St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 2

Moving through the letter to the Galatians has continued to be fruitful for me, and it helps to paint the picture of the Church in apostolic times. 

Dissent in the Catholic Church today is disheartening to me, and it's frustrating as well.  Growing up, I remember there being a big push to go back to the early days of the Church, since they had it figured out more than we did.  If we could just be like the early Christians, everything would be fine!  Well... reading Galatians, they had just as many problems as we do.  Different problems, but the apostolic Church wasn't necessarily the idyllic communion that some have made it out to be.  I don't think we appreciate just how difficult the issue of "judaizing" was back then. 

Jewish converts to Christianity left behind not just a faith or philosophy.  They left behind (or were supposed to) an entire way of life.  Let's not forget that following the Mosaic Law entailed observing feasts, dietary regulations, and ritual purity washings.  Those affected the daily lives of Jews.  Is it any wonder that many of the adult Jewish converts had trouble leaving behind tenets they practiced their entire life?  They couldn't even enter the house of a Gentile--as illustrated in the story of the centurion's servant in Matthew 8:5-13.  The centurion's response to Jesus was made out of respect for Our Lord and with knowledge that Jesus would become ritually impure if He entered the centurion's house.  I think.  I can't seem to find a citation for that but will update (and correct, if necessary) this post if I do find one. 

St. Paul starts ch. 3 with a bang, calling out the "foolish Galatians" (3:1).  He continues to address the attestations of the Judaizers, countering their arguments with his rabbinic training.  Paul doesn't let up from 3:1 to 4:7--and then shifts tone starting in 4:8.  The frustration exhausts him; I hear him pleading, in a weary voice, "how can you turn back again to the weak and beggardly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?  ...I am afraid I have labored over you in vain" (4:9, 11).

Out of that whole section (3:1-4:7), I really needed the help of the commentaries.  Again, I'm using the Navarre Bible, the Ignatius Study Bible, and William Barclay's commentaries--Barclay being the only non-Catholic of the group.  I hit a snag especially with 3:22: "But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."  The gist of it was that all people, whether Jew or Gentile, were prisoners of sin; whatever the power of the Law, it could not justify man.  And, that was a big setup to the saving work of Jesus, who ultimately redeemed all from sin.

Besides the commentaries, looking at different translations helped.  I predominantly read the RSV-CE; I dislike the NAB as being too fluffy on one of my favorite verses.  Here is how Gal 3:22 appeared in other translations:

New American Bible: "In fact, however, Scripture has locked all things in under the constraint of sin"

Douay-Rheims and King James Bible: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin"

Knox (English Catholic Msgr. who translated the Bible himself) (!!!): "But in fact Scripture represents us as all under the bondage of sin"

Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible: "Scripture makes no exceptions when it says sin is master everywhere"

New Revised Standard Version: "but Scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin"

For those of us that don't speak Greek, having a lot of interpretations helps fill in the message that Paul tried to get across. 

More to come!

St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 1

I've begun reading St. Paul's letter to the Galatians over the past week or so.  I first read it through, and I'm now consulting some trusted commentaries.  I'm thankful for the commentaries, as I found the epistle to be complex.  I had to laugh, this epistle kind of fits in one of the more surprising lines in the Bible: "So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking from hthis as he does in all his letters.  There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction."  (2 Peter 3:15-16).  Ha!  I'm in good company if I find some of Paul's writings hard to understand.  May God keep me from the ignorant/unstable lot...

