God, we should not stumble when we do not understand his ways. We should not expect to understand him. He is God. We are not.
It is not wrong to think about God’s ways and try to make some progress in understanding him. God did give us intelligence so that we could understand. We should not expect, though, that we will understand everything about God or that we have to. Our first reaction to the incomprehensible should not be to try and fit it within our limited frameworks. True understanding does come, as a gift of the Holy Spirit. In the meantime we can simply obey; we can safely presume, if not easily, that God is right, that we have something to learn, that God does not need us to teach him anything.
November 29, 2011 - Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Today's Readings
Today our reading from Isaiah lists the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah lists them because he prophesies that Jesus, the green shoot from the stump of Jesse, would possess these gifts. However these gifts can be ours if we will have them. So what are they?
The first gift is wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the best action in any situation. Wisdom helps us make decisions especially in difficult cases. Like the other gifts, there is an earthly form of wisdom which comes with experience, but Isaiah is speaking of something greater, a divine gift unrelated to experience. Even a child can display great wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
The second gift is understanding. Understanding means seeing the truth even when it is hidden. It can be the truth of a difficult Scripture passage. It can be the truth of the dignity of another person.
The third gift is counsel. This gift allows a person to give good advice. Giving really good advice is very difficult, almost impossible. Many people think that they can give good advice, but they cannot. Counsel requires both wisdom and understanding, and also knowing exactly what words will convey the advice in the most helpful fashion.
The fourth gift is fortitude. Fortitude is the willingness to die in battle. It may be an actual battle, or it may be a battle against our own pride. We want to defend ourselves, but sometimes we must be willing to die.
The fifth gift is knowledge. The gift of knowledge allows us to learn about the creation of the world by God. Through this gift we see the creator in the created things.
The sixth gift is the fear of the Lord. Also called piety, it is the feeling we get when in the presence of the holy. It is what keeps us from chattering in church. When I was a child, I would never have walked into the sanctuary. This fear is a wonderful gift. Life without piety is boring; nothing is special.
The seventh gift is once again the fear of the Lord, but this time we consider it differently. It is the fear of sinning. For an immature person it is the fear of hell. For a more mature person, it is the fear of disappointing our Father. For a very mature person, it is the fear of being separated from God.
These are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. May God give them to his Church in abundance.
Today our reading from Isaiah lists the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah lists them because he prophesies that Jesus, the green shoot from the stump of Jesse, would possess these gifts. However these gifts can be ours if we will have them. So what are they?
The first gift is wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the best action in any situation. Wisdom helps us make decisions especially in difficult cases. Like the other gifts, there is an earthly form of wisdom which comes with experience, but Isaiah is speaking of something greater, a divine gift unrelated to experience. Even a child can display great wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
The second gift is understanding. Understanding means seeing the truth even when it is hidden. It can be the truth of a difficult Scripture passage. It can be the truth of the dignity of another person.
The third gift is counsel. This gift allows a person to give good advice. Giving really good advice is very difficult, almost impossible. Many people think that they can give good advice, but they cannot. Counsel requires both wisdom and understanding, and also knowing exactly what words will convey the advice in the most helpful fashion.
The fourth gift is fortitude. Fortitude is the willingness to die in battle. It may be an actual battle, or it may be a battle against our own pride. We want to defend ourselves, but sometimes we must be willing to die.
The fifth gift is knowledge. The gift of knowledge allows us to learn about the creation of the world by God. Through this gift we see the creator in the created things.
The sixth gift is the fear of the Lord. Also called piety, it is the feeling we get when in the presence of the holy. It is what keeps us from chattering in church. When I was a child, I would never have walked into the sanctuary. This fear is a wonderful gift. Life without piety is boring; nothing is special.
The seventh gift is once again the fear of the Lord, but this time we consider it differently. It is the fear of sinning. For an immature person it is the fear of hell. For a more mature person, it is the fear of disappointing our Father. For a very mature person, it is the fear of being separated from God.
These are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. May God give them to his Church in abundance.
September 24, 2011 - Saturday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
I wonder when Jesus learned that he would die on the Cross, or if he always knew it. I mean to say, did he know it as a five-year-old boy or did he learn it at some point later in life? He was not taken by surprise: he teaches his disciples about the sufferings to come and he discusses the Cross with Elijah and Moses during the Transfiguration. We know that it was a great burden for him, as is clear from his prayers in the garden on the night before he died, but how long did he carry this burden?
