What a Relief

The daily Mass readings have been coming from the Letter to the Hebrews.  It's an epistle that I admittedly haven't read much... and I've been missing out!

The first reading at Mass last Friday was from Hebrews 10.  The feel of the chapter is exhorting and encouraging--the author is trying to remind the Christian community to hold on to their faith in Jesus.  Don't go back to your old ways; continue pursuing Him Who IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life!  That's a good reminder for Christians of any age.  Embracing the faith requires turning away from sin; no matter how much we devote ourselves to the faith, temptation to turn away from it will never cease.

As the first reading progressed, I heard what immediately became one of my favorite verses in Scripture:  "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised." (Heb 10:35-36)  Actually, it was relieving to hear.  We don't have to do it on our own, and we're not expected to!  We need (=can't get by, are unable on our own, etc.) endurance, we need grace.

On one hand, this shouldn't be a surprise.  It's a "first principle" of faith and belief in God.  Since the beginning of time, God is the one making the first move toward us.  On the other hand, if we get too wrapped up in the things of the world, our relationship with God and the faith can fall out of focus.  The author of Hebrews is trying to restore their focus on Jesus and the faith; may God grant us all the grace of focusing on living and doing His will!

Fickleness, Thy Name Is Human

Sunday's gospel reading is one of many that's very illustrative of human nature.  First the crowds love Jesus and flock to Him; just a short time later, they want to kill Him.  (Read the readings here) 

Although it's not surprising that a group of people would change their minds, the situation in Luke 4:16-30 makes more sense when we flesh some things out.  Specifically, Matthew, Mark, and John all have details leading up to this situation in the beginning of their gospels.  Huge crowds followed Jesus (Matt 7:28-29) for three main reasons.

1) He taught with authority.  Jesus was undoubtedly a dynamic speaker; not always in a showy way, but in an enthralling way.  There are many gospel stories of Jesus being surrounded by crowds.  And there was good reason!  "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."  (Matt 7:28-29)

2) One passage from Mark's Gospel: "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, 'the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." (1:14-15)  A little imagination would aid us here.  These would have been heavy, heavy words for a first century Jew.  Those Jews no doubt had prayed the psalm many times throughout their lives: "How long, O LORD?  Will You hide Yourself forever?" (Ps 89:46)  And now Jesus is talking about the coming of the kingdom of God!  Could this one truly be the Messiah?  Imagine the expectation!  Nearly a millennium away from David and Solomon... after being conquered many times... centuries and centuries of celebrating the Passover and the other Jewish feasts.  This would have been more than enough to arouse at least the curiosity of people in the area.

3) Take everything from #1 and #2 and add miracles.  Luke 4 references miracles that Jesus had done but it doesn't list them.  Mark 1:21-27 shows Jesus healing a man with an unclean spirit; John 4:46-54 has Jesus in Capernaum, and He heals the son of an official.  For the first century Jew, this is now a serious thing.  Later in the chronicle of the Gospels, John the Baptist sends a messenger to Jesus to inquire about who He is.  I really believe John the Baptist's question was the same one that was on everyone else's minds: "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3)

There are many images we could use to describe the situation in Luke 4, with the background details filled in.  Like a crescendo in a symphony... the start of a thunderstorm... make no mistake, this is a huge deal.  The Jews in the synagogue in Luke 4 had heard so much about this potential messiah.  They'd probably even gone out to see Jesus themselves!  Just as quickly as they praised Him, however, doubt crept in.  Isn't this the son of Joseph?  In other words, who does He think He is???  The crowd likely wanted Him dead for blasphemy.

Part of me thinks that if I was alive at the time, I wouldn't be so foolish as to not recognize Jesus.  Pretty obvious, right?  Although that might be comforting, it's also vain.  And stupid.

Whenever we hold on to sin, we throw Jesus out of our hearts just as that crowd threw Jesus out of the synagogue.  Just like the Jews on that day, we distort the question "Who is He?" into "Who does He think He is?"  And just like He did that day, Jesus won't force it.  He very well could have called down thunder and lightning and performed sign after sign until they all believed.  Nope.  He taught the crowd and He revealed who He was in the synagogue.  He leaves the response completely to us, for good or ill.

No Biggie

A variety of things/people/events have come up for me recently; causing me to reflect on the counter-cultural nature of the Catholic Church.  All the controversial issues in society today... I thought about the trials of the Church in the past.  Today, the thought of burning a little incense for the emperor seems minor and odd.  How was that a cause for martyrdom?  Something so small!

