Sunday the Eighteenth

Antiphon: God, come to my help. Lord, quickly give me assistance. You are the One Who helps me and sets me free: Lord, do not be long in coming. (Psalm 69:2, 6)

Gospel excerpt: “Taking (λαβὼν, labon) the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing (εὐλόγησεν, eulogesen), broke (κλάσας, klasas) the loaves, and gave (ἔδωκεν, edoken) them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds (Matthew 14:19).”

A professor colleague and her family are members of an area Reformed Congregation. On her side of the family, many relatives are devout and observant. The Covenant and weekly Synagogue are among some of the important family activities. On her husband's side of the family, a number of relatives are devout Catholics and throughout the course of a year, each side of the family graces the insides of Synagogue and Church alike.
     We happened to see each other the other day and she had a question. "First Holy Communion - that is a 'big thing' for Catholics, correct?" Knowing how this event has become so commercialized over the years I said with caution, "Yes ... and may I ask why?" She went on to explain that her family had been invited to a relative's First Communion. "We went to the Church and the party afterward and I could not help thinking how 'passive' the whole event appeared." "Passive?" I inquired. "Well, compared to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah in our Congregation, First Communion seemed to me to involve so little."

     The 'Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes,' as the event has come to be known, has a singular distinction among the four Gospels. This is the only event in Jesus' Public Ministry that all four Evangelists narrate. Mark and Matthew take the event a step further by recording it twice in their respective Gospels. All of this suggests the importance the early Christians saw in this event as a foreshadowing of Jesus' total Gift of Himself in the sacrificial meal of the Most Holy Eucharist. Yet here is where things unfortunately get 'dicey' in the history of biblical interpretation and homiletic creativity. Many attempt, once again, 'to figure out' what exactly happened. Some, sadly, go so far as to say that the 'miracle' is not multiplication but sharing (anyone who has spent time in hot, humid Galilee knows that food stored in the fold of one's woolen garment is not suitable even for animals!). Even more tragic is that such an approach misses key actions that eventually help us to experience the Most Holy Eucharist as anything but passive.

     When the Gospels present this event, when Saint Paul speaks of the Lord's Supper and when the Eucharistic Prayer is voiced, 4 actions are central: taking, blessing, breaking and giving. These are central to the event proclaimed this Sunday because they are central actions in the life of Jesus Himself. He gives Himself to be taken by His Father for the mission of healing love. Jesus is pronounced blessed by His Father as the "Beloved" and then broken in death that He might be given to all for our salvation as the quintessential model of love.

     In this sense, the Most Holy Eucharist is quite an active event, especially when we grow more conscious of allowing ourselves to be taken, blessed, broken and given to others in the service of His Father's Kingdom. Pope Benedict summed it well: "the Eucharist can never be merely a kind of community builder. To receive, to eat of the tree of life thus means to receive the crucified Lord and consequently to accept the parameters of His life, His obedience, His yes, the standard of our creatureliness. It means to accept the love of God, which is our truth - that dependence on God which is no more an imposition from without than is the Son's Sonship. It is precisely this dependence that is freedom, because it is truth and love (In the Beginning, page 76)."

     So, how passive is this event?

God our Father,
gifts without measure flow from Your goodness
to bring us Your peace.
Our life is Your gift.
Guide our life's journey,
for only Your love makes us whole.
Keep us strong in Your love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Sunday the Seventeenth

Antiphon: “God is in His holy dwelling; He will give a home to the lonely, He gives power and strength to His people (Psalm 67:6-7, 36).”

Gospel excerpt: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy (καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς) goes  and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).”