It seems to me that there are two distinct ways to read the Gospel today. We could read it as Jesus trying to share this burden with those closest to him, but they are not strong enough to help bear it, or we could read it as Jesus, knowing that his disciples would not be able to bear the burden that he carried but also wanting to prepare his disciples for his death, tells them about the suffering and death to come, but prevents them from understanding.
It all depends on the phrase “Its meaning was hidden from them”, whether the meaning was hidden by their own obtuseness or Jesus actually prevented them from understanding. In the year leading up to the Cross, Jesus told his disciples many times that he would suffer and die. They did not understand then, but after he died and rose from the dead they remembered these teachings. Remembering them after the fact, with the Cross in the past, they are transformed, from the burden they would have been, to the revelation they are now.
These words are a revelation because they teach us so much about Jesus Christ. Because of these words we know that he was fully aware of the death he would suffer, yet he does not say these words as a merely prescient person would. If you knew right now the death that awaits you, your first instinct would be to consider ways to avoid it, but Jesus does not begin planning ways to avoid his fate. He knows what is coming, and he is committed to doing the will of the Father. Whether he knew about the Cross before he learned his first words or if he did not know until the year before, he always knew that he would do the will of his Father, no matter what.
I wonder when Jesus learned that he would die on the Cross, or if he always knew it. I mean to say, did he know it as a five-year-old boy or did he learn it at some point later in life? He was not taken by surprise: he teaches his disciples about the sufferings to come and he discusses the Cross with Elijah and Moses during the Transfiguration. We know that it was a great burden for him, as is clear from his prayers in the garden on the night before he died, but how long did he carry this burden?
It seems to me that there are two distinct ways to read the Gospel today. We could read it as Jesus trying to share this burden with those closest to him, but they are not strong enough to help bear it, or we could read it as Jesus, knowing that his disciples would not be able to bear the burden that he carried but also wanting to prepare his disciples for his death, tells them about the suffering and death to come, but prevents them from understanding.
It all depends on the phrase “Its meaning was hidden from them”, whether the meaning was hidden by their own obtuseness or Jesus actually prevented them from understanding. In the year leading up to the Cross, Jesus told his disciples many times that he would suffer and die. They did not understand then, but after he died and rose from the dead they remembered these teachings. Remembering them after the fact, with the Cross in the past, they are transformed, from the burden they would have been, to the revelation they are now.
These words are a revelation because they teach us so much about Jesus Christ. Because of these words we know that he was fully aware of the death he would suffer, yet he does not say these words as a merely prescient person would. If you knew right now the death that awaits you, your first instinct would be to consider ways to avoid it, but Jesus does not begin planning ways to avoid his fate. He knows what is coming, and he is committed to doing the will of the Father. Whether he knew about the Cross before he learned his first words or if he did not know until the year before, he always knew that he would do the will of his Father, no matter what.
August 28, 2011 - Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
“Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’” How did Peter say those words? Should we imagine him saying them in anger? Or should imagine that he said them perfectly calm as if he were discussing something of little importance? No, I do not think so. I think we ought to imagine Peter saying those words, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you”, trembling and weeping. He was not rebuking so much as begging.
Which is why I am confused by Jesus’ response: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” I understand that Peter was wrong; he still did not know that the Christ had to suffer and die and so be raised, but why did Jesus have to be so harsh? Instead of comforting Peter while teaching him, he calls him literally the worst name in the book.
Yet this epithet, Satan, is the key to understanding the harshness of Jesus’ response. Satan is the one who tempted Jesus, three times in the desert. At the end of that story we are told that Satan intended to return to tempt Jesus some more. Jesus calls Peter “Satan” because Peter is doing the work of Satan; he is tempting Jesus. How can we doubt that when Peter, tears streaming down his face, pleaded with the Lord, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you”, Jesus was tempted to give in to the appeal of his friend?
This episode could easily be called the “fourth temptation of Jesus”. Satan could not reach him through hunger or doubt or greed or a thirst for power, so he tried to reach him through his friend. We can see in the three earlier temptations that the responses of Jesus become progressively harsher; his reaction is strongest when the temptation is greatest.
There is a lesson for us here about resisting temptation. We should not imagine that we can do it calmly. We are made both intellectual and passionate. Our ability to get angry, when channeled properly, is our strongest defense against temptation. We are not expected to be like angels. We are often astounded by the fact that we do exactly what we did not want to do. We make good decisions; then we break them. Jesus was a perfect human, and he used his anger to repel temptation.
