“All for one and one for all,” may conjure up in your mind – who?; The Three Muskateers of course. This well known French novel by Alexandre Dumas, set in the 17th century recounts the adventures of a young man named d’Artagnan after he leaves home to become a guard of the muskateers. I always wondered who are the Muskateers and why were there three of them? A mystery?
Apparently they were created by King Louis XIII of France in 1622. They fought in battle and formed the royal guard of the king when he was outside the safety of his royal palace. And if that doesn’t satisfy your curiousity, I’ll bet you didn’t know their names. I didn’t until I dug a little deeper – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. That may be more than you ever wanted to know about who the three muskateers were but you can impress friends who are obsessed over 17th century French literature at your next wine tasting party or playing Trivial Pursuit by asking them if they know their names. Then you can really put them over the top when you answer them: Athos, Portthos, and Aramis. And, in fact, it may be another way to imagine the nature of God– one with three.
"All for one and one for all!" And, we do know their names: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St. Patrick’s shamrock is most familiar or a triangle – one figure with three equal sides. And other analogies or paintings by which we attempt in our limited mind to picture what God is like. This belief in a Triune God is the foundation of our Christian faith. And it remains forever, this side of eternity, a mystery but not totally.
This weekend we celebrate the beautiful and mysterious Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Beautiful because God is all goodness, love, and truth – perfection itself. Mysterious because the full nature of the supreme being is beyond our comprehension. Although God remains distant and totally “Other,” we have been given this insight as to his being – One God, three Persons. Jesus himself revealed this truth to us: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father . . .Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? . . .I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth . . .” (Jn 14: 10-17).
It’s not a puzzle or riddle meant to confuse. It took time for the Church to define precisely this doctrine of our faith. Heresies abounded for hundreds of years about the nature of Jesus in particular – How divine? How human? What was the nature of his relationship to God? Did he come into existence only when Mary conceived or did he exist before? The doctrine of the Trinity is difficult to explain logically. So, no human being would have come up with such an explanation. What we believe today is the fruit of discernment, prayer, discussion, schism, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is a deep divine mystery from which the very mind of God has lifted the veil off his face enough so that we may comprehend what we need to know this side of heaven.
God for our Jewish brethren is that unpronounceable name given to Moses at the burning bush – not really a name but rather a state of being: “I am who I am.” As God cannot be named, the book of Exodus relates the theophony or divine presence to Moses from the burning bush and says to him, tell the Pharoh, “I am” sent you. But God is also referred to as: Elohim, Shaddai, Adonai (Lord). We in our Christian faith often refer to Jesus as Lord.
Muslims, who are joined with Christians and Jews as Monotheists ( belief in one God), refer to God as Allah but one of their most common prayers speak of ninety-nine attributes of Allah.
As Christians, God is one but three. Yet we too speak of the personality, as it were, of God as love, beauty, truth, justice, mercy, forgiveness, compassion. We can go on and on with analogies, metaphors, and superlatives but in the end, God remains a mystery. And that is ok by us because we stand within that mystery with one, very qualified difference between ourselves and the two other great world religions of Judaism and Muslim.
God for Christians is a personal God. "He," though God is not bound by gender, is not a God who is content with remaining distant and unapprochable. He is a God who has become incarnate for our salvation. A God who is parental to us like a Father or even more intimate, “Abba” – Daddy. We pray the very intimate prayer, “Our Father . . .give us this day our daily bread . . and forgive us our trespasses . .” This is a God who knows every detail of our life and invites us into his own life. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (Jn 14: 1-2). Jesus reminds us further in today’s Gospel: “I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now. But, when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth . . .” (Jn 16: 12). This God, this Triune Person, says to us, “Be not afraid.” God is touchable, real, and is in constant communication with us.
If we could use the modern psychological term of extrovert and introvert – God is most definitely an extrovert – off the scale beyond Myers/Briggs. God who builds, creates, sustains life, guides, communicates, judges, welcomes, invites, feeds, heals, forgives – in our sacramental system and through the power of his word among us. God wants to pitch his tent, “dwell” among us – and he does so in his Spirit. He not standing in the shadows but reaches down, as he already has in Jesus Christ, and sustains our lives one by one in the power of his Spirit.
