Apocalypse Eventually

First, a commercial for a brother priest in the blogosphere, "A Concord Pastor Comments." Fr. Austin Fleming offers daily prayers in print and audio. This link takes you to today's post, a prayer for the victims of the Philippines' Typhoon Haiyan. This link enables you to make a donation toward the efforts of Catholic Relief Services.

Second, a reflection on today's readings: selections from the "apocalyptic" genre. The sacred writers of apocalyptic works (e.g. later prophets, Revelation) used startling imagery and strange expressions to give hope to persecuted people. One commentator, Jesuit Father Jim Harbaugh, considers apocalyptic a strong pain-relieving medication for the soul. If you take too much of this medicine, especially when you're not in such grave pain, you can start to "need" it when you really don't--feel like you're being persecuted when you really aren't.

Consider the excitement over various apparitions, locutions, etc. Pope Francis had something to say just the other day about this craze. Now, we clearly affirm the numerous apparitions that have gained ecclesiastical recognition. Most apparitions contain nothing contradictory to the Faith, and indeed emphasize the "basics" of repentance and prayer, the unique role of Our Lady in the divine plan; but the Scriptures, Catechism, and Liturgy have all the revelation I need. Knowing my personality, I could easily get caught up in extraordinary iterations; the ordinary does enough to me.

The prophet Malachi foretold the coming of the "Day of the Lord" in terms of an all-consuming fire that would reduce sinners to stubble but reflect well on the righteous. Jesus sternly warned about the destruction of the Temple and related upheavals on the national and family levels. Read such Scriptures out of context, add your own anxieties and fears, and you have a prescription for madness.

The key to understanding the first reading and Gospel often can be found in the second reading. Today, Paul addresses the Thessalonians, many of whom were caught up in the possibility that Jesus should return soon. In the face of rampant persecution by the Empire, the Second Coming was a welcome prospect! Unfortunately these people also prematurely withdrew from daily concerns, contributing nothing but grief to the larger community.

Addicts, self-centered people--to some extent, all of us--share the traits of "apocalypse junkies": a penchant for excitement ("drama"); preoccupation with our feelings, especially those we label "bad";  a desire to medicate (with food, alcohol, pornography, spending, even prayer at the expense of tangible needs!).  If everything is just "going to hell in a hand basket," why bother caring?

Instead of losing patience with how slowly events unfold and people change in this world, St. Paul suggests quiet and steadfast work: efforts of daily prayer and service, fidelity to worship and obedience to the Lord's commands. With a return to responsibilities, curiosities fade away.

Perhaps the clever insight of a modern humorist, (+)George Carlin, can illustrate the point: "Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that..."

Of course, we don't necessarily have to be employed; we just have to get out of ourselves. A friendly phone call, e-mail, or visit--or any spiritual or corporal work of mercy--is a great restorative that heals us as much as its intended recipient!

As with potato chips, one doesn't tend to suffice: hence Jesus' prescription for "perseverance" (Lk 21:19). One "I love you" doesn't count for the duration of a marriage, unless you want it to have Kardashian longevity. One workout doesn't render you physically fit. One prayer does not maintain communication with God until our last breath--unless, of course, we happen to be praying at our last breath.

It's one of many crazy paradoxes in our holy faith. We have to take it seriously, but take it easy.

Persons, Persistent and Persecuted

As a "verbivore," I devour words. In this respect I am not unlike the prophet Jeremiah, who said:

"When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name, Lord God of hosts" (15:16)

Nom

Scanning the Scripture readings from this past Sunday, I noticed two words: persistence and persecution. They share the prefix per, which means “through” or “thorough.” The base words are sistere, “to stand,” and sequi, “to follow.” As far as I know, they do not exist by themselves; that is to say, we don’t just “sist” or “secute.” Why stand, if you don’t stand firm, and why follow, if you don’t follow all the way, or follow through? 