It would not be better to be like a robot or Spock, without emotions. Our emotions can be our greatest strength, if we use them rather than let them use us. Jesus was not angry all the time, although he had plenty of reasons to be angry. He saved his anger for when he needed it, but then he was not afraid to use it.
As for Peter, Jesus taught him the mistake he was making. He was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Since Peter is a human being, this should not be a surprising accusation. We are human beings but we are called to something greater; we are called to have the mind of Christ. St. Paul tells us that we should not conform ourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
What does it mean to be conformed to this age? It means to watch television and believe the lies about love and marriage that are told on every show. It means to compromise the truth with those who want to redefine marriage. It means to consider money as a god and make being rich the point of our lives.
What does it mean to conform our minds to this age? Consider those who say that they oppose abortion except in cases of rape and incest. This is a completely illogical position to hold. If killing a baby is wrong, then it is wrong. It does not matter what crime the child’s father has committed. Still, we hear this phrase spoken everywhere by so-called pro-life politicians. Why? Because they have bought into the idea that a horrible situation can be made better by killing somebody. Sometimes a horrible situation is just that, and there is no way to fix it, we can only deal with the aftereffects.
What does it mean to be transformed by the renewal of our minds? It means a new perspective on reality: God’s perspective. Many things do not make sense to us when we consider them from our own point-of-view but we cannot see everything from our own point-of-view. The Holy Spirit can give us the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. With these gifts we can discern the will of God, we will be able to see what is good, pleasing, and perfect. When the Holy Spirit renews our minds, we can understand why what seemed good from our perspective was actually bad.
Overeating, overspending, pornography, laziness: some people have convinced themselves that they like these sins; the out-of-control credit card bill or the extra 100 pounds are explained away, but we Christians know better because of the Holy Spirit: lust, greed, gluttony, and sloth are deadly sins. We know better, but we often fail to do better. The weapons we need to fight temptation are our emotions. Our minds will only be able to control our bodies when we have become masters of emotion.
Jesus was tempted just like us, but he never sinned. If we ever hope to be perfect (and that is the command of our Lord, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”) then we need to use every tool that God has given us: humility, emotions, intellect, grace, and the Holy Spirit. We will fail if we try to fight Satan with one hand tied behind our back.
Striving for perfection is the meaning of life. It is not something we do in an hour or a day. Eighty years is rarely enough. The point though is to always be striving toward perfection. We need to know where perfection is and then we need to strive to reach it. Our intellect allows us to find perfection, but only with a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, only if we stop thinking like human being do and start thinking like God does. Our emotions allow us to strive, to fight against the chains that hold us back, to climb the mountains that are in our way. With a renewed intellect and controlled emotions and the grace of God in the Holy Spirit, what could possibly stop us from becoming saints?
“Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’” How did Peter say those words? Should we imagine him saying them in anger? Or should imagine that he said them perfectly calm as if he were discussing something of little importance? No, I do not think so. I think we ought to imagine Peter saying those words, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you”, trembling and weeping. He was not rebuking so much as begging.
Which is why I am confused by Jesus’ response: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” I understand that Peter was wrong; he still did not know that the Christ had to suffer and die and so be raised, but why did Jesus have to be so harsh? Instead of comforting Peter while teaching him, he calls him literally the worst name in the book.
Yet this epithet, Satan, is the key to understanding the harshness of Jesus’ response. Satan is the one who tempted Jesus, three times in the desert. At the end of that story we are told that Satan intended to return to tempt Jesus some more. Jesus calls Peter “Satan” because Peter is doing the work of Satan; he is tempting Jesus. How can we doubt that when Peter, tears streaming down his face, pleaded with the Lord, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you”, Jesus was tempted to give in to the appeal of his friend?
This episode could easily be called the “fourth temptation of Jesus”. Satan could not reach him through hunger or doubt or greed or a thirst for power, so he tried to reach him through his friend. We can see in the three earlier temptations that the responses of Jesus become progressively harsher; his reaction is strongest when the temptation is greatest.
There is a lesson for us here about resisting temptation. We should not imagine that we can do it calmly. We are made both intellectual and passionate. Our ability to get angry, when channeled properly, is our strongest defense against temptation. We are not expected to be like angels. We are often astounded by the fact that we do exactly what we did not want to do. We make good decisions; then we break them. Jesus was a perfect human, and he used his anger to repel temptation.
It would not be better to be like a robot or Spock, without emotions. Our emotions can be our greatest strength, if we use them rather than let them use us. Jesus was not angry all the time, although he had plenty of reasons to be angry. He saved his anger for when he needed it, but then he was not afraid to use it.