What we do know about God is that he invites us to share in his life. We are made in his image. We are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is Lord and Savior. We inhale the breath of the Holy Spirit. We are not orphans or abandoned. We are children of a loving Father. We have a place waiting for us. We have a God who stands with us in our suffering and confusion and who calls us to be the best of what he has created us to become. That we must, “love one another as I have loved you.”
Father,You sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy.Through them we come to know the mystery of your life.Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you.
May 26, 2010
Lord: "We have left everything to follow you!"
Unless you’ve lived or worked in a third world country, we Americans have no idea what real poverty means or feels like. While we do have poverty in America, this is not Calcutta, or Haiti, or southern Mexico, or the garbage dump in India made famous by the Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire. The “poor” are among us here in the States but overall, abject, gut wrenching poverty is non-existent here. We don’t find people living on garbage dumps or dying in droves on the streets. We have social programs, albeit controversial at times, such as welfare and assistance for low income families and children, which do offer some relief.
The Catholic Church has Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society chapters everywhere which bring assistance to those who truly need it. We have compassionate people who give of their time for the sake of others. We must work towards greater justice and alleviate people’s needless suffering as much as possible in this country and elsewhere. Our social justice principal about the “preferential option for the poor” should always be a measure of the worthiness of any program or institution which claims to alleviate poverty and promote right justice.
The Gospel for Mass yesterday is timely here. In this Ordinary Time, the classroom of Christian living, we hear of discipleship. It is a conversation between Peter and Jesus in (Mark 10: 28-31):
“Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘We have given up everything and followed you.’” True, they did. Jesus called them away from their livelihood to be his followers. Of course, that call was not obligatory. They voluntarily ran from their fishing or whatever they were doing, such as collecting taxes in the case of Matthew, and followed Jesus. They listened, sat at his feet, witnessed and heard what he did and said. They obviously found it attractive enough to “give up everything.” A kind of voluntary poverty was embraced by these Apostles but the pull of Jesus must have been extraordinary for them to make such a sacrifice.
What was Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question? “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sister or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: . . . with persecution, and eternal life in the age to come . . .”
Hmm. What would you say to that? It’s a promise that Peter’s choice and that of anyone who would renounce the normal rights and possessions of every day life might want to hear. I’m not sure how comforting the persecution part is but the cost of discipleship is not all for naught. Rewards do come both in this life and we hope in the next. But, the “what’s in it for me” question may be the initial frustration we can hear in Peter’s voice. On the surface it does seem that Jesus asks a lot of his followers.
But, how centered is my life on the Lord Jesus? I once heard a quote, offered by a Carmelite Nun, which essentially stated, “True disciples of Jesus are very rare.” Does this mean only the poor can be true disciples? It does seem that God has a particular place in his heart for those who suffer, those who are materially poor, for those who are ready to sacrifice, for those who do not count the cost, and for those who embrace life as it comes to them. God has provided indelible models for us to emulate.
St. Francis of Assisi is likely the quintessential embodiment of the Gospel call to detachment. Blessed Mother Teresa and her Christ-like compassion for the poorest of the poor, invited us to see Jesus in the face of the poor, hungry, dying, and especially in the innocent children. St. Francis de Sales, 16th century Bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, once said, “Ask for nothing, refuse nothing; we must simply abandon ourselves into the hands of Providence, without nourishing any other desire but to do whatever God wills.”
Whether it is Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Francis de Sales, Vincent de Paul, or Peter, the lesson on detachment as a condition for discipleship is all too familiar. It remains a daily examination of our conscience every time we ask ourselves: “Do I need this or do I want this?”
Now, there is nothing wrong with a little luxury now and then. We all like nice things, myself included. But is that what we live for? Is that the measure of our self-worth? If I lost my possessions today, could I get on with life? Such an event as loosing a house in a fire is tragic but in the end, its only stuff. Bottom line, the more we have the more we worry about what we have.
I don’t believe the Gospel call to detachment or Jesus’ words to Peter call us to poverty for the sake of poverty. Why would anyone deliberately choose to be poor simply to be poor? Unless you’re compiling some sort of sociological data on the experience and cause of poverty, such a choice would be strange at the least.
As Jesus said to Peter, “. . . for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel . . .” For a greater good; a higher motivation; for the cause of holiness and for the sake of another we might embrace some sense of poverty or simplicity of life. Considering the present state of the world’s economy, many don’t have a choice.