Another meaning of sequi is "to pursue," which intensifies the action of following. In the famous 23rd psalm, the line "Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life" could also be rendered, "Only goodness and kindness pursue me." Uh oh--look out for goodness--it's on your tail!" It reminds me of a quote from the author J. D. Salinger: "I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy."

But that’s not how a great many of us look at this life. “When’s the next shoe gonna drop?” “I can’t handle this!” “Won’t these people just leave me alone?” “It’s so hard to shake this bad habit.” And where is God in it all? Life oftentimes feels like a persecution.

There are parts of the world where Catholics and other followers of Christ are still being persecuted to the shedding of their blood; but the more prevalent form of persecution consists in pesky temptations and thoughts of how awful we’re doing, of how much better off he has it, how much holier she is. If persecutions are persistent, we must be, too.

Such is the example of the Gospel widow who obtains a favorable judgment, and of Moses who secures the Israelites’ victory over Amalek in the first reading. We must be careful not to treat prayer as a tool for getting God to smooth out our lives and give us what we want, even when we are kind enough to pray for other people’s needs. The importance of these passages, and therefore the importance of prayer, lies not in the outcome but in the attitude; and not even so much in the attitude as in the Power Source.

With every technological advance in the world we have not witnessed the end of disease or mishap. We have not been able to pray sin out of existence. Our own lives can testify to these facts, both in terms of what we have done and what we have experienced.

The life of faith urges us not to abandon the efforts of prayer and service, because every prayerful word and work is an investment in a personal relationship. More than an exercise in interpersonal communication, our prayer may rather resemble a visit to a vending machine. You don’t enter into a relationship with a vending machine! 

Well, maybe this vending machine.

Person: a third "per" word, added this time onto sonare, "to sound." In olden theatre, actors wore masks, through which they expressed ("sounded") the characters they played. Persons know and are known, love and are loved—and the Holy Trinity is a communion of Persons who have chosen to share their life and love with the human race. By entering freely and consciously into prayer, it’s as if we are “charging and syncing our device” with the mind, heart, and will of our God. This results in a deepening of our personhood (understanding and freedom), in a greater sense of our value in our Father’s world and in the lives of others.

Like Moses, we must remember that we do not and cannot pray alone. In the Church’s communal prayer and personal prayer, we are united with the saints and angels in heaven. We are united with the Sacred Scriptures and the Holy Sacraments. Aaron and Hur were there to lift up their persistent leader’s weary arms. For our part, we ought never be ashamed to seek help from others. We ought never be ashamed to need help; whether we want to need it or not, we do, so why fight it? And if we need it, then it stands to reason that others do, as well, and through our openness to God’s power we may find ourselves in the position to offer that help. What a blessing!

Love Letters, Straight from the Heart (of the Church)

The Scriptures of the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) speak today about the resolution and fidelity needed to follow God’s will; they also hint at the interior freedom that one gains from the commitment of discipleship. Providentially these readings arrive in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision with regard to permitting same-sex marriage. For now, individual states will be free to redefine marriage if they wish. (One by one, I suspect, they will.)

I am not speaking about these things, as it were, “on the defensive.” It's always worthwhile to review and reaffirm the Church’s splendid, comprehensive vision of marriage and family life. Yes, we have to include the particular choices that the vision forbids; but most of all, we present the great dignity that the vision affirms even as it challenges us and challenges the culture. If I were to become a “one-trick pony” in the pulpit or on this blog, the Church’s marriage and family teachings might be the trick to pick; after all, most people are called to marriage and parenthood. But even these teachings appear  brightest and best against the backdrop of the entire Catholic Faith.

Speaking of which, I received a letter the other day. It wasn’t a personal letter; it was an online article addressed “to our priests and bishops.” Emily Stimpson, a freelance Catholic writer, was treating the subject of “What Catholics Need Now.” In light of the Supreme Court decision, as well as other present-day maladies and deficits, Stimpson asked priests and bishops to “step up [our] game” in presenting the authentic Catholic faith in preaching, governance, architecture, and music, so as to mobilize the Catholic faithful to appreciate and use their voice in the public square. Priests must lead their people in these times of persecution, by modeling and encouraging steadfast truth and steadfast love.