As for Peter, Jesus taught him the mistake he was making. He was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Since Peter is a human being, this should not be a surprising accusation. We are human beings but we are called to something greater; we are called to have the mind of Christ. St. Paul tells us that we should not conform ourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
What does it mean to be conformed to this age? It means to watch television and believe the lies about love and marriage that are told on every show. It means to compromise the truth with those who want to redefine marriage. It means to consider money as a god and make being rich the point of our lives.
What does it mean to conform our minds to this age? Consider those who say that they oppose abortion except in cases of rape and incest. This is a completely illogical position to hold. If killing a baby is wrong, then it is wrong. It does not matter what crime the child’s father has committed. Still, we hear this phrase spoken everywhere by so-called pro-life politicians. Why? Because they have bought into the idea that a horrible situation can be made better by killing somebody. Sometimes a horrible situation is just that, and there is no way to fix it, we can only deal with the aftereffects.
What does it mean to be transformed by the renewal of our minds? It means a new perspective on reality: God’s perspective. Many things do not make sense to us when we consider them from our own point-of-view but we cannot see everything from our own point-of-view. The Holy Spirit can give us the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. With these gifts we can discern the will of God, we will be able to see what is good, pleasing, and perfect. When the Holy Spirit renews our minds, we can understand why what seemed good from our perspective was actually bad.
Overeating, overspending, pornography, laziness: some people have convinced themselves that they like these sins; the out-of-control credit card bill or the extra 100 pounds are explained away, but we Christians know better because of the Holy Spirit: lust, greed, gluttony, and sloth are deadly sins. We know better, but we often fail to do better. The weapons we need to fight temptation are our emotions. Our minds will only be able to control our bodies when we have become masters of emotion.
Jesus was tempted just like us, but he never sinned. If we ever hope to be perfect (and that is the command of our Lord, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”) then we need to use every tool that God has given us: humility, emotions, intellect, grace, and the Holy Spirit. We will fail if we try to fight Satan with one hand tied behind our back.
Striving for perfection is the meaning of life. It is not something we do in an hour or a day. Eighty years is rarely enough. The point though is to always be striving toward perfection. We need to know where perfection is and then we need to strive to reach it. Our intellect allows us to find perfection, but only with a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, only if we stop thinking like human being do and start thinking like God does. Our emotions allow us to strive, to fight against the chains that hold us back, to climb the mountains that are in our way. With a renewed intellect and controlled emotions and the grace of God in the Holy Spirit, what could possibly stop us from becoming saints?
July 16, 2011 - Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
The psalm today repeats the phrase: “for his mercy endures forever”, which sounds well enough, until we get to “who smote the Egyptians in their first-born, for his mercy endures forever” and “who swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea, for his mercy endures forever.” The contrast here makes us pause and think about what we believe. Did God really kill all those children “because his mercy endures forever”? Did he really drown Pharaoh and all the soldiers of Egypt “because his mercy endures forever”?
Perhaps we would rather not think about such parts of salvation history; at best we would talk about how different the times were then, but to suggest that not only did God kill all the first-born sons of Egypt but that it was an expression of his mercy is difficult. Yet how else could such a thing be understood? The mercy of our God is infinite. The central point of this psalm is that everything that God does is an expression of his mercy, and that is absolutely true. God did not wake up angry one morning and smite the Egyptians.
But how could thousands, perhaps millions, of dead children be an expression of God’s mercy? We encounter here the mystery. We do not stand in judgment of God; he stands in judgment of us. We are not greater than God, so it is not reasonable to expect to understand his works completely. He is the Most High God, as far above us as the heavens are above the earth. Can your dog understand everything you do? How much more is God incomprehensible to us!
Nevertheless, God has given us reason and the ability to explore mysteries that we cannot comprehend. We know that God loves us, and not only us but all of humanity. God loved those Egyptian boys whom he killed. The history of the universe is a history of God’s merciful plan toward us. We will never comprehend the mystery of salvation, for it is as infinite as God is infinite. Someday, God willing, we will have the rest of forever to consider the mystery. After 10,000 years, we will begin to realize how events that looked so cruel from earth were, in reality, wonderful acts of mercy. For now, although we do not understand why he allows cancer or earthquakes or war, we are certain of one thing: his mercy endures forever.
