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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

Much ado about nothing or, is there something to it?

Readings: Acts 19:1-8 Psalm 68:2-7 John 16:29-33

Paul traveled through the interior of the country and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” [Acts 19:1-3]

Depending on one’s sacramental theology and pastoral practice, this text has been variously interpreted. For example, those who work with the RCIA (catecheumenate) hold that the sacrament of Confirmation should be administered with Baptism as it was in the early Church. It is one of the sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The Eastern Rite of the Roman Catholic Church has retained the tradition of administering all three at Baptism. Yes, the infant receives a small piece of the Eucharist bread. And so in the Eastern Rite, there is no formal celebration of First Holy Communion at the age of reason or Confirmation by the bishop at whatever age the local diocese has determined the age of maturity appropriate for Confirmation. All three sacraments are administered shortly after birth.

Others feel that the celebration of First Communion and Confirmation at a later age ensures the participation of youngsters in parish religious education programs – at least until Confirmation. In this case, many Catholics view Confirmation as the completion of or graduation from religious studies.

In recent years I have become convinced that the RCIA folks and the Eastern Rite Catholics have it right. All three sacraments of initiation should be administered together. First Holy Communion and Confirmation have become more social than spiritual. I do not mean to suggest that there is no connection or that there should be no celebration after sacramental ceremonies but for many, the accent is on the wrong syllable.

The path from Baptism to Christian maturity is life-long and the benchmarks for progress are not easily measured by grouping children by age or grade level for a period of preparation that is largely academic.

This is not to suggest that religious education is optional. Faith development is unique to each person within the context first of family and then of parish. Religious education / formation is intended to provide insight into faith development at an age-appropriate level.

Catholicism has become ‘child-centered’ the result of which, we have an adult population whose religious and spiritual development stopped at Confirmation.

The celebration of Eucharist is the primary setting for faith formation. Religious education is a necessary component but detached from Eucharist, it remain just another subject to master.

Of course this all assumes that the parish celebration of the Eucharist is truly inclusive and meaningful rather than just an empty ritual. The parish at worship should be a rendition of a community of faith that strives to live its faith ‘in the town square’ as I mentioned in Sunday’s homily.

Notwithstanding my commitment to religious dialogue, I do believe that effective dialogue is based on the assumption that although both parties are knowledgeable about the topic. Though they may have different perspectives, they are not based on ignorance of the subject.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Saturday July 24, 2010

“Please listen to the voicemail prompt”

“Hello! You have reached the voice mailbox of Father Lasch. At the sound of the tone, please speak your name and phone number slowly and clearly before you start your message. It will be helpful if you repeat you name and phone number at the conclusion of your message, spelling your name if necessary—slowly and clearly Thank you.”

How many callers do you think are attentive to this voice prompt? My current estimate is 5%! Not infrequently, I receive a message such as this: “Hi. It’s Mary or John. I’m calling to speak with you about …” and then two or three minutes later, “Oh, yes, my phone number is 817-365-4378!” spoken with the speed of lightening! I have listened to some messages five times before getting it right. My ADD and dyslexia doesn’t help. But to be fair and balanced, I must indict myself in this regard. When I make a phone call, more often than not, I am so concerned about the clarity and brevity of my own message I fail to observe my own protocol.

This observation has applications to other ordinary daily conversational exchanges that are more often monologues on the part of one person or the other. Extroverts tend not to be good listeners; but neither are introverts in their own comfort zone. And once again, in the interest of fairness and balance, I find it difficult to listen to someone without rehearsing mentally how I want to respond.

The readings for this weekend require not only a listening ear but an attentive heart. In fact, someone has said that the ears of an attentive mind and a sensitive heart are far more important than the ears attached to the head because these internal faculties enable us to “hear” more than what is being said or read.

At first shot, the message seems to be about persistence and perseverance in prayer. In fact, it is more about the persistence of God than of Abraham. He really didn’t need to assure God that he was worthy of God’s favor or, on the other hand, confess his unworthiness in order to win God’s attention and favor.

Although he held God in ‘awe,’ Abraham was not afraid of God. The biblical word for ‘fear’ is properly translated as ‘awe’ or deep reverence’ rather than ‘fear.’ The author of the Book of Genesis last week and this week demonstrates God’s endless patience, mercy, and compassion. “Oh, do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there. The Lord answered, ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.’” This is all hyperbole—a sort of biblical cartoon, if you will.

The message is not about our need to bargain with God but about the incomparable compassion of the God of all the ages; the God who ultimately instilled this compassion in the person of Jesus who in fact embodied the Spirit of God, Jesus the obedient one, i.e., the one who “listened” attentively to the heartbeat of God deep within his being and responded to every situation in a manner consonant with God’s will and God’s love. God wants intimacy with humanity. This is amply demonstrated through God’s incarnational love for humanity in Christ.

It was not surprising then that as John the Baptist and other religious leaders taught their disciples to pray, Jesus would be asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray.

The prayer is intimate and immediate and deals with the present. “Our Father, you are holy; let your dominion be honored and respected today… Give us the sustenance we need to get through the day! Forgive us now and help us to be forgiving toward others; do not let us be tried beyond our endurance.”

Jesus prayed in his native Aramaic. Spoken Hebrew had died out about three hundred years before Jesus.

The words of the Our Father are among the most revered and most quoted in English and in many languages and cultures. But there is more to this prayer than the English or Latin or another other western languages are able to convey. It was a prayer that truly ‘engaged’ Jesus with the mystery of God. The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic contains the hidden wisdom of Jesus. It provides a lens into his thinking and into his mystical thought. The Lord’s Prayer helps us to create our own sacred space as we pray and to consecrate our day and our life to God, and dedicate ourselves to holiness and a healthy self, a healthy “I am.” When we become conscious of our breathing as we pray, we reconnect with God as the source of life within the context of nature and the entire cosmos.

The example given by Jesus in the ensuing parable again seems to be about perseverance and persistence but in reality it is about intimacy with God. Friends can wake one another up in the middle of the night and when they ask for fish, they are not going to receive a snake; when they ask for bread, they are not going to receive a stone. Get the point? God wants us to have everything we need for life’s journey. More than this, God wants us to be filled with the same spirit that filled Jesus. Indeed, God wants us to be his other self too.

Author and spiritual mentor, Neil Douglas Klotz in his excellent retreat entitled “Original Prayer – Teachings and Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus” offers this alternative translation that is faithful to the core of the Lord’s Prayer:

O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere!

Release a space to plant your Presence here.

Envision your “I Can” now.

Embody your desire in every light and form.

Grow through us this moment’s bread and wisdom.

Until the knots of failure binding us,

as we release the strands we hold of others faults.

Help us not forget our Source,

yet free us from not being in the present.

From you arises every vision, power, and song,

from gathering to gathering.

Amen: may our future actions grow from here!

[Sounds True, PO Box 8010, Boulder Co 80306 www.soundstrue.com]

So, if you are hearing what I’m hearings, the message is about the persistence of God’s love and the greatness of our call to become like God in Christ. Prayer than is more a disposition of mind, heart, and soul rather than a pattern of words and or a series of petitions. It is the attentive listening and acceptance of all that God wants for us. Nothing less!

May that same Spirit that beats in the heart of Jesus’ reign in your minds and hearts today and always that others may come to know the faithfulness of God.