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Daily Scripture

+ 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

Keep hope alive!

Readings: Revelation 5:1-10 Psalm 149:1-6, 9 Luke 19:41-44

_As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “if this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.” [Luke 19:41]

In Christian liturgy and literature, he Church has often been referred to as “the new Jerusalem” and heaven as “the new and eternal Jerusalem.” I think it’s a good simile. If you have ever been to the old section of Jerusalem, you surely would have noted the appropriateness of this comparison. Ancient Jerusalem is still very much in evidence if not literally, surely in its ambiance. A walk from the site of the ancient praetorium to Calvary – now well within the city limits – will surely give you a sense of what it may have been like when Jesus made that last fateful journey.

Today Jerusalem is truly an international city and bears within its womb and walls, the extremes of every race and religion. Jews still narrate the story of the great exodus and Christians break the bread of Eucharist while Islamic temples broadcast their ancient chants from minarets that echo through the streets in the wee hours of the morning.

This is the city over which Jesus wept not because it did not make him king but because it did not recognize its day of visitation, that is to say, its moment of opportunity. In reading a passage such as this, we need to put away preconceived notions about our understanding of Jesus’ messianic role in the light of its Christological evolution in Christian teaching today. Jesus was not about establishing new religious structures but about announcing the universality of God’s love – for Jews and gentiles, male and female, of every race and nation.

Would it be accurate to state that Jesus is weeping not just over Jerusalem but over our war torn world? And yet one cannot fail to see signs of hope on the horizon. Bernard Lonergan, Carol Rahner and Carl Jung support this very Christian notion that it is in our moments of deepest despair that a new wisdom emerges leading to a common vision of a new world in which love and respect overcome evil and injustice. Is it possible that in the midst of the turmoil in which our world seems enmeshed people of good can bring that vision to reality not through confrontation but through collaboration?

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Friday August 31, 2007

Here comes everybody!

Public transportation provides many opportunities to meet the world at its best and worst. From time to time I take the midtown direct into Penn Station. It’s an easy trip if you know where you are going but I don’t understand why they keep changing the location of the tracks from one side of the station to the other. Of course it’s all in my imagination. My sense of direction is not what it used to be. However, the real fascination of public transportation is the incredible variety of people one encounters from every corner of the globe. Notwithstanding the talk of terrorism and illegal aliens, it’s really hard to tell who’s who and for sure, the complexion of the population is changing rapidly. Moreover, it’s also impossible to know who has a hole in his socks and who doesn’t. In other words, language and color of skin do not determine who qualifies for the dominion of God or who gets into the heavenly banquet.

God’s view of the world is broader than the human mind can grasp and Christ’s love knows no limits. The Vatican Council was not so much about setting limits as it was about breaking down walls of division and building bridges of understanding among Christian churches, other religious traditions and even among nations.

The readings this weekend challenge us to focus on the wisdom that comes from God. This is the wisdom that provokes debate but which also draws nations together and challenges religious and political leaders to tear down walls of misinformation and misunderstanding and to build bridges of trust. Although this vision was addressed by Isaiah to the Jews returning from Babylon it can also be addressed to us in the new world, inviting us to open up the boarders or our minds and our hearts to the alienated and disenfranchised poor without jeopardizing our safety or legitimate homeland defenses. But the text also challenges us to break down barriers within our Church, barriers that keep people away from full communion at our table. “They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules… to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord.” There are many ways to be “Catholic and still remain faithful to the our tradition.

But there is a paradox to inclusion and it is expressed in the exclusivity of those who choose to catch the rhythm of the divine — the rhythm of God’s spirit. There is a discipline connected with the search for God and a discipline associated with the pursuit of doing things God’s way especially in the face of criticism and even persecution. That’s what the author of Hebrews was addressing in his letter to the early Christians whose spiritual health was endangered by their discouragement in their struggle to live as Jesus taught them to live.

The message of Jesus was inclusivity but the true disciple had to make a singular (exclusive) commitment to live this inclusivity with bias toward none. By the way, it is interesting that the word “discipline” is connected with the word “disciple”. The life of a disciple is truly a life of the discipline of learning from the master.

Most scholars agree that the narrow door mentioned in Luke is Jesus who is himself the way to life, the way to God and the way to salvation. Of course, this assumes that we enjoy more than a passing relationship with him. St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that we need to live ‘in Christ’, i.e., to put on the new person, Jesus Christ, so that we can say, “I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me.” This exclusive commitment does not exclude the recognition that salvation is available to all nor does it mean that others cannot be saved except through Christ. It means that those who accept Christ, must also accept his disposition of unconditional love for all. Jesus is an historical figure but for those who call themselves his disciples, Jesus is the ‘Christ’, the great paradigm, the universal symbol of what life can look like when we catch the ‘rhythm’ of God’s life on earth. That’s ultimately what it means to be saved.

So as Christians, we accept the fact that God’s love is universal and therefore extends to every race and nation — indiscriminately. Divine love knows no boundaries and is manifested in varying degrees through other priests and prophets and figures who throughout the centuries have given testimony of and witness to divine holiness, compassion, and unconditional love.

In the words of Pat Sanchez, biblical scholar, “ There are no reserved tables at the eternal feast, nor are there place cards designating positions of honor. Admission will not be gained based on anyone’s ethnic background, religious heritage or nationality. While the door may be narrow, it remains open to all who humbly welcome salvation as a gift and who love and are loved by God in Christ.”