• Bulletin Board, Announcements, Calendar
• Editorial - Op Ed
• Welcome and Website Protocol
• Article Archive

Print this page

Article Categories

• Book Reviews
• Open Letter
• Editorials
• Notes, Quotes & Comments
• Pastor's Study
• Project Millstones
• Sidebar Comments
• Weekly Message

Links

Liturgy
This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

COMMONWEAL Magazine
A 'lay' Catholic weekly publication with an accent on an intelligent analysis and commentary on curent issues, trends and concerns of interest to Catholics.

National Catholic Reporter
A national Catholic lay newspaper covering events not usually covered or presented with a clerical bias in the local diocesan press or but of concern and interest to Catholics.

Survivos' Network for those Abused by Priests or Religious
A National Network of self-help support groups for people abused by clergy or religious.

Bishop Accountability
Vital information about the disclosure of sexual abuse and related issues affecting Catholics in the pew and the manner in which Bishops continue to exempt themselves from accountability

Voice of the Faithful
A 'movement' of lay Catholics 'inspired' by the abuse scandal calling for greater accountability of bishops to 'Catholics in the Pew.'

Search

Daily Scripture

In You, O Lord, Justice and Mercy Meet

Today’s gospel reading triggered off in my memory the number of times I have jumped the gun by passing judgment on someone before knowing all the facts — the soft data as well as the hard data. It’s clear to me now that prejudice and bias covered up by pride have a great deal to do with this jump; our comrades can do no wrong; our foes can do no right! Of course, it’s easy to meet out mercy to those we like and easier to meet out justice to those we don’t like.

The words of Isaiah introduce the theme of mercy and pave the way for the encounter of Jesus with the adulterous woman recorded in the gospel of John. The people of Israel had prostituted themselves if not in truth, at least metaphorically. God had espoused himself to them, for better or worse for richer or poorer forever. It was an irrevocable covenant that remains to this day. The people of Israel to whom Isaiah addressed these words abandoned their God and aligned themselves with foreign powers for political and economic gain. In effect, they entered an adulterous alliance and were literally carried away to a foreign land by their greed and lust for power.

In the name of their God, a disciple of Isaiah writing in his name and style reminds them of the great exodus when God led the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea into the Land of Canaan, the land they called home for centuries. In words similar to these, the prophet declares, “You think that was great? Forget about it; you ain’t seen noth’in yet! I’m about to do something even more spectacular. I’ll pave a way through the wilderness and bring you home again. I will forgive your unfaithfulness and forget your affair. Your misery will meet mercy and you will be saved.”

It has been said that pride is the worst of all sins because it distorts the truth of who we are. In fact, pride is a lie. But more than this it is a distortion of who God is. Recall that the sin of Adam and Eve was not that they wanted to be like God but that they did not recognize that they were already like God — made in God’s image and likeness.

There was another encounter taking place in John’s story beyond that of the meeting between Jesus and the woman. It was between Jesus and the woman’s accusers. In was in this encounter that justice was enjoined to the ‘trial’. “Let the one who is without sin be the first to cast the stone!” Their pride blinded them to their own sins. Jesus exposed their hypocrisy as his mercy engulfed the sinful woman.

Was he being soft on sin? Hardly. “Go now”, he said to the woman “and avoid this sin.” Might we not rightly assume that this initiative of mercy effected a dramatic change in her life? God’s saving grace was fully manifested in Jesus. Oddly enough, the same mercy resulted in the hardening of her accusers. They drifted away one by one from the eldest to the youngest but they sought another opportunity to trick him into mercy mending.

John’s story about the woman caught in the act of adultery revealed the depth to which Jesus extended himself to the sinner. “In you, O Lord, justice and mercy meet! [Psalm 85] or in the words of St. Augustine, “Misery meets mercy” in the person of Jesus.

Lent is about opening ourselves up to the saving grace of God but repentance is not something we do. It is allowing the forgiving power of God to touch our life, indeed, to engulf us and point us in a new direction. It’s about God empowering us to goodness and about our initiating a new pattern of life.

Lent is also about dropping stones and the acceptance of the humanity of others, despite their sins and failures. It is about entrusting others and ourselves to the tender mercy of God. More than that, it is about allowing ourselves to become conduits of God’s mercy and saving grace—helping others to find their way out of the wilderness of failure, sin and rejection.

“To err is human; to forgive is divine.”

At the same time, to forgive is not so much an act of the will as a disposition of the heart and in many situations, the conclusion of a very long process. We dare not be presumptuous or simplistic about it.

Forgiveness does not absolve the sinner from taking responsibility for the sin or from its consequences. Thus the mantra, “There is no forgiveness without justice, no justice without truth, no truth without full accountability.”

Here is the story that a rabbi colleague shared with me many years ago. A man went into the temple for the observance of Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish observance of atonement. As he entered the Temple, he noticed all his sins were listed on the board at the entrance. He tried to erase them but he was unable to do so. Then he went inside to participate in the penitential service. As he left the temple, he attempted once more to erase his sins but again was unable to do so. He departed and set about making amends for his sins and then returned to the temple. Lo and behold, his sins had disappeared.

This story is akin to the teaching of Jesus, “When you are bringing your gift to the altar and recall that your brother or sister has something against you, go first to be reconciled and then return with your gift.”

The Scriptures set the tone not only for our Lenten journey but also for our life long journey. Our destiny is not Jerusalem the earthly city but Jerusalem the heavenly city. Mercy is our mission but we must first pass through the gateway of justice and truth. In you O Lord, justice and mercy meet and when they do, reconciliation is complete.

Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran

Sunday November 9, 2008

All Are Welcome!