June 19, 2011 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Today's Readings
The theory of relativity tells us that time and space are relative to speed, that all time and space are unified at the speed of light. When we look at a star that is 100 light years away, the light from that star has taken 100 years to travel to our eyes, but the light is not 100 years old. The photons of light did not experience any passage of time or space from the star to our eyes. As far the light beam is concerned, there is no distance between the star and our eyes. So if you could travel at the speed of light, and you traveled 100 light years away and came back to Earth, it would be the year 2211, but you would not be any older. You would experience the acceleration and the turning around and the deceleration back to earth, but the trip itself would seem to happen instantly. As soon as we can travel at close to the speed of light, it will be possible to travel into the future, although there is no way to return to the past.
Do you understand all of this? This is only a small part of modern physics; we have not even gotten into how gravity affects all of this, let alone quantum physics. I mention all of this to point out a simple truth: physics is hard. Physics is not just building toothpick bridges and shooting two-liter bottles into the air. Of course, the same could be said about every general field. Every subject, whether science or art, seems very approachable from a certain angle, but it is a mistake to think that the whole field is contained in that angle. A child once asked my sister, who was studying to be a nurse, “Why do you need to know chemistry? All a nurse does is take you to the room and say, ‘The doctor will be with you shortly.’” There is more to everything than what we see.
Every human art and every science is an attempt to understand the truth. No matter how much truth you have learned, there is always more truth to learn. Anyone can learn a little physics or a little nursing, but being a master of the subject requires years of study and a mind gifted for that particular field. Even then, the greatest master in the world of any subject knows that all their learning has only shown them how much they do not know. Every answered question leads to more questions.
Nevertheless, this does not in any way diminish what education has done. A great physicist has a vision of how enormous the field of physics really is, but they still can use all their knowledge to design GPS satellites. A great nurse has a vision of how complex people really are, both physically and psychologically, but they can still use their knowledge to care for the sick.
Although it is often thought to be one, theology is not an exception to this universal truth. Indeed, what is true of studying the laws of the universe and of studying the greatest creatures on Earth, is ever so much more true when studying the Creator. The theory of Relativity is true whether I understand it or not. The best practices of nursing are true whether I know them or not. Truth is not dependent on my own understanding. So also with truth about God.
So many people, when confronted with a theological idea consider themselves qualified to judge it. They say, “I don’t understand why…” or “It doesn’t make sense to me that…”, but often these words are covering up a presumption that what they do not understand cannot be true. They have not studied theology or even once read the whole Bible. In theology, as in every science, a person is not an expert just because they think that they are one.
There is a problem, however: how do we know who is a real expert? The other sciences and arts prove themselves by their fruits. Physicists can predict the motion of the stars, so we trust those who can design such equations. The recovery of sick people is correlated to best nursing practices, so we trust those who can design such practices. Theology produces it own fruits: the Saints. We belong to the Church of St. Paul, of St. Anthony, of St. Francis, of St. Ignatius, of St. Therese, of Blessed Mother Theresa. Other religions produce impressive people, but only Christianity produces Saints. An impressive person is as good as humanly possible. A Saint is better than that. There is a world of difference between Gandhi and Gertrude, between Buddha and Benedict, between Plato and Paul.
So when the Church teaches us something, our first reaction should not be to judge the teaching, but to understand how to submit to the teaching. Consider, for instance, the moral teaching that birth control is fundamentally incompatible with marriage. Many people do not understand the teaching; many married Catholics do not understand the teaching, but this is no reason to disobey it. The correct reaction to this teaching and every other teaching we do not understand is to trust the Church. Believe first and then learn what you can.
I say all this as a preface. Today is Trinity Sunday. Today we remember that God is one God and that God is three persons. This is a mystery. It is easy to repeat this formula: one God, three persons, but impossible to completely understand the mystery of the Trinity. Whether you know only that God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, or you are able to quote the five notions and four relations and speak of the difference between homoousia and homoiousia, the Trinity is equally incomprehensible. The mystery of the Trinity is more than anyone can understand. Not even the angels completely understand this mystery.
But this does not mean that the Trinity is whatever we want it to be or whatever we happen to think is best. The Trinity is something very definite, the most definite truth in the whole universe. The Trinity's existence in no way depends on our ability to understand the mystery. The simple teaching, revealed to us through Jesus Christ, handed on by the Church, is trustworthy. First we believe the teaching, which is far more important than understanding how such a thing is possible. Then we try to understand, using analogies: the Son is to the Father as the light from a star is to the light in a star, light from light, true God from true God.