     Compared to the previous weeks, the parabolic proclamation for this Sunday is noticeably shorter. Unlike the previous weeks, Jesus does not explain the meaning of the words; probably due in part to the disciple's affirmation that they "understand all these things (Matthew 13:51)." Like the Gospel words of previous weeks, Jesus draws images from day-to-day living: buried treasure, a field, pearls, a net, fish of all kinds and buckets. Actions too are familiar to the listeners of Jesus' day: burying valuables (done especially in times of war or civil conflict to protect one's goods), finding, hiding, selling, buying, throwing, separating, and keeping; not to mention wailing and grinding of teeth to round out the picture. Even though the words are few quantitatively, much is offered for our formation this Sunday.

     In light of Solomon's prayer for "an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong," we can look at Jesus' parable and the disciple's response as a moment of wisdom. Through a variety of images, Jesus has catechized his followers in the ways of His Father's Kingdom. Such catechesis releases wisdom into the world whereby humanity has the resources to live in a manner always respecting the dignity of the other as a child of God. This type of wisdom, when taken to the heart, transforms not only individuals but the world. The "understanding heart" receives reality as gift thus experiencing freedom from the enslavement of entitlement that always demeans human dignity by selfish manipulation, attempting to impose one's agenda on reality.

     Then, there are the hope-filled words of God spoken and penned by Saint Paul: "We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)." Many of our Bibles naturally open to Romans 8 because we read that chapter often, especially when things are not going so well in life. These comforting words remind us not only how big the big-picture of things really is, but that each of us is known and loved infinitely by the One Who is Love. Experiencing this love leads precisely to the unnamed people of this Sunday's parable.

     Why did the person sell all and buy the field? Why did the merchant sell all and buy the pearl? Why the hard work of selecting good fish? It all comes down to 1 word: JOY (χάρις, cháris). The evangelist is clear in recording the reason for these actions of buying: "out of (or "from") joy." Joachim Jeremias (a preeminent biblical scholar whose specialty was Jesus' Parables), commenting on the treasure and pearl states: "When that great joy, surpassing all measure, seizes a man, it carries him away, penetrates his inmost being, subjugates his mind. All else seems valueless compared with that surpassing worth. The decisive thing in the twin parable is not what the two men give up, but reason for their doing so; the overwhelming experience of the splendor of their discovery. Thus it is with the Kingdom of God. The effect of the joyful news is overpowering; it fills the heart with with gladness; it makes life's whole aim the consummation of the divine community and produces the most wholehearted self-sacrifice. What is the quality of a life which has been overmastered by this great joy? It is to follow Jesus. Its characteristic is the love whose pattern is to be found in the Lord who has become a servant. Such a love finds its expression in silent giving with no sounding of a trumpet; it does not lay up treasure on earth, but it entrusts its possessions to God's faithful hands" thereby setting us free from anxiety and worry.

Alternative Opening Prayer
God our Father,
open our eyes to see Your hand at work
in the splendor of creation,
in the beauty of human life.
Touch by Your hand our world is holy.
Help us to cherish the gifts that surround us,
to share Your blessings with our brothers and sisters,
and to experience the joy of life in Your presence.

Welcome, Archbishop Charles Chaput

   As the noon bells of the Angelus tolled in Saint Peter’s Basilica this past Tuesday (19 July, 6:00am our time), Pope Benedict XVI named the Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput as Philadelphia’s new Archbishop. Archbishop Chaput has served as the archbishop of Denver since 1997. He was previously the bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota. One of America’s most publicly engaged Catholic bishops, he frequently addresses the intersection of religious faith and political life, as he does in his book, Render Unto Caesar.

     Archbishop Chaput is a member of the Capuchin Franciscan order of religious priests and brothers. A registered member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe, he is the second Native American to be ordained bishop in the U.S., and the first Native American archbishop. Raised in a small farming community in central Kansas, Archbishop Chaput felt called to the priesthood from a young age. Except for a childhood interest in growing up to be a film director (or a stunt man; the archbishop is a great movie buff and voracious reader), he has wanted to be a priest for as long as he can remember.

     Archbishop Chaput earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from St. Fidelis College Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania, and studied Psychology at Catholic University in Washington D.C. He holds a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Capuchin College in Washington D.C., and a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of San Francisco.