Stimpson isn’t the only writer or speaker to have done this. In a comment to her letter, another Catholic writer referenced an article he had written last September, which I had read and upon which I had commented. These two writers take on different tones and make different suggestions, but they (and others of their ilk) share several characteristics: 

• Love for the Lord and His Church
• A desire for truth, justice, and charity to prevail
• Great and justifiable concern with the present state of affairs; and
• Appreciation for the role of the clergy in addressing the Catholic faithful on contemporary matters

They are not unlike the prophets of the Old Testament. Some of them may even resemble James and John, the “Sons of Thunder” in the Gospel, who’d have liked to call down fire from heaven on the people who aren’t in our camp.

Jesus rejects that proposition, but in so doing He does not reject His prophetic role; instead, He bids the disciples to move on to another village. That is to say, they must continue their mission; and so must we. The Catholic Church has always maintained the same teachings without regard for the shifting sands of the culture, yet it is fair to say that the past fifty years have witnessed the diminution of the Catholic voice (both from Catholic laypeople and from your clergy). The fear of persecution cannot inhibit us Catholics from saying and doing what we believe. Now, you may say, “What if we don’t all agree on what we believe?” You know, we Catholics! Yes...well, not even Jesus would make people agree with Him, but it didn’t stop Him from speaking, heedless of the cost.

The Church’s teachings on marriage and family have been impugned at every level of government and in every corner of society. We can boil them down to the word "chastity." We are considered ridiculous for mentioning that very word, let alone for commencing to explain and encourage it. 

But here goes: 

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and spiritual world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman” (CCC 2337).

Outside of marriage, the “complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman,” sexual activity results in disintegration—breakdown: the breakdown of the individual and, in time, the breakdown of the culture. Do you notice anything like that going on?

When it comes to our lust (not to mention our pride, anger, envy, gluttony, avarice, or sloth), it is not easy to subject our tumultuous emotions to the higher powers of reason and will, enlightened by faith and sustained by God’s grace. But we must, if we want to be free—even if it takes a lifetime.

It's what we were made for, said St. Paul today to the Galatians: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (5:1).

Whatever your opinion on the Paula Deen situation, anyone can recognize how the condemnation of racial slurs sheds light on the meaning of words and the meaning of the human person. The past of slavery will never be forgotten, nor should it be. But the human race also ought to experience outrage at our continued slavery to sin in its many forms. It should move us all to greater prayer and vigilance, lest we keep grabbing for the shackles. 

Saint Paul reminds us of the great commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). But we do not really love ourselves, do we? Do we even know what that really means…what it could mean? 

Lord—here and everywhere, teach us what it means!

Learning Japanese

Readings for Wednesday, 4th Week in OT, Year I

On this day the Church commemorates Japanese martyrs Paul Miki and his companions.  These people certainly did "resist to the point of shedding blood" (Heb 12:4, a carryover from yesterday's first reading).  Despite all the resistance that Catholics and Catholic teaching are receiving from the government, we still enjoy, for now, a comfortable Catholic life.  The inspired author of Hebrews envisions a day when discipline will come in handy, when holiness will be welcomed and craved even as so many are turning aside from the Way.

This day hasn't arrived for everyone, and may never arrive for many, because they fear to live so boldly that their own neighborhoods and family members might raise their eyebrows.  Perhaps there is some practice that can disturb sensibilities: grace before meals in public?  If blood-red embarrassment emblushes the cheek at such a thought ("Grace?  Is that all we're capable of?  What martyrs we'd be!")--

--Yes!  And no less worthy of the honors of the altar-sainthood! for "God treats you as His sons"- that is to say, as persons capable of, indeed worthy of, discipline. Faithfully undertaken, The practice of publicly honoring the Creator is a discipline that will turn heads and turn lives.