The theory of relativity tells us that time and space are relative to speed, that all time and space are unified at the speed of light. When we look at a star that is 100 light years away, the light from that star has taken 100 years to travel to our eyes, but the light is not 100 years old. The photons of light did not experience any passage of time or space from the star to our eyes. As far the light beam is concerned, there is no distance between the star and our eyes. So if you could travel at the speed of light, and you traveled 100 light years away and came back to Earth, it would be the year 2211, but you would not be any older. You would experience the acceleration and the turning around and the deceleration back to earth, but the trip itself would seem to happen instantly. As soon as we can travel at close to the speed of light, it will be possible to travel into the future, although there is no way to return to the past.
Do you understand all of this? This is only a small part of modern physics; we have not even gotten into how gravity affects all of this, let alone quantum physics. I mention all of this to point out a simple truth: physics is hard. Physics is not just building toothpick bridges and shooting two-liter bottles into the air. Of course, the same could be said about every general field. Every subject, whether science or art, seems very approachable from a certain angle, but it is a mistake to think that the whole field is contained in that angle. A child once asked my sister, who was studying to be a nurse, “Why do you need to know chemistry? All a nurse does is take you to the room and say, ‘The doctor will be with you shortly.’” There is more to everything than what we see.
Every human art and every science is an attempt to understand the truth. No matter how much truth you have learned, there is always more truth to learn. Anyone can learn a little physics or a little nursing, but being a master of the subject requires years of study and a mind gifted for that particular field. Even then, the greatest master in the world of any subject knows that all their learning has only shown them how much they do not know. Every answered question leads to more questions.
Nevertheless, this does not in any way diminish what education has done. A great physicist has a vision of how enormous the field of physics really is, but they still can use all their knowledge to design GPS satellites. A great nurse has a vision of how complex people really are, both physically and psychologically, but they can still use their knowledge to care for the sick.
Although it is often thought to be one, theology is not an exception to this universal truth. Indeed, what is true of studying the laws of the universe and of studying the greatest creatures on Earth, is ever so much more true when studying the Creator. The theory of Relativity is true whether I understand it or not. The best practices of nursing are true whether I know them or not. Truth is not dependent on my own understanding. So also with truth about God.
So many people, when confronted with a theological idea consider themselves qualified to judge it. They say, “I don’t understand why…” or “It doesn’t make sense to me that…”, but often these words are covering up a presumption that what they do not understand cannot be true. They have not studied theology or even once read the whole Bible. In theology, as in every science, a person is not an expert just because they think that they are one.
There is a problem, however: how do we know who is a real expert? The other sciences and arts prove themselves by their fruits. Physicists can predict the motion of the stars, so we trust those who can design such equations. The recovery of sick people is correlated to best nursing practices, so we trust those who can design such practices. Theology produces it own fruits: the Saints. We belong to the Church of St. Paul, of St. Anthony, of St. Francis, of St. Ignatius, of St. Therese, of Blessed Mother Theresa. Other religions produce impressive people, but only Christianity produces Saints. An impressive person is as good as humanly possible. A Saint is better than that. There is a world of difference between Gandhi and Gertrude, between Buddha and Benedict, between Plato and Paul.
So when the Church teaches us something, our first reaction should not be to judge the teaching, but to understand how to submit to the teaching. Consider, for instance, the moral teaching that birth control is fundamentally incompatible with marriage. Many people do not understand the teaching; many married Catholics do not understand the teaching, but this is no reason to disobey it. The correct reaction to this teaching and every other teaching we do not understand is to trust the Church. Believe first and then learn what you can.
I say all this as a preface. Today is Trinity Sunday. Today we remember that God is one God and that God is three persons. This is a mystery. It is easy to repeat this formula: one God, three persons, but impossible to completely understand the mystery of the Trinity. Whether you know only that God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, or you are able to quote the five notions and four relations and speak of the difference between homoousia and homoiousia, the Trinity is equally incomprehensible. The mystery of the Trinity is more than anyone can understand. Not even the angels completely understand this mystery.
But this does not mean that the Trinity is whatever we want it to be or whatever we happen to think is best. The Trinity is something very definite, the most definite truth in the whole universe. The Trinity's existence in no way depends on our ability to understand the mystery. The simple teaching, revealed to us through Jesus Christ, handed on by the Church, is trustworthy. First we believe the teaching, which is far more important than understanding how such a thing is possible. Then we try to understand, using analogies: the Son is to the Father as the light from a star is to the light in a star, light from light, true God from true God.
