Christ is Risen!

Treat yourself to a great song by Matt Maher, perfect for today.

I'm in the choir and I've sung at the Easter Vigil for the past few years.  It quickly become my favorite liturgy of the year, despite its length.

I've come to appreciate all the readings and psalms, to the point that I'm disappointed when the nine readings are cut to five.  They combine the major prayers of the liturgy to chronicle the entire scope of salvation history--from the beginning of time to the end of time.  The first reading is the creation of the world from Genesis; we hear the story of the Exodus, of God saving his people through water; the prophets foretell a Messiah that will come; the Gospel tells of Jesus, who fulfilled the prophecies and foreshadowings of the Old Testament.  Quite amazing!  It's essentially an extended Bible study in one evening: the Paschal Mystery (the foundational event of the Catholic faith) with its background and history.

The other impactful thing for me this year was the renewal of baptismal promises.  In the lone epistle of the evening (from Romans 6), St. Paul reminds us that we must think of ourselves "as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus."  Denying sin is only one side of the coin; it is incomplete without a profession of faith.  The renewal of baptismal promises have this same feature: the assembly rejects Satan, all his empty works and promises (a profession against), but then affirms their belief in God, His Son, and the rest of the elements of the creed (a profession in).

The entire story of salvation history is a story of love and of sacred covenants between God and His people.  May we always be faithful!  God be praised for the great things He has done, and continues to do!

It's Everything

Have you ever read passages of the Scriptures and marveled, feeling like you're reading them for the first time?  I had that feeling reading Matthew 13.  I'd heard homilies on all the individual parables of the Kingdom, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd looked at them as a composite whole. And what profundity!  It was awe-inspiring to "cast my net into the deep.

Matthew 13 is essentially the third Luminous Mystery--the proclamation of the Kingdom.  Jesus tells seven parables, teaching about the Kingdom of God.  He explains two of them and the chapter closes with he famous phrase, "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country" (13:57).  The seven parables are:

1) The Sower (rocky ground, fertile ground, etc.)
2) The Wheat & the Weeds
3) The Mustard Seed
4) The Leaven
5) The Treasure in the Field
6) The Pearl of Great Price
7) The Fishing Net

Rather than go over these one by one, here are some thoughts about the stories as a whole...

-I'm still taken with Pope Benedict's idea that in preaching the Kingdom, Jesus was actually preaching Himself.  More specifically, His Mystical Body.  It was in the first of the Pope's three Jesus of Nazareth books.  Reading the parables in that light, Jesus is the sower, the farmer, the treasure, the pearl, and the fisherman.  It adds a rich layer of meaning.

-The Kingdom is incredibly valuable.  And in one of those Christian paradoxes, it has a price even though it's free.  The merchant and the man who bought the field sold everything to gain their respective prizes.  All too often, we think about giving up worldly things for the Kingdom as a straight loss.  That is, we believe the secular world: giving things up for the Kingdom is like throwing something away.  We go from having something to having nothing.  But the parables assure us that the secular world is mistaken!  The two figures gain something of inestimable value.  It's not an empty trade.

-I was somewhat surprised at how clearly Jesus includes an eschatalogical element in two of the parables: the wheat and the weeds, and the fishing net.  There's no getting around it!  At the final judgment there will be a separating of the wheat and the weeds, the good fish and the bad fish.  To me, Jesus is very blunt here.

-Evil has a strange relationship to the Kingdom, but it won't be sorted out until the end of time.  On one hand, it's not a constituting part.  How could it be?  On the other hand, it's inseparable, since it's a result of the fall of man.  We can no more completely escape evil than we could escape our shadow.  In the parable of the wheat and weeds, the farmer (=Jesus) tells the workers not to pull up the weeds... lest the wheat come up with them.

I remember doing a paper for one of my history classes, regarding a movement of a number of utopian societies in turn of the century America.  It was interesting, but I couldn't help but think it a misguided effort.  These two parables?  Utopian societies have never & will never work.  Period.

To wrap this all up...

When I finished reading Matthew 13, I asked myself a question: what is the Kingdom for?  After all, you can define something in multiple ways.  Reflecting on Matthew 13, there are a few functions of the Kingdom of God.  First, it's meant to grow in us.  Individually and collectively!  And by growth, don't miss the parable of the sower--the seed that landed on fertile ground produced a hundred fold.  We're offered an infinite gift!  Second, it's something of incredible value.  It's everything, pure and simple.  Third, the Kingdom is meant to usher us to/into/through the end times.  We can't lose the teleological focus of our faith.  Too often we focus on the end times in the negative sense, or as something that's an end unto itself.  It's rather another step in the journey to our ultimate destination: heaven (hopefully).  Fourth, the function of the Kingdom is to detach us from the world.  There is a cost to discipleship that we can't escape!  Not everything is compatible with Christianity; no amount of wishing on our part can reconcile Christianity and opposing morals.

7 Quick Takes, Lent Procrastinating Edition 4/5/14

--- 1 ---

Although it may not seem like it, being in & leaving the seminary was similar to being in a relationship.  It never ceased to surprise me until I went through the process myself.  Some friends had completely left the faith, others dropped off the face of the earth.  Mine wasn't quite so dramatic in that particular way, although I had to overcome a good-sized self-esteem issue.  One of the smaller manifestations was that I grew to hate the Liturgy of the Hours during my final year.  We prayed morning & evening prayer in community and all the other stress around academics and my impending departure (signs were there before I realized it) make me into, well, a cantankerous old man.  They're praying too slow... this part is too fast... I hate how we always speed up this section of the Salve Regina and how the rest drags... can't we get out of here already?... and so on and so on.

--- 2 ---

(I always end up running out of ideas when I get to #7 so I'm stretching this one out)  I don't blame the seminary or the Liturgy of the Hours for anything--don't get me wrong.  It was a small microcosm of the difficulties I was going through.  My spiritual director comforted me with a story of St. Teresa of Avila, who one time got so tired of the Liturgy of the Hours that she threw her breviary out the window.  From that point in 2006 until the past month or so, that bitter taste was in my mouth every time I thought of morning prayer or evening prayer.

--- 3 ---

I've found praying the Liturgy of the Hours to be very comforting over the past month.  I don't have any proof, but I'm crediting it to the intercession of my late spiritual director, Fr. Jerome.  I've prayed at work, even, which has helped my stress level.  It's like rediscovering an old friend you haven't seen in a long time.  I'm thankful to be healed from the issues I had with it (which again, had everything to do with me).

--- 4 ---

The Sunday Gospel readings during Lent are pretty amazing.  I have a draft of a post about it, hopefully I'll get it finished and put up.  But in every week, we learn more and more about Who Jesus IS.  I remember going through all these gospels in a seminary class years ago, but I can't remember the last time a series of readings garnered such an impact on me.  I almost wish I was going through RCIA...

--- 5 ---

During Lent I struggle with my ingrained inclination toward laziness.  I'm never quite sure if I should go all John the Baptist during Lent (to really try to combat that weakness) or if taking on small things is more prudent ("it's a marathon, not a sprint" idea).  The things my wife and I are doing have been good and I hope they continue for the rest of the year--and they're of the smaller variety.  Just curious, has anyone reading ever swung for the fences, so to speak?

--- 6 ---

My reading of the Gospel of Matthew has been wonderful, in large part because of the commentary I've been using.  It's like having a scripture class, a Bible study, or someone to walk you through all the minutiae that you never knew about.

--- 7 ---

Infertility is a nasty thing to go through, I'd ask your prayers for my wife and I... and for any couple bearing this cross.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!