But, if we claim to adopt these values, to be a follower of Christ, while at the same time we hold on tightly to what we have, which in the end holds on to us even more strongly, then Jesus would have never asked Peter or anyone to be his followers. Sell what you have? Maybe in some cases but I’m not advocating we just clear out our living spaces and live on dirt floors. Much conversation can take place over that issue.
Jesus calls us all to conversion of heart and life. It seems to me, that is the bottom line. I was speaking to a brother priest the other day about a man we both know. This man is worth literally millions of dollars. Yet, he is extremely generous with the Church and other causes. He referred to him as, “St. Francis with money.” I found that a wonderful characterization. He doesn’t live in poverty by any means but is able to put his call to Christian generosity in perspective by his Catholic faith. Yet, it’s not only about money.
Unless we remove what is holding on to us be it possessions, sinful habits, my past hurts, constantly seeking the approval of others, or always asking, “What’s in it for me,” can we honestly claim to follow Jesus? A thought to ponder.
The Catholic Church has Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society chapters everywhere which bring assistance to those who truly need it. We have compassionate people who give of their time for the sake of others. We must work towards greater justice and alleviate people’s needless suffering as much as possible in this country and elsewhere. Our social justice principal about the “preferential option for the poor” should always be a measure of the worthiness of any program or institution which claims to alleviate poverty and promote right justice.
The Gospel for Mass yesterday is timely here. In this Ordinary Time, the classroom of Christian living, we hear of discipleship. It is a conversation between Peter and Jesus in (Mark 10: 28-31):
“Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘We have given up everything and followed you.’” True, they did. Jesus called them away from their livelihood to be his followers. Of course, that call was not obligatory. They voluntarily ran from their fishing or whatever they were doing, such as collecting taxes in the case of Matthew, and followed Jesus. They listened, sat at his feet, witnessed and heard what he did and said. They obviously found it attractive enough to “give up everything.” A kind of voluntary poverty was embraced by these Apostles but the pull of Jesus must have been extraordinary for them to make such a sacrifice.
What was Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question? “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sister or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: . . . with persecution, and eternal life in the age to come . . .”
Hmm. What would you say to that? It’s a promise that Peter’s choice and that of anyone who would renounce the normal rights and possessions of every day life might want to hear. I’m not sure how comforting the persecution part is but the cost of discipleship is not all for naught. Rewards do come both in this life and we hope in the next. But, the “what’s in it for me” question may be the initial frustration we can hear in Peter’s voice. On the surface it does seem that Jesus asks a lot of his followers.
But, how centered is my life on the Lord Jesus? I once heard a quote, offered by a Carmelite Nun, which essentially stated, “True disciples of Jesus are very rare.” Does this mean only the poor can be true disciples? It does seem that God has a particular place in his heart for those who suffer, those who are materially poor, for those who are ready to sacrifice, for those who do not count the cost, and for those who embrace life as it comes to them. God has provided indelible models for us to emulate.
St. Francis of Assisi is likely the quintessential embodiment of the Gospel call to detachment. Blessed Mother Teresa and her Christ-like compassion for the poorest of the poor, invited us to see Jesus in the face of the poor, hungry, dying, and especially in the innocent children. St. Francis de Sales, 16th century Bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, once said, “Ask for nothing, refuse nothing; we must simply abandon ourselves into the hands of Providence, without nourishing any other desire but to do whatever God wills.”
Whether it is Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Francis de Sales, Vincent de Paul, or Peter, the lesson on detachment as a condition for discipleship is all too familiar. It remains a daily examination of our conscience every time we ask ourselves: “Do I need this or do I want this?”
Now, there is nothing wrong with a little luxury now and then. We all like nice things, myself included. But is that what we live for? Is that the measure of our self-worth? If I lost my possessions today, could I get on with life? Such an event as loosing a house in a fire is tragic but in the end, its only stuff. Bottom line, the more we have the more we worry about what we have.
I don’t believe the Gospel call to detachment or Jesus’ words to Peter call us to poverty for the sake of poverty. Why would anyone deliberately choose to be poor simply to be poor? Unless you’re compiling some sort of sociological data on the experience and cause of poverty, such a choice would be strange at the least.
As Jesus said to Peter, “. . . for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel . . .” For a greater good; a higher motivation; for the cause of holiness and for the sake of another we might embrace some sense of poverty or simplicity of life. Considering the present state of the world’s economy, many don’t have a choice.