     I am sure you join me in welcoming our new archbishop. As parishioners of a parish, we are part of a larger experience of the local Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Archdiocese is part of the Universal Church, the Body of Christ. The appointment of a new shepherd for our Church comes in the midst of times that are both exciting and challenging. Like it or not, “times are a changin” and the way we are Church will take on new expressions (note the word will, not might). In light of this Sunday’s Gospel (17th Sunday) about the “instructed scribe,” we can say that the bishop “is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

     Much awaits our new shepherd (you may want to read John Allen’s interview of the Archbishop). Exciting ways to continue sounding the message of Jesus Christ that are both old and new remind us once again that hope springs eternal. Yet these opportunities will require decisions - tough and difficult decisions - that ultimately rest on the shoulders of the bishop and impact all of us. For that reason, we as members of the body of Christ must pray fervently for our Church and our bishop seeking opportunities to be less passive and more educated in matters of the Faith. We must read and listen with critical eyes and ears what the media has to say about our beloved Church realizing that because we are baptized, we all have an obligation to build up Christ’s Body the Church in unity and to continue responding to the Holy Spirit’s work of holiness in how each of us thinks, speaks and acts.

God, eternal shepherd,
You tend Your Church in many ways,
and rule us with love.
Help Your chosen servant Charles as
pastor for Christ, to watch over Your flock.
Help him to be a faithful teacher,
a wise administrator, and a holy priest.
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. Amen.
(Sacramentary, “Mass for the Bishop”)

Sunday the Sixteenth

Antiphon: “God Himself is my help. The Lord upholds my life. I will offer You a willing sacrifice; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for its goodness (Psalm 53:6, 8).”

Gospel excerpt: “Jesus proposed another parable (παραβολὴν, parabolen) to the crowds, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field... (Matthew 13:24)””

Last week, the sower went forth and that work yielded a variety of results. This Sunday, an enemy sowed weeds all through the wheat and the results were expected. Additionally we hear about mustard seed and yeast. Next Sunday, we go on on excursions to dig for treasure and cast nets on the Sea of Galilee. Common among all these and other similar texts is that they are parables. Next to the healing narratives, Jesus' parables are among the best known Gospel texts. Even people not familiar with the Gospels have heard of the Good Samaritan.

As popular as parables are, describing them is a bit more challenging. Many define a parable as 'just a story to teach a lesson or impart a moral teaching.' Not a bad description, except for the 'just a story' part. No matter how technical a description may get, it is vital to know that in the end, how the parable forms our living is crucial. On the other hand, 'just a story' is a phrase that is helpful to omit when approaching the sacred text. Current Western culture translates 'just a story' into a tale that is fabricated or made-up. Some go so far as to say that if the 'stories' in Scripture are 'made up,' I can 'make up' my own stories. Worse still, 'just a story' - in suggesting 'made up' - challenges the very credibility and foundation of Sacred Scripture for Christian living. (See last week's entry on the literal and spiritual senses of Sacred Scripture.)

Those who have studied the parables may be familiar with scholars such as Dodd, Jeremias and Beech to name only a few very quickly. In the world of Dodd, parables have been described more or less as 'similes or metaphors drawn from day-to-day living that arrest the listener by their vividness or strangeness thus teasing the mind and heart into active reflection concerning parable's insight to living the Kingdom of God.' While not a direct quote from Dodd (over the years I have made some humble additions), the elements of metaphor, strangeness and teasing that Dodd cites are operative in all the parables, albeit in varying degrees. Dodd and company have opened the horizons of our minds and hearts to experience a richness when it comes to living the Kingdom of God.