In that thought there's a little insight into the methods of the Evil One.  What's a little sin?  And why would you listen to the Church tell you it's a big sin?  It's not a big deal.  It's a minor thing.  Standing up is much more difficult, tiresome, and look at what it can cost you!

I think we frequently overestimate our resolve against the devil's wiles for this very reason.  Temptations can be blatant, of course, but more often than not, they are subtle.  A compromise here, an accommodation there, and we can be well on the road away from God and not even know it!

All Roads Lead to the Eucharist (part 2 of 4)

This post continues the series I started on four windows from St. Mary's Church, Mt. Angel.  There were four windows specifically chosen to be around the tabernacle... and they were chosen for good reason.  Read part 1 of 4 here.

The second window I'd like to examine is the Annunciation.  The angel Gabriel greets Mary, "Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28)  In the window, Gabriel's promise of the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit is represented as a dove.

This is a perfect window to overshadow the tabernacle.  The key, I think, comes from a line of the Angelus: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."  The Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus among us--it is the fulfillment of His promise to be with us until the end of the age (Matt 28:20).  God is not a distant figure.  Just as in the Annunciation the Word became flesh, in the Eucharist a similar transformation takes place.  God dramatically enters our world in the Eucharist... ordinary food becomes heavenly food; what sustains us day to day fundamentally becomes the spiritual nourishment that carries us through life.

In a sense, we see a reflection of the magnificent moment of the Annunciation at every Mass.  God comes again to save His people; Jesus enters and transforms human existence.  

The Sunday Preface

Here is (most) of the Preface from Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  Reflection follows:

 

In the waters of the Jordan,

You revealed with signs and wonders a new Baptism,

so that through the voice that came down from heaven,

we might come to believe in Your Word dwelling among us,

and by the Spirit's descending in the likeness of a dove,

we might know that Christ Your Servant

has been anointed with the oil of gladnes

and sent to bring the good news to the poor.

 

Just like the Epiphany preface, I'm amazed at how much is packed into this.  The major themes:

 

1) Baptism

2) Revelation

3) the Trinity

4) the Incarnation (since this feast liturgically closes the Christmas season)

5) the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament

6) Christian mission

 

That's a lot to chew on... a few notes. 

 

When God chose to reveal Himself to mankind, He did so in a specific way.  He used words (not to mention the Word) and deeds.  I think it's analagous to the sacraments having matter and form.  God didn't speak to men and follow up with an "or else."  God didn't just promise His fidelity to the Israelites in Egypt (words)--He raised up Moses and led the Chosen People to freedom (deeds).  When Jesus taught and preached (words), He also performed miracles (deeds).  In this preface, we first hear of deeds ("signs and wonders") and then words ("the voice that came down from heaven").  It is the pattern of revelation. 

 

All three Persons of the Trinity make an appearance in this preface, which is very appropriate.  The entire Trinity was present at the Baptism of the Lord.  The Trinity also is a key to Baptism; on it hinges the validity of a baptism.  In Matt 28:19-20, Jesus commands the disciples to preach the Gospel to the world, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Interestingly, Mormon baptism is considered invalid by the Catholic Chruch because of their deficient trinitarian theology.  To close the preface, we are pointed to the image of Jesus being sent... it is mentioned as His mission, but it's one that we all share in.  It's an essential part of Christian baptism. 

 

The closing three lines point to Jesus as the Messiah.  In this, I see the yearnings of the Hebrews.  Living through the Temple getting destroyed... the devastating Babylonian exile... hearing the promises of Isaiah, Jeremiah... praying the Psalms and having irresistable thoughts of the glories of King David's court... remembering the Exodus at Passover, longing for a new Moses...

 

Israel hoped and prayed for centuries; now Christians pray that the whole world "might know that Christ Your Servant has been anointed with the oil of gladness and sent to bring the good news to the poor."  (citing Luke 4:18-19, which references Isaiah 61:1-2)

Trying to See Through the Cloud

Fervor, ironically, can be fickle.  Driving home from work yesterday, I listened to Catholic Answers on the radio.  Curtis Martin was the guest; he is the founder of FOCUS ministries, which runs faithful Catholic campus ministry programs at 74 universities.  It sounded like their ministry was just like a Newman Center, with the exception that they’re an organization independent of a diocese.  