But, if we claim to adopt these values, to be a follower of Christ, while at the same time we hold on tightly to what we have, which in the end holds on to us even more strongly, then Jesus would have never asked Peter or anyone to be his followers. Sell what you have? Maybe in some cases but I’m not advocating we just clear out our living spaces and live on dirt floors. Much conversation can take place over that issue.
Jesus calls us all to conversion of heart and life. It seems to me, that is the bottom line. I was speaking to a brother priest the other day about a man we both know. This man is worth literally millions of dollars. Yet, he is extremely generous with the Church and other causes. He referred to him as, “St. Francis with money.” I found that a wonderful characterization. He doesn’t live in poverty by any means but is able to put his call to Christian generosity in perspective by his Catholic faith. Yet, it’s not only about money.
Unless we remove what is holding on to us be it possessions, sinful habits, my past hurts, constantly seeking the approval of others, or always asking, “What’s in it for me,” can we honestly claim to follow Jesus? A thought to ponder.
May 24, 2010
Ordinary Time: The classroom of Christian Discipleship
Well, the party is over and it’s back to everyday life – welcome to Ordinary Time in our Church calendar. The Easter Alleluia’s will take on a more sedate feeling; the lilies have come down, the baptisms seem more routine and the Easter candle has moved from its prominent place near the Altar to the baptismal area of the Church. Life feels more settled and customary.
Those parishes like my own, who are blessed with wonderful choirs and consistently beautiful music, may now have to settle for an organist, pianist, and a cantor to lead the congregation in song. With the exception of the next two Sunday’s for the Feast of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi, out comes what feels like the endless procession of green vestments. (God’s favorite color – just look at creation.) And so we settle in for the next few months of the same-old, same-old. Well, not exactly. Not exactly by any means since this Ordinary season may be our most challenging.
The Easter energy, the powerful stories of the risen Lord, the wind, fire, and tongues of Pentecost were never meant to be the constant. How could we sustain the deep emotion of Holy Week all year! Those events were necessary for God to accomplish all that he intended for salvation. But, they happened once in history. When Jesus left this earth and breathed his Holy Spirit upon us, the infant Church could not ask, “Now what?” in the same way. Everything had changed.
Christians were now called to see the familiar with new eyes; to hear the world around them with fresh ears; to reach out to others with new hands – the eyes, ears, and hands of Christ would continue to see, hear, and touch through all who believed in him. Ordinary life was meant to become extraordinary by the lives of those who could now profess one faith, one baptism, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now it was time to get on with what it means to be a Christian in the world and to fulfill the mission and ministry that Jesus entrusted to his leaders and through them to the Church. And that is precisely the purpose of this time we call Ordinary which celebrates the mystery of Christ “not in one specific aspect but in all its aspects. The readings during the liturgies of Ordinary Time help to instruct us on how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives.” (www.cyberfaith.com).
That season we call Ordinary Time, therefore, strikes me as the meat and potatoes of our Christian life. This is where the rubber hits the road folks and it makes all the difference. Welcome to the classroom of Christian living. Hopefully, most of us have passed to a bit higher grade than Christianity 101. No matter what “class” you’re enrolled in or what level you may have achieved, the day by day application of our Christian faith must continue.
There is cohesiveness, however, to this season. The Church doesn’t just randomly throw dice and say, “ok, let’s try this Gospel.” For us living today in a far more complex world than the early Christians, who sort of had to figure it out as they went along, we have the benefit of thousands of years of history, tradition, and lived experience. We can look back and see the work of the Spirit from age to age which has brought us to this moment in time. It certainly helps with our linear thinking which generally demands to know how and where things came from, what is the meaning of today, and where is it all going?
In this rich and meaningful Ordinary season we reflect not on one event in the earthly life of Jesus such as his birth, death, or resurrection. Now we hear the life and preaching of Jesus unfold in the Gospel stories. It is a time to absorb the challenges of daily Christian living and to apply those principles of morality and our subsequent thought process and behavior as a result of those teachings of Jesus.
Whether it be a miracle story, a question of Jesus concerning the meaning of authority by one of the Apostles, the feeding of the 5,000 on a hillside up from the Sea of Galilee, the conditions for discipleship, the sending of the Apostles by Jesus “two by two” to preach and heal, the parable to the Good Samaritan, a teaching on prayer, or whatever other thought provoking scenes will pass before us these next months, its never same-old, same-old because the Gospel never tires of itself.