The opening hymn for all meetings of VOTF – Voice of the Faithful is “All Are Welcome.” It may be found in the World Library Hymnal, ‘We Celebrate,’ at number 870. It’s a thoughtful and thought-provoking hymn and opens with the words, “Let us build a house where love can dwell … ” and goes on to extol God’s all embracing love for humanity without condition or reservation.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Rome. The original church was constructed in the fourth century on a parcel of land adjacent to the Laterani palace which at some point had come into the hands of Constantine. The land for the Church was donated by Constantine’s wife, Fausta. The basilica was originally named as the Church of the Savior. Its official name today is “The Patriarchal Basilica of the Most Holy Savior and St. John the Baptist at the Lateran” and is considered to be the world’s oldest standing Christian basilica and the mother church of all the churches in Catholic Christendom.

Known more for its historic rather than aesthetic value, the basilica was the setting for four major church councils between the fourth and thirteenth centuries.

The palace of St. John Lateran was used as the pope’s residence from the dedication of the basilica until the transfer of the papacy to Avignon in 1370. The basilica is still the ‘Pope’s church.’ Elected as the Bishop of Rome, he becomes pope and head of the college of bishops and shepherd of the universal Church. He is the center of unity for the Church. However, only on rare occasions is the basilica used for papal ceremonies. I was a student in Rome when JFK was assassinated and stood near the apse of the basilica during a special memorial Mass concelebrated by the American cardinals at the basilica two days later.

We celebrate this feast annually but only every six years or so does the feast occur on a Sunday. We do so as a reminder that we celebrate the presence of Christ in every church, as a particular group of believers with our own needs and concerns but always in communion with the universal Church.

The readings selected for this weekend provide a frame of reference not only for the feast but more importantly for what it means to be ‘church’ as the People of God, temples of the Holy Spirit, a people centered in and consecrated to God with Christ as our true shepherd.

The vision of Ezekiel was of a temple that no longer existed. The Babylonians destroyed it as the Jews were transported into exile. Reminiscent of Psalm 46, he envisioned a metaphoric temple from which a river of fresh water flowed from the east gate toward the Dead Sea, symbolic of the barren life of the exiled Jews. The fresh waters would turn the lifeless salt sea into a sea of living waters teeming with all sorts of marine life. He envisioned a comparable renewal of the Jewish people on their return to Jerusalem and the construction of a new temple.

We in the Christian era see in this vision a symbol of baptism in which we are washed and reborn in the Spirit so that we may be a people from whom fresh waters flow throughout the parched earth bringing life and a new vision of what it means to live in the dominion of God.

In his letter first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul addressed the Christians as “God’s building,” a temple not made of stone but of believers with Christ as the cornerstone with the Spirit of God dwelling in them.

Abandoning the old definition of Vatican I (1870) as “a perfect juridical society, Vatican II radically redefined the Church as “the People of God,” a city on a mountaintop that gives light to the world.

And in the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as the temple that is beyond destruction. This episode prepares us for an even stronger criticism of Temple worship in the exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman: “the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” [John 4:21, 23-24]

The church building is a reminder of who we are and what we are called to be. It’s meaning is derived from the faith of those who assemble—a people centered in Christ.

This picturesque description of the cathedral contains a metaphor of meaning for the believer:

“The massive rose windows of the medieval cathedrals were not only marvels of engineering and artistry; they were also symbols of the well-ordered soul. The pilgrim coming to the cathedral for spiritual enlightenment would be encouraged to meditate upon the rose of light and color in order to be drawn in the mystical conformity with it. What would he or she see? At the center of every rose window is a depiction of Christ (even when Mary seems to be the focus, she is carrying the Christ child on her lap), and then wheeling around him in lyrical and harmonious patterns are the hundreds of medallions, each depicting a saint or a scene from scripture.” [Excerpt from “You’re holier than you know,” by Father Robert Barron, U.S. Catholic Magazine, October, 2008.]

We come to this building to refocus and recenter ourselves in Christ. We are defined as a people not by this building but by what we do at this table. The ancient temple was destroyed twice and never rebuilt. All the basilicas throughout the world will crumble one day and this church will not last forever but if we remain centered in Christ, our worship will continue as long as we have our faith stories to share and the bread and wine of the Eucharist to nourish us.

The way of Jesus leads to communion with all people. His enduring presence in the Church is the foundation of a profound community in the world just as God desires it.

The Church comes into being in the community where we live, not so much in its official structures and insistent rules and regulations as in its essential form of community and the vision of a new creation.

Remember then that our community must before all else be one and holy, catholic and apostolic. In this way we will live the mystery of the Church in the place where we are.

Love the Church as the Lord himself. Though it is burdened with the weakness and sinfulness of a long history it is still the instrument of God’s dominion, God’s work of salvation for the world.

Show solidarity with all your sisters and brothers in the faith. One baptism and the same Eucharist are the visible signs of our unity. Be especially mindful of those who are being persecuted for the sake of faith and righteousness.

Be attentive to others not in order to dominate or exploit but to work for their wholeness and happiness discreetly and effectively and to build them up in all the riches of faith and love. And accept from your companions the help you need.

Be thankful for the variety of gifts and difference of personality. When you put your own potential and insights at the serve of your community your unity will grow stronger and richer, and together you will create that spaciousness that finds room for everyone.

Make the effort of listening to others and of understanding them. Give your opinion when it is useful without false humility or assertiveness. Speak in such a way that you can still hear what the other is saying, Whether you speak or keep silent let it proceed from the peace of the Lord within you. [Adapted from the Rule for a New Brother, by H van der Looy, Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois.]

“Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the word. Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace, let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: All are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” [‘We Celebrate,’ World Library Publications, J.S. Paluch Company, Franklin Park, Illinois.]