Curtis talked about evangelization in a simple way.  I found it very comforting—which again is odd, since that’s not the feeling I get when I think of evangelization.  He said over and over that Catholicism works—it just needs to be presented well.  Even further, it needs to be presented as a powerful, fulfilling relationship with the God who loves us without question.  It really is Good News!

It lit a fire in my heart and I arrived home excited.  I picked up Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth (vol. 1) and eagerly started reading.  A big question floated in my head—how do I evangelize?  What do I do?  I wanted to hit the ground running! 

And then, life.  Dinner, exercise, watching a little TV/spending time with my lovely wife, and then bedtime.  The fervor?  The question went from an exciting prospect to a simple curiosity.  

Maybe the first step is to let go of what I think evangelization is supposed to look like.  Three images stick in my head.  The first?  St. John the Baptist.  Preach in public in a loud voice.  Terrifying.

The second is that I would have to walk up to random people to ask them about Jesus.  It happened to me once in college, while I was walking out to the parking lot.  The guy’s approach was perfect for the situation, but the very thought of doing that to a stranger makes me very nervous. 

Finally, part of me thinks that evangelization is necessarily successful.  Just convey the Truth in the right way, and poof!  They’ll come running into the Church!  Well, that’s not really true.  I remember one of the things Fr. Jerome (of happy memory) told me once.  Some of the greatest saints are some of the greatest failures, by human standards.  My patron, St. Francis Xavier, was a failure in China and Japan despite having some success in India.  

To sum up: I don't know what evangelization "is" for my state in life.  My three images are more caricatures of evangelization more than anything else.  Yeah yeah, there's the St. Francis quote.  But too many people--myself included--use that quote as an excuse for inaction.  I don't know what it will look like or what God will ask of me.  Right now, I pray for openness and willingness to hear His voice. 

Preface of Praise

Sadly, it's all too easy to be at Mass and have the attention span of a 5 year old.  I miss out on various prayers, readings, etc. if I'm not careful--despite my best efforts. One of those areas is the Preface.  I think the best explanation of the function of the Preface came from one of my teachers, Fr. Paschal: it's a hymn of what we have to be thankful for.  After listing those things, how can we do anything but join in the song of the angels?

The theology in the feast-specific texts is wonderful.  The new translation has restored the poetic, prosaic feel of these beautiful prayers.  They're packed with meaning!  For example, here is the rest of the Preface for the feast of the Epiphany:

For today you have revealed the mystery
of our salvation in Christ
as a light for the nations,
and, when He appeared in our mortal nature,
you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature. 

Once we bring God into any equation, mystery necessarily follows.  God revealed Himself to us, and also His plan of salvation.  How else would we have known of God had He not revealed Himself?  And, of course, when we talk about revelation, we have the wonderful gift of the Scriptures and of Tradition.

We're reminded that Christ came to offer salvation to us--something mysterious in itself, since it's rooted in God's unbounded love for mankind.  Why did God create us, why did He go to such lengths to point us toward salvation, when mankind did nothing on its own to deserve it?  Love, love, love!

The use of the phrase "light to the nations" is rooted in the Scriptures (cf. John 8:12) but also in Vatican II.  The primary document of the council, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, begins with the words "Christ is the light of the world."  Later in that first paragraph:

"Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission." (LG #1... read the whole document here)

In a sense, that sentence takes John 8:12, Jesus saying "I am the light of the world," and transforms it into a mission statement.  The Church aims to be a bright, shining star to the world, drawing the nations to the love of God.  And on the feast of the Epiphany, this idea of the Church being a light to the nations has a much more proximate image: that of the star that led the magi to Bethlehem.

Back to the preface.  The two closing lines recall the mystery of the incarnation ("when He appeared in our mortal nature"), as this feast directly references Christmas.  The final line points us toward baptism ("made us new"), which is the portal by which we would come to be a part of the Church, the light to the nations.  Talk of Jesus' mortal and immortal nature also brings up the hypostatic union--that Jesus is fully God and fully human.  Nice heavy dose of Christology to top it off.

A recap of the major themes covered in this preface:

1. Revelation
2. Salvation
3. Ecclesiology (the Church as a light to the world)
4. the Incarnation
5. Baptism
6. Christology

Take in a nice deep breath of that... good stuff.  It's all there to those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.  And let's join the angels in praising God!