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Daily Scripture

+ 20th Week in Ordinary Time

I’ll do it myself.

Readings: Ezekiel 34:1-11 Psalm 23:1-6 Matthew 20:1-16

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep, I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths. [Ezekiel 34:10]

There is much talk about a vocation shortage—fewer young men entering the seminary and fewer still persevering to ordination. Not withstanding some notable exceptions this has resulted in the lowering of standards for ordination. Moreover, priests and candidates for the priesthood are being ‘imported’ from other countries whose needs are as urgent as ours.

The prevailing accent seems to be on the need to have a sufficient number of priests to ‘say Mass’ and provide for the sacramental needs of the faithful. But surely in the light of the Second Vatican Council, priests need to be more than presiders at Mass and providers of the sacraments, as important as are these roles.

The earliest experience of the Church can be instructive in this regard. The notion of presbyter provided the early church with presiders for worship and leaders for base communities. Celibacy was not an issue and there was no clerical caste. The gifts of the faithful were recognized in such a manner that men and women, married and single fulfilled the spiritual needs of the community including the sacramental needs.

Notwithstanding the inadequacy of the notion of shepherding people (sheeple?) the need remains for qualified men and women to minister to the needs of the community.

Ezekiel warned the priests and assured the people of Israel that God would find away to pasture his people.

Ezekiel’s words need to be taken to heart again and in fact we already see that God is indeed providing a way through the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women, married and single, who are tending to the needs of the faithful.

Rededication of Assumption Church

Saturday September 22, 2007

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Servandi

[1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30 Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 1 Ephesians 2:19-22 Matthew 5:23-24]

The Dictionary of the Bible describes a temple as piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god. The temple was viewed as an architectural structure that separated the building from common everyday activities. “House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth.” [Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, edited by David Noel Freedman, Grand Rapids Michigan, 2000]

Two most important features of ancient temples were the mountain on which it was constructed and heaven toward which the building soared.

In virtually all cultures temples were either the architectural representation of the primordial ground of a world mountain or some combination of the two. The mountain and the temple were inseparable. [Ibid.]

Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Elijah encountered God on Mount Carmel. And there are many other ‘mountain top’ experiences in which God communicated to significant biblical figures, e.g., it was on Mt Moriah that Abraham encountered God when he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

The mountain, a powerful earthly center and point of contact with the heavens became a gathering place for the celebration of seasonal rituals and for renewal ceremonies at the New Year.

We still hear people serious about their spiritual journey say that they are going up to the mountain to commune with God. If you climb to a very high place in the Rockies or the Alps, you know that the silence can be deafening and there is a sense of the sacred and that you are standing on holy ground. It’s an awesome experience.

Incidentally, the biblical word for ‘fear’ is rightly translated as ‘awe’ rather than to be afraid.

The Temple is where God and humanity meet for a divine exchange—one that clarifies for humanity its call to participate in the Divine plan for the salvation of the world. It is the place where the greatest of our ancestors became aware of their call to partner with God in the work of creation and salvation.

With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish worship moved into synagogues that became centers for divine encounters, worship and instruction.

The earliest form of Christian worship was celebrated in ‘house churches’ in the homes of prominent Christians who opened their homes for the celebration of the Eucharist. But with the Edict of Constantine and the increase in the number of believers, Christians moved into the basileia which were in effect the town meeting places. The word ‘basilica’ comes from the Greek word ‘basileia.’

The basilica became the public place where the Divine Liturgy was celebrated—the original meaning of the word liturgy is akin to the Latin word, ‘opus’ or the work of the people – worship of God and the service of humanity through works of justice and charity.

There is an ancient axiom or expression that evolved within Christianity: “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi,” literally translated as the ‘rule of praying is the rule of believing. In other words, the rule of prayer or worship gives evidence of what the assembly of worshippers believes as the people of God. The place of worship or what we now call ‘church’ speaks loudly about what we believe as a faith community.

We are a Sacramental Church with Baptism and Eucharist as the primordial sacrament. They make us who we are as Christians. This is why we paused at the new baptismal font now located midway down the center aisle of the Church during the entrance rite this morning. We enter the community of faith through our baptism into the priesthood of Christ.

Then we processed to the Eucharist table that is the most prominent appointment in the Church. It was interesting that as we processed into the nave of the church, the sun was shining directly on the Eucharist table—it is the focal point of our gathering and the ambo, the ‘table’ where God’s word is proclaimed is located prominently near to the Eucharist table at the same height.

The Liturgy is the work of making something beautiful for God through ritual signs and symbols that nurture faith and inspire our response to God and lead to Christian Service beyond he walls of the Church.

When discussing the wedding ceremony with engaged couples, I usually ask them what they would like to hear their guests say as they leave the Church after the ceremony has concluded. With a bit of prodding from me, they say such things as, “it was uplifting; we felt included and that we were full participants in the wedding ceremony and recommitted to live our vows; it was joyful but reverent; it was relaxing but not casual.” In other words, the liturgy did not conclude with the ceremony but continued in their engagement with the world as they left the Church. This is what we hope will take place every time we gather for worship, especially on Sunday, the Day of the Lord.

You will notice that the tabernacle has been relocated to the apse of the sanctuary. There has been much discussion among liturgists about the proper location of the tabernacle. The official liturgical instructions suggest that it be located in a prominent place, preferably in a chapel where it can easily be found upon entering the church.

In the early Church, the tabernacle was a small container where the Eucharist bread left over from the Eucharistic celebration was reserved so that it may be taken to the sick by the deacons or deaconesses of the house communities to the sick. Later when the Christian liturgy went public, as it were, the Eucharist was reserved in a side chapel as it still is today in many if not most Churches in Rome.

The point is that the church is the principle gathering space for the celebration of the Eucharist during which we become the bread that we break, and the blood that we drink poured out for the salvation of the world. We are the ‘body of Christ.’

The tabernacle remains the place of reservation for the Eucharist for private prayer and meditation but also as a reminder that we are the extension of Christ in the world, temples of the Holy Spirit, nourished by the bread that makes us one.

You are strangers and aliens no longer. You are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God. You form a building that rises on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ himself as the foundation stone. Through him the whole structure is fitted together and takes shape as a holy temple in the Lord; in him you are being built into this temple, to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. [Ephesians 2:19-22]

Therefore, celebrate what you believe, live what you celebrate.