It's interesting to me that such an intense issue of the Judaizers is now a distant memory.  I'd think most western Catholics would need the help of a commentary to further understand the 1st century Jewish world.  Besides that, I think it's a great commentary on the truth of the Christian faith.  That which is the truth has a remarkable endurance; heresies and false teaching, perhaps taking from the truth but not being of  the truth, don't have deep enough roots to endure through the ages.  The Navarre Bible commentary cited St. Jerome on this:

"These people wanted to change the Gospel, to twist it; bout that is something they cannot succeed in doing, for this Gospel is suck that it cannot be true if it is tampered with."  (Pg. 171)

St. Paul's talk of the works of the law impacted me, first for the vehemence behind it.  His words are strong and pointed.  And it occurred to me: that tone is coming from a former Pharisee.  The Mosaic Law was his life!  He studied it, loved it, devoted himself to its practices, and celebrated its feasts.  He was present at the stoning of Stephen.   If we ever doubt God's ability to turn the hearts of man, look no further than Paul.

The reason for St. Paul's passion on this issue was the logical conclusion of the Judaizers' teaching.  The false teaching being that Gentiles entering the Church had to become Jews first before getting baptized as Christians.     If that were true, then justification (=getting right with God) depended on how well Christians kept the Mosaic Law.  And how is that any different than before Jesus came?  Why did Jesus bother with His Passion if it didn't change anything?

Things did change--drastically.  In St. John's vision of Revelation, Jesus tells him, "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev 21:5)  That was the second thing that impacted me about St. Paul's treatment of the works of the Law.  The sacraments are the fulfillment of the old practices!  God's chosen people is not limited to a ethic group; membership is offered to every nation and every people.  Grace was given before, but God now recklessly pours out His grace on humanity.

Those are a few points from Ch. 1-2 that struck me.  It's somewhat comforting to look at the internal conflict within the Church today, and to see the very same thing in the Bible.  Jesus transformed the Church, but human nature is still human nature.

Publications Round-Up

I was very glad to have a few articles posted on the Cora Evans blog since the last time I updated this blog.  It's too late for my daily Lenten reflections, but here are two others:

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a reflection on his Breastplate prayer (breastplate = Lorica in Latin).  It's a really incredible prayer when you sit with it for a little while.  The most well-known part of it is the "Christ behind me, Christ before me" stanza, but the entire prayer is much longer.  Worth a read!

For Good Friday, a combination of the physical effects of the crucifixion and some reflections. 

Both articles were interesting topics, and I probably learned more in the writing than anyone will in the reading of them. 

Easter is Here and Lent is Gone--I mean, concluded... I mean, Lent is fine, but Easter is glory... I mean...

Every time Easter arrives, the feast is full of joy and glory.  It's the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus and the most singular important event in human history!  Embedded in the joy is the relief of Lent being over.  The St. Francises and St. Ignatiuses have eyes to see suffering as it really is: participation in the Passion of Jesus.  I am not in that category.  More often than not, I fight it tooth and nail.

An examination of my Lent is always disappointing.  I have a strange idea of myself that I should come out of Lent completely purified and perfect.  Bad habit x?  Eliminated!  Evangelism efforts?  Tripled!  Sacred Scripture?  Memorized, contemplated, and able to answer every possible question!  It took a few years to come to peace with this high expectations "false me."  Dealing with that kind of unrealistic expectation has one primary peril: I inadvertently assumed that I would be doing the serious heavy lifting.  Grace, the Holy Spirit, yeah yeah, but it was I that had to fix things.  There was no possible way I could ever live up to my own expectations, especially if I relied more on myself rather than God.  That disastrous approach has two outcomes: apathy or an OCD approach (although not in the Carmelite sense).  The former, why even bother if I can't do it?, leads to sloth.  The latter, being anxious and over-scrupulous, leads to even further pride.  I settled for some apathetic Lents in the past, and they didn't do me any lasting good. 

The key is to avoid pride and hit the mark in between two extremes, as our friend Aristotle would say.  Approach Lent with humility--knowing from the beginning our weakness and inability to fix everything ourselves in 40 days.  Also, I think a targeted approach helps during Lent.  In the past, I fasted just to fast.  It's that thing we do during Lent, right?  Instead, target a particular weakness and fast toward that end.  And, to be clear, it should be a spiritual end.  Fasting from a particular food for the sake of losing weight has some spiritual merit, but it's misdirected. 