June 17, 2011 - Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
How many eyes does one person have? This does not seem like a very difficult question. Two. Easy, right? Not so fast.One person has many different eyes. "The eye is the lamp of the body", Jesus tells us. This is a metaphor. As a lamp is to a room, so is the eye to the body. But this is a multi-layered metaphor. Jesus is not merely telling us that if our eyes were not working we would always be experiencing darkness. He is referring here to spiritual eyes which are the lamps of our souls.
Physical eyes reveal the physical world to us. Spiritual eyes reveal the spiritual world. We all have spiritual eyes, many, many spiritual eyes. If they are good, we see the spiritual world for what it is. If they are bad, we will see a distorted and false spiritual world.
Consider one kind of spiritual eye: greed. If we see the world with greed, we will believe that we should try to possess as much treasure here on earth as we possibly can, yet Jesus, who saw more clearly than we will ever see, said that we should store up treasure in heaven and forget about treasure here on earth, where thieves steal and moths destroy. When a person looks at earthly treasure with greed, they fall in love and give their heart away. When a saint looks at earthly treasure, their only thought is, "How can I use this to further the Kingdom of God?" They see clearly. If it is stolen, they quickly forget about it.
Consider another spiritual eye: humility. St. Paul had humility. Today he reaches the apex of his boasting to the Corinthians. He begins boasting about how many times he has failed, how many times he has been scourged, how many times he has been shipwrecked. Some people would hear this boasting and laugh and say, "I wouldn't want to be like him." A Christian, with Christian humility, who remembers that our Lord died on a Cross, hears all this and says, "Wow, God must really be with this man."
It matters what spiritual eyes you have. If any, like greed, are causing you to sin, pluck them out. If any, like humility, help you see clearly, exercise them until you can look at the world and see God.
How many eyes does one person have? This does not seem like a very difficult question. Two. Easy, right? Not so fast.One person has many different eyes. "The eye is the lamp of the body", Jesus tells us. This is a metaphor. As a lamp is to a room, so is the eye to the body. But this is a multi-layered metaphor. Jesus is not merely telling us that if our eyes were not working we would always be experiencing darkness. He is referring here to spiritual eyes which are the lamps of our souls.
Physical eyes reveal the physical world to us. Spiritual eyes reveal the spiritual world. We all have spiritual eyes, many, many spiritual eyes. If they are good, we see the spiritual world for what it is. If they are bad, we will see a distorted and false spiritual world.
Consider one kind of spiritual eye: greed. If we see the world with greed, we will believe that we should try to possess as much treasure here on earth as we possibly can, yet Jesus, who saw more clearly than we will ever see, said that we should store up treasure in heaven and forget about treasure here on earth, where thieves steal and moths destroy. When a person looks at earthly treasure with greed, they fall in love and give their heart away. When a saint looks at earthly treasure, their only thought is, "How can I use this to further the Kingdom of God?" They see clearly. If it is stolen, they quickly forget about it.
Consider another spiritual eye: humility. St. Paul had humility. Today he reaches the apex of his boasting to the Corinthians. He begins boasting about how many times he has failed, how many times he has been scourged, how many times he has been shipwrecked. Some people would hear this boasting and laugh and say, "I wouldn't want to be like him." A Christian, with Christian humility, who remembers that our Lord died on a Cross, hears all this and says, "Wow, God must really be with this man."
It matters what spiritual eyes you have. If any, like greed, are causing you to sin, pluck them out. If any, like humility, help you see clearly, exercise them until you can look at the world and see God.
March 3, 2011 - Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Sirach is praising God in the reading today. He is showing us how we can miss how wonderful God is if we just take everything for granted. He reminds us “How beautiful are all his works! even to the spark and fleeting vision!” We can look at something as simple as a spark and realize the greatness of God. Our tendency is to not think about such things, or, if we do enjoy sitting and watching a campfire, we forget that what we are watching is the creation of God. When we contemplate God, we often think of him as if he were just one more character in this universe, but, in reality, he existed before the universe and time, and he created everything from nothing: inventing every law of physics, every color, every idea, every creature that exists. When we invent something, we copy God. Some human beings invented the cell phone, but God invented sound and radio waves and plastic and electricity and light, and, of course, the human brain that thought of putting all these things together.
It is not merely difficult for us to comprehend that God created the world from nothing at all, it is impossible. We like to think that our minds can understand anything. If something does not make sense to us, we want to just reject it as unimportant. How logical it is though that what is most important in the universe would not be completely comprehensible! Just because we cannot wrap our minds entirely around God does not mean he does not make sense; it just means that our minds are not big enough.