A number of years ago, I was intrigued by a number of "bolein" verbs in Scripture and theology. "Bolein" is the Greek verb that means to throw. It forms the basis for a number of important words in theology such as symbol, diabolic and yes, parable. Depending on the nouns referenced, the Greek prefix para can mean "with" or "besides." "Para" coupled with the Greek verb "bolein" yields an awkward literal English rendering "throw with" or "throw besides." So how does this shed light on Gospel parables? Professor C Clifton Black authored an article a number of years back in the biblical journal, Interpretation. Professor Black notes another literal meaning of parable from the Greek, "thrown alongside." He goes on to present that this "thrown alongside" that characterizes Jesus' parables is a collision between the world and the Kingdom Word pronounced by Jesus. It is not a collision in the sense of an 'us-against-them,' but a world that is still 'being created' daily to mirror the beauty and glory of the Creator. "When everyday reality is pierced by divine revelation," says Black, "a parabole has happened; a parable has been uttered." A parable, while technically a noun, is essentially an action: the action of the Creator's ongoing work of creation. Professor Black contends that the parable "is nothing less than a life-giving encounter between human hunger and Godly nurturance."

Alternative Opening Prayer:
Father,
let the Gift of Your life
continue to grow in us,
drawing us from death to faith, hope and love.
Keep us alive in Christ Jesus.
Keep us watchful in prayer
and true to His teaching
till Your glory is revealed in us.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Sunday the Fifteenth

Antiphon: “In my justice I shall see Your face, O Lord; when Your glory appears, my joy will be full (Psalm 16:15).”

Gospel excerpt: “On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow (σπείρειν, speirein). (Matthew 13:1-3)””

From my office at the university, I look out on modest suburban farm. Early in the morning, a variety of John Deere equipment travels back and forth, up and down preparing the ground for various seeds to produce a cornucopia of tasty fall vegetables. In contrast to this large-scale scene, I visited a friend a few months ago who said to meet her in the backyard. When I arrived, I saw her in the garden with 2 tape measures, 3 rulers, an old tray used to count-out prescription drugs along with a small shovel and bucket of water. I understood the shovel and water for planting, but ‘what is this other stuff?’ I asked her. "Oh, the 1 ruler is set for the diameter of the hole, the other is for the depth of the hole, the other for the spacing to the next hole, the tape measure for the length of the row and the other measure for space between rows. The tray is to count the right number of seeds for each hole.” I needed a nap just listening to the preparatory and measuring work and so I asked her, why not plant the seeds like the sower did in the Gospels? Her look said volumes.

It is difficult to choose a particular theme or word from the abbundanza given to us this week. The effectiveness of God's Word (Isaiah), the profound hope freely offered to us (Saint Paul), mystery, parable and Kingdom of Heaven (Gospel) are all necessary aspects of the journey that must be pondered. Seeing the efficiency of modern-day farming techniques (definitely, a good thing) and the ‘meticulousness’ or ‘exactitude’ (I can think of a few other words, but I will be charitable) of my friend in planting her garden, I wondered about the ‘sower who went forth to sow.’ The Gospel text says nothing about efficiency nor proper measurement of the holes; not to mention the number of seeds in each hole. In fact, the Greek verb σπείρειν (speirein) often meant “sowing seed by scattering it over the ground.” While this approach to farming is more my style, it does raise a concern about being haphazard. After all, seeds do cost money and one certainly wants to be a good steward of resources. If you know that seed will not grow in a particular area, it seems to make sense not to waste the precious resource.

Many centrist Scripture scholars note that the use of σπείρειν is used allegorically in the Gospels. This does not mean that we omit the literal sense and usage of σπείρειν. The literal sense (in this case, “to sow,” “to sow by scattering over the ground”) is and must always be our starting point with any episode recorded in Sacred Scripture. With the literal sense of Scripture as the starting point, we also hold that Scripture has a richer meaning, a meaning beyond the literal that does not contradict the literal. These are the moral, allegoric and anagogic Spiritual senses of Sacred Scripture (the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a quick summary of these Senses). While much can be said about each of these Spiritual Senses, we will take a look at the allegorical use of “seed” because it is the way Jesus Himself teaches the disciples the meaning of the parable.