This year, my wife and I decided to give up sweets.  That practice was my go-to for Lent from my childhood all the way up until college.  I hadn't fasted from sweets for a number of years; trying this year proved more difficult than I expected.  There are two somewhat embarrassing episodes that highlight this...

First, my wife made dinner for some friends who recently had a baby; there were some leftover cookies.  I have some Irish heritage and love St. Patrick, so we agreed that a single, leftover cookie on that day would be ok.  Leading up to St. Patrick's feast day, I found myself craving that cookie.  That was accompanied by a sobering thought: have I ever had such fervor for the Eucharist?  Seriously, I looked forward to a cookie more than the Body of Christ?

Second, my wife and I started the Divine Mercy Novena on Good Friday.  Halfway through the prayer for the day, my mind wandered (in itself, not uncommon)... to breakfast the next day.  Sausage or bacon?  Eggs, for sure... are we out of English muffins?

Yikes.  We both had the realization that, for one, this was a well-aimed penance for the weakness of our appetite for sweets.  In addition, that appetite was stronger than I initially thought. 

I believe our fasting did us a lot of good, and it provided an opportunity to become more humble than before.  To close, here's a passage from St. John Chrysostum.  For everything that changes in the world, human nature does not.  These words sound like he's talking directly to me:

"Sharpen your sickle, which you have blunted through gluttony— sharpen it by fasting. Lay hold of the pathway which leads towards heaven; rugged and narrow as it is, lay hold of it, and journey on.  And how may thou be able to do these things?  By subduing your body, and bringing it into subjection.  For when the way grows narrow, the corpulence that comes of gluttony is a great hindrance.  Keep down the waves of inordinate desires.  Repel the tempest of evil thoughts.  Preserve the bark; display much skill, and you have become a pilot. But we shall have the fast for a groundwork and instructor in all these things."  (Homilies on the Statutes, Homily III, #7)

Christmas is Nigh

Over the years, I've looked forward to a number of things at Christmas.  As a kid, it was Santa and presents.  As I got older, it became fun to give presents in addition to receiving them.  Christmas became more special once my wife was a part of my life, and even better now that we have our little son.

Last year, my wife and I had some quite time together on Christmas Eve.  I hope it becomes an annual tradition!  I had returned from singing in a small choir for our parish's midnight Mass at 9 p.m.  The church had a warmth to it that night, with the soft lights.  The choir with the exception of me, had incredibly talented musicians and singers.  It was a joy to sing "Silent Night" and "What Child Is This," listening to the harmony of the quartet's combined voices.  After I'd returned home and changed, my wife and I opened presents.  We settled in on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, listening to Christmas music.  No lights were on save those on the tree.  A soft glow permeated the room, the kind you see and feel at the same time.  Even with the music, quiet peacefully reigned in our house.

One of the great feasts of our faith... celebrating it in the liturgy... with the peace of Christ enveloping our home.  It was wonderful, and God be praised!  We do not have a sterile faith, nor one that's exclusively concerned with the intellect.  In contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation, God gives us multiple ways to connect with it.  We have the Mass, the love of our friends & family, and Christmas carols that sing the glories of God.  On top of that, we have all the manifestations of human creativity.  Have you ever stopped to think about human ingenuity, and how incredible it is?  It's one of God's greatest gifts to the human race.  The celebration of Christmas includes baking, cheesy movies on Lifetime & the Hallmark channel, ornaments, Christmas lights, and much, much more.

As we enjoy the beauty of the Christmas season, let's not forget to give thanks and praise to God, the source of all that is good about the season.