The Word of God is living and active – it’s you and I that often need a good kick in the pants, a jump start to reignite the fire of the Spirit in us. Though daylight is longer here north of the equator, school is nearly out, the weather is warm (we can hope), and vacation season is not far ahead, we don’t dare let this season pass by without an attentive ear, a willing spirit, a soft and changeable heart for the Lord.
May the Green color of this season that is anything but ordinary, remind us of the never ending Hope to which we are called in Jesus Christ.
Almighty God,
our hope and strength,
without you we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to your will.
We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
(11th Sunday in not so Ordinary Time)
Much more so stay tuned . . . .
Those parishes like my own, who are blessed with wonderful choirs and consistently beautiful music, may now have to settle for an organist, pianist, and a cantor to lead the congregation in song. With the exception of the next two Sunday’s for the Feast of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi, out comes what feels like the endless procession of green vestments. (God’s favorite color – just look at creation.) And so we settle in for the next few months of the same-old, same-old. Well, not exactly. Not exactly by any means since this Ordinary season may be our most challenging.
The Easter energy, the powerful stories of the risen Lord, the wind, fire, and tongues of Pentecost were never meant to be the constant. How could we sustain the deep emotion of Holy Week all year! Those events were necessary for God to accomplish all that he intended for salvation. But, they happened once in history. When Jesus left this earth and breathed his Holy Spirit upon us, the infant Church could not ask, “Now what?” in the same way. Everything had changed.
Christians were now called to see the familiar with new eyes; to hear the world around them with fresh ears; to reach out to others with new hands – the eyes, ears, and hands of Christ would continue to see, hear, and touch through all who believed in him. Ordinary life was meant to become extraordinary by the lives of those who could now profess one faith, one baptism, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now it was time to get on with what it means to be a Christian in the world and to fulfill the mission and ministry that Jesus entrusted to his leaders and through them to the Church. And that is precisely the purpose of this time we call Ordinary which celebrates the mystery of Christ “not in one specific aspect but in all its aspects. The readings during the liturgies of Ordinary Time help to instruct us on how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives.” (www.cyberfaith.com).
That season we call Ordinary Time, therefore, strikes me as the meat and potatoes of our Christian life. This is where the rubber hits the road folks and it makes all the difference. Welcome to the classroom of Christian living. Hopefully, most of us have passed to a bit higher grade than Christianity 101. No matter what “class” you’re enrolled in or what level you may have achieved, the day by day application of our Christian faith must continue.
There is cohesiveness, however, to this season. The Church doesn’t just randomly throw dice and say, “ok, let’s try this Gospel.” For us living today in a far more complex world than the early Christians, who sort of had to figure it out as they went along, we have the benefit of thousands of years of history, tradition, and lived experience. We can look back and see the work of the Spirit from age to age which has brought us to this moment in time. It certainly helps with our linear thinking which generally demands to know how and where things came from, what is the meaning of today, and where is it all going?
In this rich and meaningful Ordinary season we reflect not on one event in the earthly life of Jesus such as his birth, death, or resurrection. Now we hear the life and preaching of Jesus unfold in the Gospel stories. It is a time to absorb the challenges of daily Christian living and to apply those principles of morality and our subsequent thought process and behavior as a result of those teachings of Jesus.
Whether it be a miracle story, a question of Jesus concerning the meaning of authority by one of the Apostles, the feeding of the 5,000 on a hillside up from the Sea of Galilee, the conditions for discipleship, the sending of the Apostles by Jesus “two by two” to preach and heal, the parable to the Good Samaritan, a teaching on prayer, or whatever other thought provoking scenes will pass before us these next months, its never same-old, same-old because the Gospel never tires of itself.
The Word of God is living and active – it’s you and I that often need a good kick in the pants, a jump start to reignite the fire of the Spirit in us. Though daylight is longer here north of the equator, school is nearly out, the weather is warm (we can hope), and vacation season is not far ahead, we don’t dare let this season pass by without an attentive ear, a willing spirit, a soft and changeable heart for the Lord.
May the Green color of this season that is anything but ordinary, remind us of the never ending Hope to which we are called in Jesus Christ.
Almighty God,
our hope and strength,
without you we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to your will.
We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
(11th Sunday in not so Ordinary Time)
Much more so stay tuned . . . .
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