We are not alone. Sirach says that even the angels fail to recount all the wonders of God. Our minds are like the minds of infants compared to the angels, yet God is as far beyond them as the unlimited is beyond the limited. We can only praise God as we are able. We must never, however, presume that the idea of God in our minds is anything but a shadow. We are safest when we say only unlimited things about God: God is the greatest, God is the highest, God loves us perfectly forever. In heaven we will have all of eternity to dive deeper and deeper into the mystery of God, never reaching the end.
February 7, 2011 - Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary
A lot has been made of how the days in our first reading can be thought of representationally. There are some who say simply that each day could stand for however long God wanted it to be. There once was an evangelical, who was a physicist, who tried to integrate Einstein’s idea of relative time into this description. Of course, this sort of talk will never satisfy everybody. Some want to defend the literal interpretation: God spent six days, 24 hours each, creating the universe. On the other side are those who would say that no matter how the time factor is understood, it is clearly wrong that fruit was created before the sun.
The story is obviously symbolic, for reasons other than what have been listed above, from the other side of things, so to speak. We know that God did not really create the world in six days and rest on the seventh because God does not work like that. God is not like us. He is one, simple, not complex. He has never done two things, from all eternity he has done one thing, but in that one thing is everything that he ever did.
It is very difficult for us to imagine God outside of time. We say that he is outside of time, but then we speak of him as if he were inside of time: “first he did this; later he did that,” but this is wrong since outside of time there is neither “first” nor “later”. God simply exists, and, as part of that existence, he acts with one singular act. We live in time and we see that one action as multiple because we see the effects of that one action spread throughout time.
A little philosophy and theology today, but these are important so that we can understand the utter uselessness of arguing with people about whether creation really took six days or six billion years. One of those is correct from our perspective, if we had time machines and could somehow go and watch the creation of the world. What is essential for our faith, though, is the first verse of our reading, the first verse of the whole Bible: “God created the heavens and the earth.” An attempt to describe how he did this can be prayerful and poetic, but we should not imagine that it is accurate, as if we could comprehend God.
December 9th, 2010 - Memorial of St. Juan Diego, Holy Man
The Gospel today is complicated, defying easy explanation. Jesus says that there has been no one born of woman greater than John the Baptist, yet I know of two who were born of woman who are greater than John the Baptist: Jesus and Mary. And what does greater even mean? Greater in holiness or power or love of God or humility or wisdom or strength or prophecy? And if the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than him, does that mean that John does not participate in the Kingdom of Heaven?
Then Jesus says that from the time of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence. In what way does the Kingdom suffer violence that it had not before John the Bapist? Was the disrespect for God's reign increased after John preached and baptized? Last we learn that John the Baptist is Elijah, which, taken literally, is strange since we know the story of his birth. Elijah lived 700 years earlier and was taken up in a chariot of fire. If John the Baptist were Elijah, we would expect that either people would have seen him come back in the chariot of fire or that no one would know where he came from.
It is possible to use tricks of language to make what Jesus has to say more understandable. We can say that John was playing the role of Elijah and that he was the greatest human being to live without having received the Holy Spirit as we have all received it. We can make these and many other explanations, but they cannot satisfy us.
The last words of the Gospel can guide us. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus speaks to us and we hear him. We need not be surprised if there are things which Jesus says that we do not understand. There is a certain human pride which presumes that if we do not understand someone, it must be their problem. When something is difficult to understand, we can shoehorn it into our limited understanding or dismiss it as nonsense. We can also humbly submit that we are not capable of comprehending everything.
Then Jesus says that from the time of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence. In what way does the Kingdom suffer violence that it had not before John the Bapist? Was the disrespect for God's reign increased after John preached and baptized? Last we learn that John the Baptist is Elijah, which, taken literally, is strange since we know the story of his birth. Elijah lived 700 years earlier and was taken up in a chariot of fire. If John the Baptist were Elijah, we would expect that either people would have seen him come back in the chariot of fire or that no one would know where he came from.
It is possible to use tricks of language to make what Jesus has to say more understandable. We can say that John was playing the role of Elijah and that he was the greatest human being to live without having received the Holy Spirit as we have all received it. We can make these and many other explanations, but they cannot satisfy us.
The last words of the Gospel can guide us. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus speaks to us and we hear him. We need not be surprised if there are things which Jesus says that we do not understand. There is a certain human pride which presumes that if we do not understand someone, it must be their problem. When something is difficult to understand, we can shoehorn it into our limited understanding or dismiss it as nonsense. We can also humbly submit that we are not capable of comprehending everything.
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