And, I'd like to share the "Midnight on Christmas Eve" playlist:

1. The King's Singer: Stille Nacht (really amazing choir)
2. Judy Garland: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (classic)
3. Gardiner Sisters: What Child Is This? (three sisters singing in harmony, in a great arrangement)
4. Celine Dion: O Holy Night (you need a powerful voice to sing this song and she nails it)
5. Nat King Cole: The First Noel (he makes singing sound easy & effortless)
6. Natalie Cole: The Holy & the Ivy (a lesser known Christmas carol but a really nice one)
7. The Daughters of St. Paul: Ave Maria (standard!)
8. Celtic Woman: The Christmas Song (some wonderful voices in Celtic Woman)
9. The Piano Guys: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (instrumental, a piano and cello.  Really good!)
10. Choir of King's College, Cambridge: Coventry Carol (another amazing choir)
11. Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles: O Come Divine Messiah (a hymn, sung beautifully.  From their Advent at Ephesus album)
12. Martina McBride: Away in a Manger (my favorite country singer)

Hidden Grains in Matthew 12:1-8

Thanks to a confirmation talk I'm working on, I picked up the Bible last night before going to bed.  One of the Scripture passages I looked up for this talk was Matthew 12:1-8.  Why not read it, I thought, and just reflect on it; maybe that would benefit me more than simply taking notes on the passage.  You'd think the Holy Spirit knows what He's doing or something... the Holy Spirit pointed something out in the reflections that I wanted to share.    

One of the things that stood out was the boldness of Jesus--and it made me curious about the reactions of the Pharisees.  Yes, they voice their displeasure upon seeing Jesus' disciples pick grain on the sabbath, but Matthew doesn't let them get a word in when Jesus compares Himself to David (v. 3-4).  King David!!!  One of the most revered figures in Jewish history!  Even further, Jesus says for the first of three times in the surrounding chapters, "something greater than the Temple is here." (v. 6)  The temple, the most sacred place on earth and the dwelling place of God among His chosen people.  What's greater than that?  As if those weren't audacious enough, Jesus finishes off by saying, "the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath." (v. 8)  The sabbath, instituted by God?  The sabbath, observed by Jews for millennia?  

Matthew grants the Pharisees an aside in v. 14, saying that "the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how to destroy Him."

That shock that the Pharisees must've felt isn't just a historical commentary or a hermeneutical device, or other large words that make me sound smart.  They knew exactly what Jesus was saying.  One of the more concise treatments of this belongs to C.S. Lewis: Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.  A liar could make all the claims that Jesus did, and was killed for stupidly sticking to his lies.  A lunatic would be granted some leeway; if this were true, then we should pity a poor, delusional man who preached his way to torture and death.  The Pharisees of the time fell into a variation of one of these camps.  

Or, He Is the Lord; Who He said He Is.  Jesus spells out Who He Is in this short passage: 

King: Jesus makes a direct parallel between Himself and David, the latter being the epitome of kingship for the Jews at the time.  

Priest: that is, one who offers sacrifice to God.  By bringing up the Temple, Jesus alludes to the very place where sacrifices were offered.  

Prophet: The scripture that Jesus quotes to the Pharisees comes the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  (6:6)

With these three references, Jesus is proclaiming that He Is the Messiah: priest, prophet, and king.  This is from Hosea 6:6, and the preceding verses are strikingly messianic:  

"Come, let us return to the LORD, for He has torn, that He may heal us; He has stricken, and He will bind us up.  After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.  Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD, His going forth is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (v. 1-4)

 In quoting Hosea, Jesus joins His mission to the prophet from of old: to bring the hearts of His wayward people back to the Lord.  

Jesus' final line in this passage provides a whisp of a hint that the Messiah's mission includes the sabbath, although He doesn't go into detail.  With the benefit of hindsight, we can draw a clearer picture: Jesus, the great high priest (Heb 4:14) and victim; the Lamb who offered Himself for our sins (Gen 22:8, John 1:29); whose flesh, like the paschal lamb (Ex 12:8), is true food and drink (John 6:55); which serves as a new foundation for the sabbath of the New Covenant (Matt 26:26-28).