The Greek root of the word “allegory” means “to speak (or express, obtain) another.” In other words, an allegory points to another person, place or thing. For Jesus, the seed is the “word of the Kingdom.” It is in this sense that the seed (“word of the Kingdom”) must be scattered liberally, without any limiting decision on the part of the person spreading the word. It is not within a person's, minister's or the Church's purview to decide who gets to hear the Word of God. No doubt anyone in ministry knows this to be intellectually true. Yet in the daily living of life, we make all sorts of decisions about other people based on what we think they can handle or accomplish. In essence, we decide for another. The Sower, Jesus Himself, demands that the gifts given be given freely to others with His eyes, not our eyes of efficiency or exactitude.

Alternative Opening Prayer:
Father,
let the light of Your truth
guide us to Your Kingdom
through a world filled with lights
contrary to Your own.
Christian is the Name and the Gospel
we glory in.
May Your love make us what You have
call us to be.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Sunday the Fourteenth

Antiphon: “Within Your Temple, we ponder Your loving kindness, O God. As Your Name, so also Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is filled with justice (Psalm 47:10-11).”

Gospel excerpt: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (ζυγόν μου) upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke (ζυγός μου) is easy, and my burden light (Matthew 11:29-30).”

In an undergraduate Gospel course, a student posed a question after reading these verses: “What do eggs have to do with Jesus?” The question initially caught me off guard until I realized the student’s reading of and connection with yolk as opposed to yoke (ζυγός, zugos).

I certainly could not fault the student. After all, how many times had she seen a yoked ox grazing in a Northeast Philadelphia backyard? For a good number of people, such a sight is confined to a zoo or a farm many miles from home. Yet in many parts of Africa, Central and South America as well as Asia, a yoked animal is the way to till the earth in preparation for sowing seed. (After telling this story to a colleague and her knowing my fondness for airplanes, she said I’m surprised you didn’t think of yoke in terms of a control lever for an aircraft.)

This does raise some interesting questions about the use of Sacred Scripture in our time. Some of the images used by Jesus, Saint Paul, and the Prophets – to name only a few – are images that reflect the historical context of their time. While some might want to quickly re-write the Sacred Text in the name of the cultural god of relevancy, we in our day accept the Text as both sacred (in Hebrew qadosh or qedesh meaning “different” or “set apart”) and inspired (from the Greek meaning God-breathed). Our task is to receive the Sacred Word with humility and gratitude. Then in the light and grace of the Holy Spirit, the work of sacred study leads us to the intention of the original author. With insights gleaned from this work, we are better able to appreciate the original image, make proper connections with the present and rejoice in the gift of God’s Word.

So what can we make of yoke in this Sunday’s proclamation? Jesus’ audience would certainly have had questions for him because a yoke is anything but easy. Particularly in poor areas of the world and no doubt in the world of Jesus, a yoke is a bulky, clumsy looking device that appears to be quite uncomfortable if not a somewhat torturous device. Then there is the task of putting this on an animal that weighs anywhere between 1 and 2 tons! Remarkably, the animal ‘accepts’ this device with little fuss for the most part and then permits some human to use the device to guide the its movement, particularly when it comes to plowing the field.

Jesus commands His followers to take His yoke (yes, He does command. The verb take is imperative). The difficulty is that since we are, for the most part, smarter than oxen, we tend to weigh the pro’s and con’s of other putting anything on us that will direct our lives. We enjoy our independence, even if it gets us in trouble because we follow our own selfish drives. The irony of Jesus’ teaching is that even on a weekend that celebrates American independence, He is asking that we freely choose to surrender our independence to Him (the highest exercise of freedom). He promises that dependence upon Him for the direction of our lives will always yield a burden that is manageable throughout life’s journey.

Opening Prayer:
Father,
through the obedience of Jesus,
Your Servant and Your Son,
You raised a fallen world.
Free us from sin
and bring us the joy that lasts for ever.
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. Amen.