7 Quick Takes: Favorites edition, 11/6/15

Unbelievably, November is here!  Fall weather, foggy mornings, more rain, and football.  Ah, football.  At least one of my two teams is doing well.  For this 7QT, lucky you, they're all based on my favorite things!  My wife & son being first, and the rest being in no particular order.

1) My wife Erin is a beautiful, beautiful woman and I'm very blessed to be married to her.  Easy #1 choice for my favorites!  There's also my little son, Leo.  He's 9 months old now, and we only have a few minutes together in the morning and about an hour in the evening.  Work gets in the way, alas...  For Halloween, we dressed him up in a pumpkin costume.  Cutest and most wiggly pumpkin ever!  We couldn't get a single picture of him smiling and staying still.  

Just soak in the cuteness.  Imagine him crawling with
what looks like a little beer belly--even more adorable

Whoever on Pinterest that showed how to make an Ewok costume for a toddler, I will be thanking you next year.  

2) I love to read, especially books on the Catholic faith.  My interests also include history, although those books tend to require a little more discipline to read.  I just finished this book on Fatima, and I'd recommend it to anyone.  Tomorrow (11/7) is the first Saturday of the month.  Make this the first of your 5 First Saturdays, just like Our Lady asked!  

Come to our aid, Immaculate Queen!

3) Movies are another good source of entertainment, usually.  We've had hits--The Book Thief was excellent (though not a happy movie)--and misses (nearly any secular comedy we've watched in the last couple years).  We have tested out some religious movies, as well.  I've learned a few things... 

*Very few are made outside of Italy, which makes for a problem with... 

*...dubbed-over voices.  I'd much rather hear the actors speak in Italian than have a voice-over actor attempt to fill in the voices.  Can't stand it!

*Some religious movies, however well-intentioned, are bad.  BAD.  (there, I said it)  And it's okay that I feel that way.  It's a funny feeling, the guilt!  If some sort of secular movie had subpar acting, dialogue that doesn't translate well to the screen, I wouldn't feel the least bit guilty about lampooning it.  

*As long as a biblical movie doesn't wind up in the we-couldn't-make-it-through-20-minutes category, they're a good exercise in imaginative prayer.  We recently watched Mary of Nazareth, which was good.  There were so many scenes in the movie that I inwardly thought, 'I pictured it happening a different way' and... there you are, reflecting on a story from the Bible.  

*P.S. only two movies have made it into our we-couldn't-make-it-through-20-minutes category: one religious movie that out of guilt I will not name, and second, the horrendous secular movie Friends With Kids.  Its worst sin?  It wasn't funny.  It had an all-star cast of hilarious comedians and the movie was boring!  

4) Star Wars!  I grew up on it as a kid and I'm really excited to see Episode VII.  The new international trailer was just released... I don't buy the theories that say Luke Skywalker is Kylo Ren, but the tide of speculation is trending toward Luke turning to the dark side.  Kudos to JJ Abrams for this nice gesture, by the way.  

5) For football, Notre Dame is having a good season so far, and I think they'll end up a top 10 team.  Not so sure they'll make the playoff, but at least they're not having as bad of a season as the 49ers.  Seriously, seriously painful.  The owner and GM have driven the team into the ground.  

6) I came upon an old mix CD that I put together, entitled Relax Mix.  I hadn't listened to it in a while, so all the tracks were a surprise.  I'm still amazed at the effect that a great song can have--enticing your imagination to go off to a different place, using melodies, instruments, solos, and sometimes raw emotion.  This was one of the songs from that mix, enjoy!

7) Finally, I do like to write--though you'd never know it for often I write on this blog.  I was lucky to write another post at the Cora Evans blog, this time on 5 Catholic scientists making an impact on society.  My wife had the best idea of everyone on the list, Dr. Hilgers: the founder of the Paul VI Institute and one man responsible for probably thousands of babies being born.  Including Leo.  :)

More quick takes at www.thisaintthelyceum.org!